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111Module 1 Small Talk第二部分：教学资源Section 2: Background information for Module 1 Small Talk1. How to Make Small Talk Small talk can be a big challenge, but a little preparation and confidence is all you need. Steps: Appropriate Subjects for Small TalkHere is a list of common small talk subjects. If you have difficulties speaking about any of these topics, try to improve your vocabulary by using the resources available to you (Internet, magazines, teachers at school, etc.) Sports - current matches or games, favorite teams, etc. Hobbies Weather - boring, but can get the ball rolling! Family - general questions, not questions about private matters Media - films, books, magazines, etc. Holidays - where, when, etc. but NOT how much! Home town - where do you come from, how is it different/similar to this town Job - once again, general questions not too specific Latest fashion and trends Celebrities - any gossip you may have!Salary - how much do you make? - Thats none of your business! Politics - wait to you get to know the person better Intimate relationships - only for you and your partner - or maybe your best friend Religion - tolerance is the key! Death - we need to face it, but not the first time we meet someone new Financial - related to salary above, most people prefer to keep financial information to themselves Sales - Dont try to sell something to someone you have just met.2. How to Make Small Talk at a BarForget the old cliched Come here often? You really can make intelligent small talk in a bar. Heres how. Steps: Make eye contact and smile. This makes you approachable. Use an opening line such as, What are you drinking? Pay the person a sincere compliment. True flattery will get you everywhere. Try to find a common ground between you. Discuss events in the news, places to eat, music or movies you both like. Avoid politics, religion, or other heavy topics. Encourage the other person to talk about what interests him or her - work, car or hobbies are good places to start. Make up a hypothetical question if the conversation begins to lag: What would you change if you were designing humans? What would you do if you won the lottery? 2. Tips for making small talk1. As you prepare for a function, come up with three things to talk about as well as four generic questions that will get others talking. If youve met the host before, try to remember things about her, such as her passion for a sport or a charity youre both involved in.2. Be the first to say Hello. If youre not sure the other person will remember you, offer your name to ease the pressure. For example, Charles Bartlett? Lynn Schmidt - good to see you again. Smile first and always shake hands when you meet someone.3. Take your time during introductions. Make an extra effort to remember names and use them frequently.4. Get the other person talking by leading with a common ground statement regarding the event or location and then asking a related open-ended question. For example, Attendance looks higher than last year, how long have you been coming to these conventions? You can also ask them about their trip in or how they know the host.5. Stay focused on your conversational partner by actively listening and giving feedback. Maintain eye contact. Never glance around the room while they are talking to you.6. Listen more than you talk.7. Have something interesting to contribute. Keeping abreast of current events and culture will provide you with great conversation builders, leading with What do you think of .? Have you heard .? What is your take on .? Stay away from negative or controversial topics, and refrain from long-winded stories or giving a lot of detail in casual conversation.8. If there are people you especially want to meet, one of the best ways to approach them is to be introduced by someone they respect. Ask a mutual friend to do the honors.9. If someone hands you a business card, accept it as a gift. Hold it in both hands and take a moment to read what is written on it. When youre done, put it away in a shirt pocket, purse or wallet to show it is valued.10. Watch your body language. People who look ill at ease make others uncomfortable. Act confident and comfortable, even when youre not.11. Before entering into a conversation thats already in progress, observe and listen. You dont want to squash the dynamics with an unsuited or ill-timed remark.12. Have a few exit lines ready so that you can both gracefully move on. For example, I need to check in with a client over there, I skipped lunch today, so I need to visit the buffet, or you can offer to refresh their drink.3. The Dos and Donts for writing effective emails Do:An e-note should get to the point immediately - the way to do this, is to plan what you intend to write. Heres a formula for writing an effective e-note or letter to a potential customer or client.You should limit yourself to four (count em - 1, 2, 3, 4) paragraphs:Get straight to the point of your e-note. Introduce the pain that your customers are feeling. Paint a picture of how theyre feeling so they can visualise themselves in a particular situation. Use vivid, active words. Show exactly how you can ease their pain - again, use vivid, active words. Provide more details about how you can solve their problems - perhaps explain how others have benefited from using your product or service or what is special and different about your product. Tell your customers exactly what you want them to do - it might be to order, to send for a free sample, to download a trial program, to subscribe to an ezine or to fill out a survey. Dont:There are a number of things you should avoid putting in your e-notes - if only because theyve become cliches and have lost their meaning:Standardised greetings - Dear Mr Smithers. Try something a little different: Good Morning / Good Afternoon . Passive voice - this is the formal, distant its-nothing-to-do-with-me approach e.g. It has come to our attention that sales of gizmos have exceeded all expectations. use the active voice - its much more immediate and personal e.g. Gizmo sales have gone through the roof! or Ive noticed that gizmo sales have increased . Abstract nouns - these are nouns that express concepts e.g. Current reactions to the prospect of regulation of the sale of domain names range from cynicism to hostility. These expressions are stilted and cold because they lack active verbs. Far better to inject some life into your sentence, Users are outraged at moves to regulate the sale of domain names. Long-winded expressions - not .it is uncertain what has perpetuated the notion that . but we dont know why . Unnecessary words - the English language is very economical, it has built-in meanings in many words e.g. return means to go back so you dont need to write return back; its not necessary to describe someone as a personal friend - what other kind are there? Understand the precise meanings of words you use and you can save your readers precious time. Qualifiers - these are adverbs that wont be needed if you choose the right verbs! You dont need to tell us that the music blared loudly - blared means loud; no need for the car sped quickly away - speeding has to be quick. The most unnecessary qualifiers are like these: very, quite, rather, little bit, pretty much and so on. Youre either successful or youre not - dont waste time writing that your company is quite successful - that casts doubt in the readers mind. Its as pointless as writing rather dead or very dead or pretty dead - youre either with us or youre not!111
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