In this lesson, we will focus on the some conversational language used to start and end conversations with someone that you already know what their name is.
A conversation is an interactive communication between two or more people where an informal exchange of ideas is expressed by spoken words. The development of conversational skills and etiquette is an important part of socialization.
There will be some situations where you are already know C2’s name (Your conversation partner), but you have not met the person (C2) yet. It could be a visitor who will be coming to your company or someone who has been identified by someone else. In this situation, you will not need to ask him or her for their name since you already know it.
The first step in conversations is to learn how to effectively start and end the conversation. This language will vary depending on the situation or location of the conversation.
By following the steps below, you will see that starting and ending conversations can be as easy as ABC. Basically, there are three steps for starting or initiating (ABC) the conversation and three steps for ending (ABC) the conversation:
| Starting the Conversation | Ending the Conversation | |||||
| A: | The Opener | A: | The Closer | |||
| B: | The Introduction | B: | The Excuse (expresses politeness) | |||
| C: | The Greeting | C: | The Good bye | |||
Starting and Ending Conversations
| The Situation: | First meetings – C1 knows C2’s name | C1 = The Conversation Initiator | |
| The Place: | at a company, at a social event, etc… | C2 = Your Conversation Partner |
| Starting the Conversation | |||||
| 1. | C1: | A – Hello, THEIR NAME We haven’t had a chance to meet yet. | |||
| B – My name is YOUR NAME. | |||||
| 2. | C2: | Hi/Hello THEIR NAME, it’s nice/good/a pleasure to meet you. | |||
| 3. | C1: | C – It’s nice/good/a pleasure to meet you, THEIR NAME. | |||
| 4. | C1: | Topic Question: So, where do you come from THEIR NAME? | |||
| Ending the Conversation | |||||
| 1. | C1: | A – Would you excuse me (for a moment)? | |||
| B – I have/need to … [The Excuse]. ex. make a quick phone call | |||||
| C – It was nice/good/a pleasure to meet you, THEIR NAME. | |||||
| 2. | C2: | It was nice/good/a pleasure to meet you, too, THEIR NAME. | |||
| 3. | C1: | C – (Maybe) I will see you around sometime | |||
| 4. | C2: | Yeah/sure, see you around. | |||
| Example Excuses | |||||
| [The Excuse] ex. go to a meeting in a few minutes. | |||||
| [The Excuse] ex. say hello to a colleague of mine. | |||||