The Fine Art of Small Talk

Introduction As a young girl, author Debra Fine was overweight, shy, and often sat invisible in the back of the class. It was when her third-grade classmate Rita passed out invites to her birthday party that Debra first experienced exclusion. Every girl in her class received an invitation except Debra and another very overweight girl like herself. The experience was incredibly hurtful, so Debra threw herself into a world where her only friends were her books. Consequently, she never learned how to talk to her peers. Naturally, as she got older, Debra chose a career that didn't require much conversation - an engineer. While she could comfortably make technical presentations and answer complex engineering questions, she panicked each time she was required to attend a conference or industry meeting. During those conferences and meetings, she was expected to mingle with colleagues, network, and meet clients. So she started every conversation the same by asking, "What do you do?" Eventually, the conversation came to a grinding halt as Debra struggled to keep it going. She struggled with the art of conversation.