Small talk with strangers has become a social good with a poor reputation, as more than 75% of people in the UK admit to having avoided small talk in the past.
With workplaces shifting to remote work and the number of third spaces declining, a growing lack of opportunity to speak to strangers has left many feeling less comfortable with casual social interactions.
After experiencing a plummet in her social skills during the height of the pandemic, one Londoner hopes to encourage more people to speak with strangers through her new event.
Hannah Carson, 28, moved to London from Cambridge six years ago, and found she was struggling to find her voice or the confidence to get out of her comfort zone.
From social anxiety to social events
She said: “At the end of last year, I was in a weird place with my speaking. I just felt like I couldn’t do it.
“And at the beginning of the year I just suddenly thought, I need to work on this and conquer it, so I did the 100-day challenge on TikTok.”
Posting videos on TikTok every day for more than three months wasn’t easy, but Hannah found that the challenge helped her get out of her head and rebuild her confidence in speaking.
While building this community online, she began searching for public speaking clubs, hoping to put her skills into practice and learn more about being a confident speaker.
However, Hannah found that existing events often felt pretentious, overly informal, disorganised, or just downright awkward.
She left feeling disheartened, thinking she had done plenty of listening and little to no time putting her speaking skills to the test.
Discussing this experience with friends, Hannah realised many others were grappling with public speaking, especially at work, but felt they had nowhere to go to improve.
After hearing how others were experiencing similar struggles, Hannah created Small Talks, an event built for strangers in London to practice small talk and hear a guest speaker give real advice.
No more pretending to check your phone
Hannah said: “It’s for an audience who don’t take themselves too seriously, but still want to meet people, have fun with it, and try and find their voice in the process.”
Hosted at the Commercial Tavern in Shoreditch, the event begins with attendees receiving a name badge and a prompt card which sets them up to talk to others.
At her first event in April, Hannah trialled ‘Convo Bingo’ – a speed dating style game where attendees were tasked with learning something, sharing something, and finding out something that was shared with another person at the event.
She said: “I think this removes the awkwardness of starting a conversation and trying to figure out who to talk to or where to go.
“My toxic trait is going to the bar and getting a drink or standing staring at my phone to avoid the awkwardness of arriving at events alone.”
During the events, Hannah stands at the door to welcome people and helps introduce them to others, explaining that the beginning of the night is the most important time when you can make people feel as safe as possible.
Since starting the event in April, Hannah has hosted three nights with guest talks on the art of starting conversations, how to look more confident than you feel through body language, and the importance of storytelling.
Guest speakers have ranged from John Muleba, a creative consultant who has worked across top fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton and Alexander McQueen, to Katy Lewis, an impact, communication, and leadership coach.
The event has been tailored to combat the awkwardness associated with small talk and has been set up for people who overthink what they say, want to chat to new people, and fancy practising their small talk, but who prefer to do so in more informal settings.
How to combat the fear of small talk
Hannah emphasised the importance of not being afraid of silence, adding: “I’m a bit of a culprit for trying to fill silence with anything and not really thinking it through.
“I’m a bit of an interrogator in small talk situations because I’m trying to put the attention on someone else, but that’s not an ideal conversation.”
For Hannah, what makes small talk easier is being genuinely curious about the person you’re talking to, and what makes a great conversation is finding common ground with someone.
When asked about what advice she would give to people trying to overcome their fear of small talk, Hannah said: “Try and be as boring as you can.
“You don’t have to be clever, funny, or interesting because you can end up putting too much pressure on yourself to think of something to say that you end up massively hindering yourself.”
“We’re so in our heads about what we say, so as soon as you can remove that and just say whatever comes to you, you’ll be surprised at the reception you get.”
A survey commissioned by Samaritans in March 2026 found that 68% of people in the UK said they would be more inclined to make small talk with a stranger if they knew it made a positive impact. More than 50% believe small talk is a thing of the past.
Featured Image Credit: Hannah Carson
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