#118 Make Small Talk EASIER!

Welcoming you back with wisdom from Steven Barlett’s podcast:

If you don’t know Steven Barlett, his Diary of a CEO is one of the largest podcasts in the world. It focuses primarily on interviews with CEOs, founders, and others and aims to provide insights into entrepreneurship, leadership, and personal development.

Anyway, he had Morgan Housel, author of The Psychology of Money, on the pod recently, and the topic of Housel’s son came up. Steven asked what Housel thought were the most important skills his son needed to develop to ensure success no matter what the industry.

Housel’s response: “Learn how to communicate and learn how to get along with people you disagree with…Those are timeless skills.”

Thank you, Morgan, for the perfect segue into this week’s edition. Let’s get to it!

KickStarting May With…

ELEVATING YOUR BRAND 📈 

• Cool Communicator: 7 Phrases to Boost Your Small-Talk

• Some Chaos Content for Your Commute

• The Search Bar: Most Visited Websites + Rising and Falling Apps

FATTENING YOUR WALLET 💰️ 

• Hustle Hub: Warren Buffett, Buying Businesses, and Side-Hustles for Anyone.

BOOSTING YOUR PRODUCTIVITY 🚀 

• May’s 2-DO LIST: Increase Preparedness, Decrease Stress

THE SEARCH BAR 🔎

What’s Trending Heading into May 2025

• EXPLODING TOPICS - Their most recent blog post to kick off May featured the “Most Visited Websites in The World.” While I’m sure you can guess much of the top of the list, it’s worth a click for the more in-depth analysis of the highest risers over the last five years. That said, what may be most valuable to you is what kinda hides in the bottom right corner of their blog posts:

So, considering what the Professor brings to the OTF table, I searched “persuasion,” and this is the bottom half of the results:

That’s thousands of people looking for help with “persuasive techniques,” and that content’s generating 82 cents per click. Look out, world - OTF coming for that BIG Persuasive Techniques money! 😂 

🧠 PROF MIKE: This is funny, actually. Look at all those students looking for last-minute, Finals-Week shortcuts. To any writing / tutoring services out there, hope you’re capitalizing right now! 🧠

Anyway, this sort of trend info can be really valuable to any small business owners / entrepreneurs out there. Exploding Topics gives at least one free query like this per day, but if you sign up for a no-cost account, you get 10 free searches so that you can “keep analyzing your competitors, keywords, and more.” Def take advantage.

(Note: Exploding Topics is NOT a paid sponsor. We just love their work!)

• Fastest Rising Apps (courtesy of SimilarWeb.com):

• A fitting list for these volatile economic times - three of the five fastest risers are money apps, while on the falling side, Shein’s taking a tumble - maybe because of those tariffs…🧐

CONTENT FOR YOUR COMMUTE 🚶🚆 🚗 

• ON FOOT: Teased in the intro, you can find Steven Barlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast here. It’s reached over 1 billion listens and has over 10 millions subscribers on YouTube 🤯 

• TRAIN TIME: Speaking of volatility, maybe check out Business Insider’s recent article about why it might be “the ideal time to start a business.” 
  
  (If the paywall gets you, it didn’t have one when accessed through Google News app. Full title: “It’s a chaotic world right now. Here’s why that makes it the ideal time to start a business.”

• FIRST CLASS: Part of the chaos is how fast technology changes everything. If you want to not only survive it but also thrive in it, you could start by learning the nine guiding principles put forth in Whiplash: How to Survive our Faster Future. (Published in 2016, the content has aged really well, since the principles are…you guessed it…timeless.)
  

COOL COMMUNICATOR 💯 

7 Phrases to Use During Small Talk

We all know small talk can have a big impact. How many crucial connections have you made as a result of “small talk?” How often do you find yourself engaging in “small talk?”

I’ll answer for all of us: A lot and A LOT!

A better term could be “quick talk,” or “casual talk” - I don’t know 🤷‍♂️ Anything that doesn’t minimize it’s importance. Because it is very important. That’s why articles like “7 Phrases That Exceptional Communicators Use During Small Talk,” courtesy of Hack Spirit, are worth our time. (You’ll likely get info you already know, but I always appreciate reminders like these.)

TL;DR Takeaways

1. “Tell me more about that” - Loved this classic. Great way to keep the convo going and learn more about a topic.
   
   🧠 Also conveys genuine interest, which makes you look good and the speaker feel good.
   

2. “I understand how you feel” - I feel like this always prefaces a “but;” still, seems like a good way to lead into a counterargument. “I understand how you feel, but…”
   
   🧠 Ehh. Empathy is a good trait to try to convey, but you run the risk of getting a “You couldn’t possibly understand” sort of response. Something like “I understand what you’re saying” or a variation of “I hear you” might be better because it’s more accurate: you understand their words, not their feelings.
   

3. “That sounds challenging” - I really liked this one. Imagine: you’re at a happy hour or some networking event, and someone’s going on about something at work. This, or something like it, could be a game-changer.
   
   🧠 I like it, too. A lot of people try to achieve this with “That’s crazy” or “No way,” but using the word challenging goes the extra mile and makes it feel like you really mean it.
   

4. “What’s your take on this?” - The article pointed out: this is a really good tactic if you’re in a convo with a bunch of people. Instead of jumping in with your opinion when there’s a pause, redirect to someone else who hasn’t spoken yet. Makes the conversation “more dynamic,” according to the article.
   
   🧠 Sure, it’s solid. Since we’re all about takes these days, it’s a more contemporary way of showing people you value their opinions and you’re there to learn / listen.
   

5. “I appreciate your perspective” - Always nice to hear people appreciate something you’ve said.
   
   🧠 Similar to “I understand how you feel” in that it seems like it’s prefacing a “but.” The difference is, it’s more honest and rebuttal-proof.
   

6. “Let’s find a solution together” - I’m all about collaboration, so this one hits for me.
   
   🧠 The “find a solution” part is so much better than something like “Let’s work on it together.” Solution is just such a good word. Here, it carries that positive connotation and expresses confidence in the result.
   

7. “I don’t know” - We’ve featured content that talked about this before. A lot of people don’t say this out of fear because it makes them look dumb or unprepared, but I believe people prefer hearing “I don’t know” when compared to false confidence or obvious BS’ing. I don’t see anything wrong with saying you don’t know and expressing a willingness to find out. What say you, Prof?
   
   🧠 I don’t know. Just kidding. Of course: if you don’t know something, say you don’t know. But that last bit Dan added, about the willingness, is the key for me. The vulnerability of “I don’t know” may come with its own positives, but that last bit presents as willing, proactive, and hard-working. All good things.

HUSTLE HUB 📈

YOUR SUCCESS:

Be READY - When a business goes up for sale (due to chaos, perhaps?), you’ve got to be ready to pounce. Here’s how the best entrepreneurs cash in.

THEIR SUCCESS:

Be OPTIMISTIC - Warren Buffett offered these wise words before announcing his plan to retire.

YOUR SUCCESS:

Be INFORMED - And you know what information we can all use? “7 Simple Side Hustle Ideas Just About Anyone Can Do.” Let’s get that money.

2-DO LIST 💡 

MAY

1. Prepare Yourself - Feels like the unofficial theme of this edition became volatility and preparedness. Whether we’re talking trends in The Search Bar, phrases for almost any professional conversation in Cool Communicator, or the chaos content in Content for Your Commute, this is where my mind went this week. So let’s lean into it. Take steps this month to make yourself more prepared for whatever may come in your life. And in my experience, the best way to get prepared is to A) stay as informed as possible, and B) develop skills that make you more well-rounded and your personal brand more attractive on the open market.

   
   

2. Lower Your Stress - Saw this article and thought it was worth a share: it features a “simple visualization exercise” that “kills stress in just 5 minutes. We can all spare five minutes for less stress, right?

Before You Go!

Thanks again for joining us! Next week, we’ll be back with May’s Productivity Issue, featuring Working With AI, Expert Advice, and much more!

If you happened to miss last week’s edition and are wondering who the heck this Professor is, you can check that out here.

In the meantime, please share your insights in our Community Poll on the way out because every response helps make the next edition better.

Community Poll 📊 

Last Week’s Poll Results:

You've just thanked someone for a favor - which form of "You're Welcome" do you most prefer hearing?? (3,686 subscribers)

• Classic - "You're Welcome"

• Detached - "No Problem"

• Upbeat - "Happy to help" 100%

• Open - "Any time"

• Don't care, I've already stopped listening

As always, see you next Tuesday 🤝 

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