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.

Sports have contributed many expressions to the English language. In fact, sports metaphors and analogies are common in business and politics.

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.

‘The single and most dangerous word to be spoken in business is “no”. The second most dangerous word is “yes”. It is possible to avoid saying either.’ This is good advice from the American advertising executive and writer Lois Wyse, referring to the art of negotiation. To get to the negotiation points, you somehow have to get the process started. This is how.

Working internationally, professionals often find they have to speak in a meeting or even give a presentation using English. The more advanced your English, the more you have to think about the type of language you use, because some listeners in the ‘audience’ may have a poorer grasp of English than you do. This is how to make sure everyone in the room has a good chance of understanding your points.

A businessman friend of mine says that family life is very good training ground for negotiations. At home, we’re negotiating all the time – kids negotiate with their parents how much computer time they can have, couples have to compromise on where to go on the next holiday or which couch to buy. We all want to justify why it’s someone else’s turn to unload the dishwasher or take out the rubbish.

Whether you’re a leader or a team member, leadership affects your working life every day. Studies of leadership have identified many different styles, which can be products of personality but also of cultural context. We’ll take a look at them here. The ways that German managers request, advise and explain can be very different to the ways the same things are done in English-speaking countries. I’ll help you look at what leaders might say in English, so that you’ll be prepared rather than surprised.