Make Better Small Talk by Aiming for Nice, Not Brilliant

Not everyone is good at making small talk, which is why you have tips like the five stage outline to make things easier. But instead of overreaching and trying to come across as smart, it's better to try and come across as nice, suggests psychology professor and shyness expert Bernardo J. Carducci. People think you need to be really funny, witty; you just have to be nice. It sounds trite. You have to be willing to talk to others. One of the ways to do that, Carducci suggests, is to find someone someone who's alone, such as at a party or at school, and begin a conversation. It's one of the proven ways to know how to work a room. Another thing to keep in mind is to not be late. It's difficult to get into groups that have already formed, Carducci says. And then do the nice thing and bring other people into the conversation. If you get there on time, you're greeting people and pacing the conversation. You bring the new people into the conversation — "I'm so and so, and this is A, B and C., and we were just talking about…" The full post has lots of other cool tips and tricks which you should check out.