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Promising Practices
Survive Holiday Party Small Talk with the FORD Technique
- By Mark Micheli
- November 26, 2012
- Comments
Image via Hadi Djunaedi/Shutterstock.com
Holiday parties are a great opportunity to relax and catch up with your colleagues. At least, in theory...
For many, holiday parties are a dreaded annual exercise: an hours long endurance test in small talk and social anxiety.
Mastering small talk can go a long way toward reducing the stress and forced awkwardness that can accompany a holiday party. For those not born with the gift of gab, don’t fret. Use the FORD technique to get you through:
- Family
- Occupation
- Recreation
- Dreams
Ask a few questions about any of the above categories and a conversation is likely to ensue. Even consider committing a few questions to memory.
Head over to Reddit for a few more small talk tips. Do you know any techniques for starting a conversation with somebody you don’t know?
(Image via Hadi Djunaedi/Shutterstock.com)
Mark Micheli writes Excellence in Government’s Promising Practices blog and serves as the program manager of the Government Business Council. Prior to his current roles, he worked as a management consultant on national security and emergency management issues with the US Treasury Department. He’s worked as a political research analyst, a reporter for the Des Moines Register at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland and is a graduate of the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs. He studied at Drake University where he has degrees in Magazine Journalism, Political Science and History.
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