I am not good at small talk, or chatter. Particularly not with people I barely know. I don’t know how to insert myself into conversation elegantly, and I certainly don’t know how to exit a conversation with tact. I am all kinds of awkward, and often fill the silent spaces with nervous laughter or babble about myself. Absolutely horrible – for serious.

It wasn’t till I went to a wedding over the weekend and one my friends mentioned that the groom’s sister was FANTASTIC at small talk. And she WAS. Though it wasn’t till she used her skills on me that I realised how fantastic her small talk skills really were: she was confident, asked a few general questions, and then – wait for it – uttered the words ‘take care’ before moving on.

Take. Care.

For exiting conversation, that’s all you need! A simple “take care”, a pat on the arm (if appropriate) and off you go! It’s honest and simple. Says your interested in the persons wellbeing after you leave, but not THAT interested. It’s polite, and IT WORKS!!

After that I was ‘take care’-ing every awkward small chat conversation I found myself in (well, it was either ‘take care’ or ‘oh look, my glass is empty. Excuse me while I fix that’). Take care even worked on the groom, while I was waiting on my turn to farewell the bride!

For all you awkward small talk people out there, it appears that ‘take care’ is your key to leaving the conversation without looking like an absolute twat.

Just thought I’d share, because not all of us can have the poise of the grooms sister. :)