Granted – very boring people are adept at the bits and bobs of conversation that go by the name of small talk. Yet it has to be said that chitty-chatterers’ ability to bridge awkward gaps in verbal communication, put people at their ease and find words for the expression of everyday cordialities is a skill not to be despised. Love Stories provides a primer on how to make small talk.

The conventional strategy offered to the shy or tongue-tied is to put their faith in asking their interlocutor direct questions as a means of breaking the ice. This is fine as far as it goes but in practice runs the risk of eliciting a monosyllabic reply and a dead end.

More promising is an open-ended interrogative remark which can lead to many kinds of conversational avenues being explored, such as, ‘What is your view on . . .?’ or ‘Can you put me in the loop about. . .?’.

Reliance on the classic filler about whether your conversationalist has made his or her holiday plans could be settled in a word, apart from also suggesting that an air of desperation has entered the dialogue.

If well and truly stumped for a line, try a nearness to winning a lottery prize experience, or, of course, a win. Opinions will flow like wine.

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