A conversation opener is an introduction used to begin a

conversation Conversation is interactive communication between two or more people. The development of conversational skills and etiquette is an important part of socialization. The development of conversational skills in a new language is a frequent focus ...

. They are frequently the subject of guides and

seminar A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some parti ...

s on how to make friends and/or meet people. Different situations may call for different openers (e.g. approaching a stranger on the street versus meeting them at a more structured gathering of people with like interests). An opener often takes the form of an open-ended question, which can lead to further comments or

as well as creating topics for future conversations (e.g. "How's your mandrill doing?"). A closed-ended question (e.g. "Nice weather today, isn't it?") is regarded as potentially less effective because it can be answered with a simple "Mm-hmm," which is essentially a conversational dead end, requiring the initiater of the conversation to start from scratch. ''How to Start a Conversation'' notes that in conversation openers, "There really are only two topics to choose from – The situation rthe other person. Secondly, there are only two ways to begin a conversation: State a fact rask a question/opinion". Accordingly, openers are often linked to props, e.g. "Do you have a cigarette?" "Wow, you're reading ''

Crime and Punishment ''Crime and Punishment'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Преступление и наказание, Prestupléniye i nakazániye, prʲɪstʊˈplʲenʲɪje ɪ nəkɐˈzanʲɪje) is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. ...

'', that's one of my favorite books..." "I like your skirt, where did you get it?" etc. Many venues, such as singles tennis events, etc. are geared toward prop-based conversation openers. Some people keep conversation pieces for this purpose. Judy Ringer's ''We Have to Talk: A Step-By-Step Checklist for Difficult Conversations'' points out that an entirely different set of openers may be used for sensitive conversations, e.g. about employee performance, in which a main goal may be to avoid putting the person on the defensive. These openers often take the form of simple direct statements such as "I have something I’d like to discuss with you that I think will help us work together more effectively".

Conversation openers in sales settings

In sales settings, conversation openers often are used to probe the subject for information. Topic chosen are on 'safe ground' like 'the weather' or 'how was your journey to get here'.Sales Feature Article "Conversation Openers"
by Scott Peck This information can then be used in attempts to counter objections. This type of conversation opener is often referred to as

small talk Small talk is an informal type of discourse that does not cover any functional topics of conversation or any transactions that need to be addressed. In essence, it is polite and standard conversation about unimportant things. The phenomenon ...

and is used to make both people in a conversation feel comfortable.

References

{{Reflist Oral communication