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There’s a reason why you can’t quite help but ask your coworker about her weekend plans when you’re both stuck waiting for the elevator —  or the weather, the score of the Red Sox game, how her husband is doing. 

Let’s face it: Small talk is predictable and occasionally even excruciating. However, as mundane as it may be, there are actually a few positive perks to be gained from these mini-chats. 

It’s a human ritual.

Small talk is the cultural default for conversation — and that isn’t exactly bad news. It’s a form of communication that’s comfortable to engage in, which makes forming a sense of community pretty easy.

As David Roberts writes over at Vox, small talk is abysmal in many ways, but it leads to an initial connection and secondary communication:

The primary function of [small talk] is social, not to say something but to do something, i.e., make contact, reaffirm shared membership in a common tribe (whatever it may be), express positive feelings (and thus lack of threat), show concern, and so forth. These are not unimportant things, not “small” at all, really, but they are different from communicating semantic content.

It connects strangers.

And that connection could make you happier, according to research. One study that observed commuters on a train found that those who engaged in small-talk-based social interaction with strangers reported a more positive train ride than those who commuted in solitude.

It makes sense. Think about the polite conversations you’ve had with your neighbor while walking your dog or the words you exchanged after running into an acquaintance on the subway. The topics are never intrusive, but the interaction is a heck of a lot better than going through your day alone.

It could benefit your career.

When you go into a job interview, it’s highly unlikely you’re going to be incredibly familiar with the person on the other side of the desk. Enter small talk.

As Stephen Key, co-founder of the company inventRight, points out in a piece for Entrepreneur, it’s crucial to grow comfortable with these little conversations if you want to advance your career. Small talk is the key to networking — and that could lead to a host of opportunities.

So how do you get to a point where you’re a small talk superstar? “I am constantly reminded of how much I have in common with others,” Key writes. “I’ve built strong, long-lasting businesses relationships because I was brave enough to engage the people around me. I was curious about them.”

In other words, find common ground with someone — music, work interests, the fact that you both own the same tie. We’re all human after all. And if that doesn’t work, there’s always the option to talk about the weather.

 

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