Small Talk Hacks Summary

Emir Zecovic | Posted on June 10, 2018 |

5 min read ⌚

The People Skills & Communication Skills You Need to Talk to Anyone and be Instantly Likeable

Interested in mastering the best small talk or just in observing human social interaction? Big interest in psychosocial topics or just trying to improve communication skills? Shy or introvert?

Either way, Small Talk Hacks, written by Akash Karia, is a must-read for you.

SOCIALLY CONNECTED / SMALL TALK HACKS

Making the choice to be more positive will naturally increase your charismatic quotient.

Small Talk Hacks Summary

What does best small talk really mean? Although the book focuses mostly on networking, all the ideas, advice and tips that can turn up useful for any kind of human social interaction. And be sure that this will help you to improve communication skills and to become more likable in any social situation.

Nowadays, managers have expressed their admiration for people with impeccable communication skills. Even by some standards, these individuals overpower those with impressive tech abilities. The reason for this strange comparison derives from the constant to acquire new staff, and educate the one already existing. Companies are aware that the digital age requires more communication due to the involvement of interactions at all organization level.

It’s not like in the old days when only certain persons had the privilege to speak on everyone’s behalf for everyone’s sake.

Sooner or later, organizations realize that there is a shortage of motivators, of orators, who can spark something in others. In case of good awareness, companies are already on their path of creating a generation of “Small Talk Hacks”.

Take a journey through the 10 chapters. Enjoy the nuggets (our visual quotes from books). This will help you improve your communication skills. Also, you will understand and accept something that you might already be aware of, but reluctant to consciously think about and use it in your favor.

And that is that you already have all the tools you need and the power to control how you feel, as well as how you act in social interactions.

Creating a stellar first impression with nonverbal communication;
Breaking through fear and breaking the ice;
Seal a memorable verbal impression in 30 seconds;
Become an active listener;
Make your personality shine;
Going from introduction to intimacy;
Keep your conversation alive;
Avoid stopping a conversation cold;
How to end a conversation positively;
Wrap-up: following up on a conversation to develop relationships.

Learning or earning? In fact, the core idea of the book is that in order to improve communication skills you may need to spend time and energy, but the results will be as you expected. And I couldn’t agree more.

In the beginning, you must be aware of your body language and attitude.

First impression? Always important.

But how much time do you need to set in your mind a coherent judgment?

And so, Akash Karia makes available and details all the aspects we need to pay attention to when presenting ourselves.

Then he will guide you on how to use positive attitude and enthusiasm to increase your charisma and attract people to you.

You’ll find out which are the best ways to start a conversation. And also how important it is to create intimacy and keep the conversation going. Or how to properly and positively end the conversation.

But what do you need in order to create a great first impression? Try to start with a positive attitude and a proper body language.

Try to keep in mind that people are attracted to those with positive energy and to persons that make them feel good about themselves. So, Akash Karia argues that we need to make a conscious effort in engaging others with enthusiasm in order to improve our communication skills.

The first step to do this? As body language could easily give you away, you need to be aware of your posture and of how you present yourself.

I found in this chapter a very interesting point of view regarding body language’s topic. And this is about the effect your body language has, not only on others but also on how you perceive yourself.

So, it’s time for some body-language tips:

If you want to use body language to your advantage, you need to be aware of your posture, smile and make eye contact.

The last two nonverbal cues will make others really feel at ease, as smiling is the best way of making someone else feel positive while eye contact shows interest in the other person.

Make sure you are dressed properly for the occasion. It has been demonstrated that people do judge our character traits based on what we wear. In order to make the best first impression, you need to take into consideration your clothes as well.

And in this book, you’ll find out some more. But I don’t want to spoil the mystery.

So, I’ll skip directly to the second chapter. Which part of the conversation do you consider the hardest one? You may probably say – the beginning.

With Small Talks you’ll soon find out that breaking the ice and improve communication skills is not as difficult as it seems.

Tips for conversation:

The most important tips are using your surroundings in order to engage someone on a familiar topic, discussing the latest events or asking open-ended questions.

Asking for someone’s opinion, giving a compliment or just saying hello are just as good icebreakers.

Being an active listener will make you really easy to talk to. It makes people feel that what they have to say is important and that you value them.

It helps to smile, make eye contact, nod and reflect on and restate what they say. Make sure to ask questions and to not interrupt.

When it comes about communication and socialization, any of us dreams to have…charisma, of course.

And you are so lucky. That’s because you have an entire chapter dedicated to this topic.

To have a clue about how useful this book may be for you, I’ve put below a selection of some good advice, and some dos and don’ts in your way to achieve the best small talk:

Share your opinions and passions and be empathetic. And you are being advised to not being too loud or obnoxious, boring or negative.
In order to develop meaningful relationships, creating intimacy is a must, and you can only do that by becoming gradually more personal in the topics you engage on.
Avoid judgment and how you react to the other person’s disclosures. Being genuine and personal also helps to create intimacy and not taking it personally when someone does not agree with you will make people at ease around you.
Keep the conversation informal but decent. It turns out that controversial topics make conversations more enjoyable, but only when all the topics are discussed with respect.
Pay attention to the topics you bring to the conversation. In order to stop a conversation cold, something that you should always try to avoid, you are advised on which topics not to engage and on which attitudes not to display.

Art means half talent, half stealing secrets about how to do it. So, maybe it’s time to find out an important one.

Ending a conversation with a good last impression is crucial and you are offered some suggestions that will leave the other person feeling that they mattered.

I bet I’ve drawn your interest. So, it’s your turn to open and start reading the book.

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Our Critical Review

We introduce the readers to this unique book that awakens the social beast from within.

Although this is a process, many tips can help you get there much quicker. Akash Karia, the author of “Small Talk Hack” offers a set of solutions that can improve your social interaction abilities.

Enjoy and learn!