About the Book
SMALL TALK IS ... allowing for those special interactions to lead to something new and exciting. There have been many excellent books written about the importance of small talk - and to be honest, most are pretty good. This book has been written firstly as a light conversation about the topic of small talk. Small talk might be seen as an art - rather than an exact science - and because of this, it remains something imprecise, fleeting and yet something that we all need to practice and master in our professional and private lives.
Within this timely and somewhat provocative book, Coach Antony Birks explains how the process of small talk can dramatically alter one's life - in the blink of an eye. Rather than small talk being a 'terrible waste of time', this book explores and explains how showing kindness and caring - via small talk - can not only be mutually beneficial but can also show respect and curiosity for an 'other'. The book also suggests how those fleeting and perchance conversations with strangers ... that which he now calls those 'Enlightening Interruptions' ... allows for those important and life-changing events to spontaneously occur. When we are courageous and strike up a conversation with another, we realise that these moments are unique, regardless if spoken by a sales rep, team-leader or business manager, but also when we take part in those normal human interactions, i.e. when we go on holiday, are eating out in a restaurant or even out grocery shopping.
You might be wondering why there is a photo of a colour-changing lizard on the front cover of this book? The word
chameleon originates from two Greek words (khamai)
"on the ground" and (léon)
"lion." This is because when we small talk we first need
'the courage of a lion', but then at the same time we also need to be more
'grounded'.
In our divided and somewhat hectic world
(Brexit/Trump), this small but profound book takes the reader to a different place ... offering new, interesting and practical suggestions about the topic of small talk. In these short, easily readable chapters, Coach Antony also shares how he has now come to better understand the development of his ideas, including many examples from his Business English teachings, but also from the behind-the-scenes of the coaching world.
It also shows the reader how to:
- use small talk more of the time to find
happiness and success - realise that we are doing 'them' a favour when speaking to another
- instigate and create something unique via small talk
- recognise the power of interaction and communication
- be more culturally aware of our environment
- understand that
'no man is an island' and
'hell is not other people' - heighten curiosity and increase our empathy about another
This book explains and illustrates, using a real online teaching conversation and setting, some of the practical methods and reasons for using small talk as a tool. By using small talk in this way, we can rate it as an invaluable skill and also consider it as being preparational in nature. He argues that by using small talk, to strike up new conversations with someone, might just be the match to ignite these life-changing moments.
By explaining the
'whys' rather than the
'hows', Coach Antony shows, by example, some of the major benefits of using small talk as a tool and something that the reader might be searching for. He concludes by stating that it is those 'special moments' of interaction which add spice and flavour to our lives. He strives to make the messages in this book easy to understand and something that he wishes to promot
