Small Talk ist eine Art erweiterter Begrüßung – freundlich und kurz. Beispielsweise tauscht man sich kurz darüber aus, wie es geht. Wie füllen Sie aber fünf Minuten englischen Small Talk? Die Themen Wetter, Familie, Sport oder Reisen eignen sich besonders.

I always found sports talk difficult in the US, because there are so many different local and national sports to follow. Luckily, in most of the rest of the world, you can talk about soccer/football and be relatively sure at least someone in the office will also be interested. Although in many ways, that makes it more dangerous…

Showing an interest in someone’s hobbies is a good way to get them talking, and it helps you learn more about them and the things they like. But this is not just a conversation starter; it’s also a common question in job interviews, so it’s a good idea to have some basic vocabulary about your hobby and be able to describe what you like about it.

If you have kids, you know they consume a great deal of your life. If you don’t, asking about someone else’s is an easy way to get them talking (and make them like you!).

Any upcoming or recent trips can be easy topics for small talk. If there's a long weekend coming up or you know someone's recently returned from a trip, why not try asking about their travels?

Weather has been a preferred subject of small talk for centuries, and with good reason. There is always some kind of weather, it’s not entirely predictable, and it affects everyone’s lives. Do you have the right vocabulary for the season?

Common advice for small talk is to avoid religion, money, and politics. But lots of people like to talk about the news, and in a world where streaming services offer hundreds of different shows at once, the news is one of the few things on TV that you can expect people to know about. These news topics are categorized by how easy they are to make small talk about.