When it comes to business networking, the thing which gives people the most chill up their spines is not actually meeting new people — anyone can smile and say Hi. It is what are you going to talk about with the person you don’t know which scares most people.

You don’t have to be one one them. Read this article to learn the art of making small talk with strangers. Let’s get started.

The very first thing you must do with a stranger “after you have said Hi” is to gauge the interests of the other person. You should find out what they do and what their passions are.

You want to have the attention and interest of the other person. And, the only way of doing it is to talk about things that interest them. You can’t come and talk to me about how interesting it is to build plastic ropes when my interest is in media production.

And the trick here is to ask open-ended questions. Something that will encourage the person to speak more than just yes or no. You want them to talk to you!

Open-ended questions are those questions which do not have a specific or a precise answer but are open to interpretation. Any question which starts with “What do You Think about” is potentially an open-ended question.

Here are some examples of open-ended questions that you can ask –

- Have you ever been to this event before?

- How would you suggest I become involved?

- Have you been to this city before?

- What did you think of the keynote speaker?

- How do you like the event so far?

- What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned here so far?

1. Read Professional Journals, Magazines, Newsletter and Blogs in your industry. Get a tab on the pulse of your industry and ask for their opinion on those news.

2. Find out about the local cultures and events. And, even if you already know, it doesn’t hurt asking the other person about them. People love to talk about their heritage.

3. NEVER TALK POLITICS OR RELIGION. Seriously, never do it or else it will come back to bite you real hard.