Pratique du Shadowing: Workplace Small Talk and Coffee Breaks | How to Network Naturally in English | A1-B1 ESL - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec la vidéo
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Hi everyone, welcome back to Daily English Talk.
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And I'm Tom.
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If this is your first time here, welcome to the family.
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You can build real speaking habits, not just memorize words.
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I'm Lily.
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Today's topic comes up in almost every job in every country.
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Coffee breaks, small talk, that short, sometimes awkward conversation you have while you're waiting for your coffee to brew.
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Oh, I have a story for this one.
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A big one.
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You always have a story.
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That's because I always make a mistake and then I turn it into a lesson for everyone else.
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That's one way to look at it.
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It's the only way to look at it.
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Before we start, if you're new here, hit that subscribe button.
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We're a growing community of English learners, getting closer to 70,000 of you now, learning together every single day.
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And with over 127 episodes already, there's a lot to catch up on if you're just joining us.
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Nice use of catch up, by the way.
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That's actually one of our vocabulary words today.
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Oh, I didn't even plan that.
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Look at you, teaching accidentally.
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I'll take it.
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Okay, let's get into it.
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Okay, so before we go into the story, I want to ask you something first.
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Uh-oh, here it comes.
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Last week, Tom said something at the coffee machine that made the whole break room go completely silent.
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Not one person spoke for a few seconds.
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Ugh, when you say it like that, it sounds worse than it was.
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Tom, it was pretty bad.
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Okay, maybe it was that bad.
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So, here's the question for you, our viewers.
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What do you think I heard Tom say to a brand new co-worker during a coffee break?
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that made the entire room go quiet.
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Pfft, you're seriously not going to tell them until the end?
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I'm not telling them at all, actually.
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That's the fun part.
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Oh, cruel.
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Write your guess in the comments below.
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We read them, and some of you get surprisingly close.
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Okay, now I'm actually a little nervous.
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You should be.
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Alright, let me set the scene properly.
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It was a Monday morning, and the coffee machine on our floor was broken again.
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That machine hates us.
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I'm convinced it has a personal grudge.
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Maybe it does.
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So everyone from our team was standing around it, waiting, holding empty mugs, looking a little sad.
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Mondays are hard enough without coffee.
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Right?
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And there's a new person on the marketing team.
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His name is Daniel.
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That was actually his very first day.
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Right, I remember him now.
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Tall guy, dark hair.
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Seemed a little quiet at first.
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Yes, exactly.
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So he's standing there near the broken machine, holding an empty mug, looking a little lost, like he doesn't know anyone yet.
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First day nerves.
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I remember those.
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And then you walk in.
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I remember this part very clearly.
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Tell everyone what happened, from the beginning.
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Okay, so I saw him standing there alone, and I wanted to be friendly.
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First day at a new job is stressful, right?
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Nobody wants to stand alone by a broken coffee machine.
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Very true.
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Very kind intention.
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So I walk up to him, and I say, Hey, man, welcome to the team.
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How are you finding everything so far?
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Good start.
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Very normal.
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And he says, It's a bit overwhelming, honestly.
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There's a lot of new names to remember.
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And in that moment, I panic a little because I don't know what to say next.
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What do you usually do when you panic in a conversation?
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Apparently, I make it worse.
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So I say, don't worry.
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By Friday, you'll either love it here or you'll quit.
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Tom!
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I know.
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I know.
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In my head, it sounded like a funny, relatable joke.
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His face just froze.
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He genuinely didn't know if you were being serious or not.
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Honestly, in that exact second, neither did I.
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And then what happened?
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Nothing.
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Complete silence.
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Someone coughed.
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Someone else suddenly became very interested in their phone.
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I remember that cough.
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That was Marco, trying to save the moment.
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It didn't work.
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No, it really didn't.
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So this is actually a perfect real example of small talk going wrong.
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You had a good, friendly start, a nice question, but then the conversation had nowhere good to go.
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So what should I have said instead in that exact moment?
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That's exactly what we're teaching today.
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How to start small talk properly, how to keep it going naturally, and how to avoid those painful, awkward silences.
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Okay, I need this lesson more than anyone watching right now.
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You really, really do.
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In my defense, Daniel and I are friends now.
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He actually thinks it's funny in hindsight.
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See, even bad small talk can turn into something good, eventually.
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Silver lining.
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Okay, let's talk grammar for a moment because this connects directly with what happened with Daniel.
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Go on.
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When you're making small talk at work, you usually move between two main tenses, present simple and present continuous.
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Okay, remind me the difference.
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Present simple is for routines, habits, and general facts.
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I usually get coffee around 10.
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She works in accounting.
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We have a meeting every Friday.
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Okay, that part I know well.
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continuous is for things happening right now, or things happening around this general time, even if it's not the exact second you're speaking.
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What are you working on these days?
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I'm trying to finish this report before lunch.
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So if I ask Daniel, what do you do, that's asking about his job in general.
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Exactly right.
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Amazing.
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But if I ask, what are you working on this week, that's more specific, more current, closer to his actual day.
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Perfect example.
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And that second question is much better for small talk, because it opens up a real story, not just the short label.
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That's actually a really useful difference.
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It is.
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What do you do often gets a one-word answer, like marketing, and then the conversation kind of dies.
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Like my conversation with Daniel.
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A little bit, yes.
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Can you give me a few more examples so it really sticks?
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Sure.
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Present simple, I take the bus to work every day.
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Present continuous, I'm actually driving this week.
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My car is finally fixed.
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simple.
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We usually order lunch from that place downstairs.
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Present continuous?
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We're trying a new restaurant today, actually.
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I think I've got it now.
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There's one more small piece here.
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Present perfect is also useful, especially for catching up with someone you haven't seen in a while.
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Have you been busy lately?
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Have you started that new project yet?
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So that's more about a period of time up until now.
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Exactly.
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It connects the past to the present.
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It's a very natural question for reconnecting with a co-worker.
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Okay, that's three useful tools now.
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Present simple for routines, present continuous for right now, present perfect for catching up.
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Exactly.
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Use all three and your small talk becomes much smoother.
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I wish I had this list before I met Daniel.
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Better late than never!
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OK, let's go through the key vocabulary for today.
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We have eight useful phrases you'll actually hear and use in real workplace conversations.
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Eight?
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That's a lot!
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It's a long episode today, remember?
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Right.
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Let's do it properly then.
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Number one.
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Small talk.
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This means light, casual conversation, usually about simple, easy topics like the weather, weekend or traffic.
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Like nice weather today, isn't it?
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Exactly that kind of line.
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It sounds boring on its own, but it's actually really important.
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It builds comfort before any deeper conversation happens.
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I have a story for this one actually.
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From years ago, my first week at my very first job, I didn't understand small talk at all.
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What happened?
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So my manager asked me, how was your weekend? and I just said, fine, one word, nothing else.
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Then I just stood there.
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That's it?
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Just fine?
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That's it.
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She looked so confused, like she was waiting for more, and I had no idea I was supposed to add anything.
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Right.
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Small talk is a two-way thing.
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You answer and then you return the question or you add one small detail.
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I know that now painfully.
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So a better answer would be, it was good, thanks.
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I went hiking with some friends.
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How about yours?
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See, that keeps the door open.
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Exactly.
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Number two, break the ice.
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This means to start a conversation in a way that removes the awkward tension, especially with someone new or in a new situation.
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So like when you meet someone for the first time and you say something light to relax the mood?
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Exactly right!
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A good icebreaker is usually a simple, easy question, not a joke about someone quitting by Friday.
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I'm never living this down, am I?
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Never, Tom, never!
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Sure, fair enough.
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My story for this one.
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When I first joined this company, I was so nervous on my first day.
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Honestly, shaking a little.
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Really?
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You seem so confident now.
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Not back then.
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I sat down next to a woman named Priya, and I had no idea what to say to her.
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So what did you do?
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I noticed she had a coffee mug with a cat on it, so I just said, I love your mug.
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Is that your cat?
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Simple.
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Very simple.
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And it turned out she has three cats and she talked about them for almost 10 minutes.
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That's a perfect icebreaker.
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Simple observation, simple question.
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That's really all you need.
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You don't need to be clever.
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You just need to notice something small and ask about it.
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Number three?
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Catch up.
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This means to talk with someone about what has happened recently, especially if you haven't spoken in a while.
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Oh, I use this one all the time.
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Hey, we should catch up sometime.
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Do you actually catch up with people though, or is it just something people say?
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Honestly, sometimes it's just something people say.
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But last month I actually did it.
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I ran into an old co-worker, Marco, at the coffee shop downstairs.
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The same Marco from the coughing story?
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The very same one.
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We hadn't really talked in almost a year.
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What did you talk about?
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Everything, honestly.
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His new job, my new project.
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We even talked about his dog getting sick and then getting better.
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It was a good 20 minutes, maybe longer.
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That's a real catch-up, not just small talk.
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It felt really good, actually.
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Sometimes we forget how nice it is to just talk to people properly, not rush the conversation.
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4. Water-cooler chat This is an expression for casual workplace conversation, usually about non-work topics.
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It comes from people gathering around the office water cooler to chat while filling their cups.
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We don't even have a water cooler here.
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Doesn't matter.
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The expression still works everywhere.
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It just means casual office gossip or chat about anything and everything.
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Did you hear about the new project?
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That was the water cooler chat this morning.
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Oh, I have a story for this, too.
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Last week, there was major water cooler chat about the office renovation.
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What were people saying?
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Half the office wanted a new coffee machine, finally, and the other half wanted better chairs instead.
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It got surprisingly intense for a Tuesday morning.
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People care a lot about their coffee machines and chairs.
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We really, really do.
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I even heard someone say they'd rather have the chairs.
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Traitor!
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That's what I said!
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Number 5.
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Awkward silence.
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This is when nobody speaks and it feels uncomfortable, sometimes tense.
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I know this one very, very well.
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That moment with Daniel right after my joke?
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That was a full, complete awkward silence.
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Maybe only three seconds, but it felt like an hour.
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Three seconds can feel very long in the right situation.
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It really can.
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I actually look down at my coffee mug just to have something to do with my eyes.
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A good tip here, if there's an awkward silence, ask a simple, easy question.
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Something like, so where did you work before this?
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It gives the other person something easy and safe to answer.
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I really wish I had known that in the moment.
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Now you do for next time.
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There will be a next time, unfortunately.
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This is just who I am.
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Ha ha.
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Number six.
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Make conversation or keep the conversation going.
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This means to actively continue talking, usually by asking follow-up questions.
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Follow-up questions like what exactly?
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If someone says, I'm working on a big project this week, you don't just say, cool, and stop there.
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You ask, oh really, what kind of project?
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That keeps things moving naturally.
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I actually did this right once.
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There's a woman on my team, Sarah, and she mentioned she was training for a marathon.
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What did you ask her?
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I asked her how many miles she runs a week, and she talked for 15 minutes about her training schedule, her shoes, everything.
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See?
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That's a great example.
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One good follow-up question, and the conversation basically runs itself.
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I felt very proud of myself that day.
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Honestly.
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As you should.
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Number seven, chit-chat.
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This is another word for light, informal conversation.
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Very similar to small talk, but it can also describe conversation that goes on a bit too long without much real purpose.
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So it's a little different from small talk.
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A little.
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You might say, we had a nice chit-chat by the elevator.
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Or you might say, okay everyone, less chit-chat, more work, if a manager wants people to focus.
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Oh, I've definitely heard that second one before. From who?
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Our old manager, actually, when three of us were talking about a football match for way too long by the printer.
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How long is too long?
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Twenty minutes, apparently.
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Fair point from the manager, then.
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In my defense, it was a very important match.
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Number eight, our last one for today, common ground.
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This means something you and another person both have in common, something you share, like an interest or an experience.
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Like finding out you both like the same show?
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Exactly.
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Finding common ground is one of the best ways to build a real connection quickly.
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Once you find it, the conversation almost takes care of itself.
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I have a good example.
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I found out our new intern, Wei, also plays chess, just like me.
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You play chess?
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Badly, but yes.
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Once we found that common ground, we talked about chess apps for almost half an hour.
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See?
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Common ground is powerful.
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It turns a stranger into someone familiar very quickly.
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I actually planned to play a game together this weekend.
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That's a perfect example of small talk turning into a real friendship.
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Okay, let's put everything together.
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Today we learned eight useful phrases.
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Small talk, break the ice, catch up, water cooler chat, awkward silence, make conversation, chit chat, and common ground.
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And we learned that present continuous is your best friend for small talk.
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What are you working on instead of just what do you do?
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We also learned about Present Perfect for catching up.
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Have you been busy lately?
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And most importantly, we learned that jokes about people quitting by Friday are never, ever good icebreakers.
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Never, ever.
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I will never make that joke again, I promise.
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We'll see about that promise.
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Fair, based on my track record.
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Now we really want to hear from you.
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What's the most awkward small talk moment you've ever had at work, at school, or anywhere else?
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Tell us the whole story in the comments.
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We love reading them.
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And don't forget the question from earlier.
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What do you think I said to that new coworker that made the whole room go quiet?
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Leave your guess below.
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Some of you are surprisingly good at guessing these.
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We'll feature the best guesses in our community post this week.
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That's it for today's episode.
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Remember, small talk isn't just filler conversation.
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It's actually how real connections and real friendships start.
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Practice these eight phrases this week.
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Try starting one small talk conversation with someone new, even if it feels a little uncomfortable at first.
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If you enjoyed this episode, hit that subscribe button.
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We upload a brand new lesson every single day.
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See you tomorrow, everyone.
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Bye for now.
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À propos de cette leçon
Vous vous entraînez en anglais avec "Workplace Small Talk and Coffee Breaks | How to Network Naturally in English | A1-B1 ESL" en utilisant la technique du Shadowing.
Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?
Le Shadowing est une technique d'apprentissage des langues fondée sur la science, développée à l'origine pour la formation des interprètes professionnels. Le principe est simple mais puissant : vous écoutez de l'anglais natif et le répétez immédiatement à voix haute — comme une ombre suivant le locuteur avec un décalage de 1 à 2 secondes. Les recherches montrent une amélioration significative de la précision de la prononciation, de l'intonation, du rythme, des liaisons, de la compréhension orale et de la fluidité.