Greetings- Best ways to initiate a conversation

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Introduction

When you meet a friend or stranger, you usually use a polite type of chat to greet each other, known as small talk. It helps you to start a conversation and to learn more about the other person.

The conversation is critical to building connections and relationships between people. In addition, if you have the skills to communicate correctly, it will help you develop and strengthen the bonds. English start with greetings makes beautiful of our conversation.

Greetings

Almost every conversation in any language all over the world, including English, starts with a greeting. You will also find two types of greetings in the English language, such as formal and informal language. 

The formal type of greetings in English are:

  • Hello
  • It’s a pleasure to meet you
  • Good morning, good evening, and good night.
  • How are you?
  • Have a nice day

The informal type of greetings in English are:

  • Hello
  • Hey
  • Hi
  • Yo!
  • What’s up? (You can use it as an informal way of saying, how are you?)

Ask Questions

One of the essential parts of any conversation in English is questions. In other words, you must ask about the other person to know more about them. It is considered as a fair manner

Usually, while talking to a person you know in English, it is always nice to ask questions to see how the other person is. For instance:

  • Hello, how are you?
  • How’s life?
  • How is everything?
  • How’s it going?
  • Having a busy day?
  • How’s your day going?

There are some more questions that you can use while talking to strangers such as:

  • What is your name?
  • What do you do for a living?
  • Where do you live?
  • Where are you from?

However, the question type might change depending on the situation.

Connection with the Person

The type of conversation you have with a person changes according to you your relationship with them. If you meet a person for the first time, you will have to use formal language. However, if you meet a good friend or people your age, you will chat informally. 

It is always an excellent choice to avoid speaking informally until the other person starts to talk casually with you. Also, it is natural for people to use casual conversation after they get to know you better. 

The greetings that you can use with someone you been introduced to:

  • Nice to meet you!
  • How do you both know each other?
  • How are you?
  • Pleased to meet you!
  • So, what do you do? (refers to a job)
  • How long did you do that? 

Similarly, if you meet someone after a long time, you can use these greetings:

  • How have you been?
  • What have you been doing lately?
  • Long time no see!
  • How is your family?

Responses for the questions

You should always respond to questions politely since it will help you to build a better connection with the other person. It will also help you to keep the conversation going. 

You can also respond with a question depending on what is being said or asked. For instance:

  • Oh, you lived in Paris? How long did you live there?
  • Did you enjoy staying in Paris? 

Final Words In conclusion, it is essential to know how to communicate effectively since it helps you build a better connection with people. Also, you will be able to meet new people and build bonds.

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