Small talk is an essential part of our daily life, and is an essential skill to make you more popular as well to make other people happy. However it can be a big challenge. Here are some tips to improve small talk skills. Of course, making effective small talk means lots of practice, but keeping these tips in mind should improve overall conversational skills. Stay away from religious/ strong political beliefsks5u While you may firmly believe in something, beginning conversations and making small talk about your own personal beliefs may  _ end the conversation. Keep it light, and don't try to convince the other person that you have the "correct" information about a higher being, political system or other belief system. Use the Internet to gain the specific vocabulary If you have a business meeting, or are meeting people who share a common interest, take advantage of the Internet to learn the specific vocabulary. Almost all business and interest groups have glossaries  on the Internet. Find common interests Once you have a subject that interests both of you, keep to it! You can do this in a number of ways: talking about travel, talking about the school or friend you have in common, talking about the difference between your culture and the new culture(just be careful to make comparisons and not judgments) and so on. Listen This is very important. Listening carefully will help you understand and encourage those speaking to you. You might be nervous, but letting others state their opinion will improve the quality of the discussion and give you some time to think of an answer! According to the passage, listening carefully is very important because   _  .
it will make conversations go smoothly it can help us find more common interests it will help others feel relaxed we may avoid unpleasant topics by doing soks5u