Tiny Talk

(OLD POSTING: originally January 23rd, 2005 )


All my life, I’ve been bad at small talk, and have always felt awkward about starting conversations with people, especially people I don’t know. That’s why I’m taking the Tiny Talk (Small Talk 101) course from the good people at Creative Resurgence. This course teaches you how to improvise chatter so small as to be invisible, simply by recounting the mundane with an edge of drama.

For instance, have you noticed today that it is cold? Well I did. When I ventured out this morning, one of the first things that occurred to me was that there did seem to be a certain chill in the air. My suspicion was confirmed when I felt those parts of my skin coming into contact with the air becoming cold. And when I could see the trail of condensation of my warm breath as it charged forth valiantly into the pitiless cold mass, I thought to myself “Well, Paul, you sure hit the nail on the head this time with your suspicions. This air is cold alright. Lucky for me I dressed up warmly, or I’d be getting really cold myself right about now.” I could go on, but I don’t want to monopolise the conversation or anything. That’s my weather story for today, have you got one?