You’re standing in line at the supermarket or drugstore when a stranger speaks up. “Hello, how are you?” the stranger greets you. “Good, and you?” might be your response. Your conversation partner ...

Imagine that you’re attending your first international conference. You’ve signed in at the welcome table, dutifully affixed your name tag to your shirt, and stepped into the ballroom designated for ...

Think about what it's like to be at a birthday dinner where you have to interact with your friend's neighbors for the first time, or what it's like to be waiting for a Zoom to begin with coworkers you ...

Charles Duhigg, author of "The Power of Habit," argues that small talk isn't an innate skill, but rather a learned behavior that can be studied and crafted to perfectly suit any situation — whether ...

Get inspired by a weekly roundup on living well, made simple. Sign up for CNN’s Life, But Better newsletter for information and tools designed to improve your well-being. You’re standing in line at ...

Some professionals shudder at the idea of “small talk,” but it can be a powerful tool for building rapport with people you’re meeting for the first time—and for opening doors at networking events. A ...

You walk into the conference networking event, feeling alone, aware of the steady chatter throughout the room. You look to find someone you might know, you sense your breath growing faster and you ...

"Skip the Small Talk" events offer speed-friending to the shy and the bold. A room filled with people talking and sharing their thoughts can be either an extrovert's dream or an introvert's nightmare.

Learning how to get better at small talk might not seem like much of a conversational superpower. Arguably everyone’s least favorite part of socializing, surface-level chitchat can be awkward, ...

Small talk has been a pain point for me for years, but it sank to new lows at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. I was at the playground one day, sweating in a K-95 while pushing my maskless ...