The art of the party conversation

Sophia Money-Coutts tells you how to tackle small talk

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1 December 2016

Small talk at Christmas parties is ghastly. We all hate it. Enforced conversation with someone you don’t know, who has the breath of a death-eater, about whether you’re a turkey or goose kind of family. It’s the pits.

Except this year, we’re in luck. Because although 2016 has been appalling on many levels, it’s been a gift to anyone who struggles with party conversation.

Here’s my festive tip — any time you’re struggling, just say this: ‘Tell me, where were you this year when you heard about Trump/Brexit/Bowie/Prince/Terry Wogan/Alan Rickman/Victoria Wood/Leonard Cohen?

Because small talk is all about having enough questions up your sleeve, whether they’re about fluffy subjects (‘What do you think about these cheese straws?’) or more weighty ones (‘What exactly do you think happened with that gorilla?’).

And if all else fails, you can always follow the lead of a guest who sat next to the 6th Earl Fitzwilliam, an apparently ‘dour’ and silent sort of man, in the 1890s. Having failed to get any sort of jolly dinner conversation going, the guest finally resorted to picking up a silver spoon and asking him, ‘Which reflection do you prefer of yourself: the convex, or the concave?’

Sophia Money-Coutts is Features Director at ‘Tatler’.

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