How small talk can boost your well-being – and influence kids
Your small talk with the coffee barista or chitchat with the
person sitting next to you on the train could contribute to your health.
In her Wall Street Journal article, “The Benefits of a Little Small Talk,” contributing writer Jennifer Wallace writes that
interactions with casual acquaintances “can contribute to day-to-day well-being”
and “a greater sense of belonging and happiness.”
“Researchers actually looked at strong ties – the conversations
we have with our families – and compared it to these small interactions, and
these make us just as happy,” Wallace said Thursday on “CBS This Morning.”
Good listening is essential, she said.
How to make small talk
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“One of the tips an expert gave me was, don’t just be a
backboard. We’re taught to just regurgitate what we hear. Instead, work more
like a trampoline and add depth to the conversation if you have time,” Wallace
said.
Ask interesting questions.
“Don’t talk about yourself and what you know, find something
out that you don’t know already,” she said.
Your small talk with a stranger can also impact children who
are observing.
“Children learn kindness and empathy, not just by how we
treat the people closest to us, but how we treat strangers. That they’re not
invisible,” Wallace said. “We appreciate the waitress. We say thank you to the
bus driver. It opens their circle of compassion and caring.”
Here are some tips for successful small talk:
- Find common ground
- Commiserate
- Go deep
- Embrace ignorance
- Ask interesting questions
- Exit gracefully