From My Inbox: Small Talk

Let’s talk about Small Talk. Some love it. Some are “naturals” at it. Some simply f’g hate the thought of it.

Regardless of where you fall on the small talk spectrum, I think it is fair to say it (small talk) is here to stay (I was going to say, “not going anywhere” and then imagined all the small talk haters leaping in with “that’s the point, small talk doesn’t go anywhere and that’s why we hate it!”).

I was recently listening to an interview with On Being’s Krista Tippett, wherein she tossed out a rather insightful line, in regards to how she approaches 1:1 communication:

Conversation is an adventure.

Unknowns. Unexpected hazards - as well as delights. Scary, but turning it around, what an exciting proposition to approach small talk as an adventure versus reverting to same old same old bland questions and rote answers. Give it a try. Instead of relegating small talk to “a dreaded obligation to be avoided when possible”, reframe it, approach it with a sense of adventure. I wonder who is in this room and what I’ll learn from them. I’m curious to hear what others are up to or I’m excited to learn what make them tick. I wonder what I will discover. I wonder what adventure through conversation awaits me…

And with that I have another grab bag of adventurous good 💩 for you this week (though if you are desiring more of my small talk thoughts, jump over to this Is It OK To… post):

• What Makes a Good Vending Machine? (TASTE)
• My 5 Easy Steps to Navigate from Overwhelm to Empowered Success! (A Backyard Hiker)
• How to Score an Enviable Vintage Dinnerware Collection (Eater)
• Did you know there is science behind your vision board….Join best-selling author, Monica Parker (The Power Of Wonder) for a vision board session covering the science behind vision and goal setting, plus the creation of a foundation for your vision board through interactive prompts.
• The third, annual All-Ireland Sustainability Summit is taking place in March. Take their pre-summit survey for your chance to win x 2 tickets to the All-Ireland Sustainability Summit on the 21st March and x 2 passes to our VIP pre-summit networking event on the 20th March.
• Get your investment groove on in this 1/2 day (free) program - Angel Investing 101 - being offered on February 3 in NYC by AwakenAngels.
• Discover Your Masterpiece. A 3-day writing escape for women writers at Kripalu presented by The Women Writers Collective
• Contribute to the Medusa Media Group's Women & Nonbinary Authority Project survey. The survey goal is to assess how women and nonbinary professionals acquire authority in their careers
• Mid-month of the new year, and hopefully still full of motivation to (finally) pursue “what’s next”… if that’s sounding like you, join my talented friends at Camp Reinvention for their signature 12-week program starting January 30th.
• The Application for VentureCrushFG 2024 Pods (Virtual or In-Person program) is now open. VentureCrushFG, a NYC-based accelerator, builds a community of Founders (and strives to avoid engendering competition between the founders within VCFG). VCFG does NOT: (1) take equity, (2) charge, (3) require anyone to do business with anyone else or (4) have a demo day.
• Yasmeen Turayhi on the Top 10 Best Practice Tips for Product Launches (The WIE Suite)
• Humor’s Power - And women now can use it (Liza Donnelly)
• In Praise of the Feminist Act of Wandering (Vogue)
• seven wonders (hello 2024 version) playlist courtesy of The Nucleus Group
• Ian Fleming: The Complete Man (BBC Radio 4)
• What is your biggest regret? (3 minute animated video, from Amanda Duckworth, created for one of her classes at Harvard)
• Get all the data on Ad Tech, MarTech, and Digital Content in LUMA Partners’ 2023 Full Year Market Report