There are lots of possible situations where you’ll meet new people: at a party, in the student lounge, at a conference, on the train, while traveling, just to name a few.

What do you usually say when you meet someone new?

How do you introduce yourself?

Do you find it difficult to continue the conversation with them after exchanging names?

Even though the language we use to make small talk with new people may appear to be very simple, it is often difficult to use without practice.

(In addition, some questions which are normal in your native language are actually considered rude in the United States!)

Let me guide you. In this article, I’m going to give you some tips on how to find out information you’re interested in from someone new.

If I’m honest, introducing yourself can be the most challenging part of a conversation. Even native speakers feel a little shy when approaching someone new.

That’s why you usually practice the easiest way to introduce yourself in beginning English classes:

However, there are many other ways to introduce yourself. These expressions sound a little more natural.

Make sure you pay attention to your intonation so that you sound friendly.

At any social event, you are probably going to introduce other people to each other and talk with more than one person at a time, which makes conversation much more interesting.

Here are some good ways to introduce two people who haven’t met:

When meeting someone new, we usually stick to very basic conversation topics until we get to know the person better.

While you may want to learn a lot about an interesting person, you need to be careful not to ask too many personal questions the first time you meet.

Americans are well-known for almost always asking these three questions:

In general, people will ask you about work or school as soon as they meet you.

They may ask “What brings you here?” to find out more about you without being too direct.

This question encourages you to talk more about yourself and give reasons for attending the event.

Similarly, if you live in a city like Boston with a lot of neighborhoods and nearby cities, another neutral topic is asking for more details about where you live.

If you are just visiting or are not from the United States, people will usually ask you more questions about your background and for your opinion about their city.

Let’s be honest: if you are single and talking to someone attractive, you probably want to know whether they have a boyfriend/girlfriend or romantic partner, are married, or have kids.

However, it’s best not to be too direct when asking questions about the other person’s relationships.  You can ask in a more indirect way:

If you have been talking to this new person for a while, you can ask more direct questions:

Americans also really like their pets, so it’s common to ask, “Do you have any pets?”

After learning basic information about the person you have just met, you can continue the conversation by asking him/her more general questions.

This also enables you to find something in common!  Here are some basic questions to start with:

As you can see, making small talk with someone you’ve just met is easy if you remember to stick to neutral, general conversation topics.

After you’ve talked for a while, you may want to continue the conversation and can ask for more details about their work, studies, or interests. (Get some suggestions here.)

If you don’t want to continue talking, you should end the conversation politely:

After reading this article, I hope you feel more confident and comfortable introducing yourself to and making small talk with new people.

You may be interested in how to make small talk with acquaintances and friends you run into unexpectedly.

Or perhaps you’d like to find out how to make small talk in the workplace.

Now it’s your turn! Please leave a comment below introducing yourself and asking me one of the questions we discussed above! I’ll respond and we’ll get the conversation going.

In order to improve your conversation skills, you must find opportunities to interact, so go to a party or event, introduce yourself to someone new at your school, or talk to someone at a bus stop.

The more you practice, the easier it becomes!