Networking & Small Talk
Build professional relationships through effective networking
Who it's for
Written for B1 (intermediate) students who handle everyday English and are ready for longer answers.
Meetings, emails, calls, negotiation and finance for students who use English at work. More Business English lesson plans
Skills it practises
- Speaking: discussion questionsevery lesson
- Vocabulary: a target word listevery lesson
- Reading: a text or news storyevery lesson
- Controlled practice: gap-fills, matching, sorting and moreevery lesson
- Role-play: a dialogue to act outevery lesson
- An answer framework to structure what they sayevery lesson
Lessons
- Starting Conversations at EventsGoal: walk up to a stranger at a professional event, open a conversation, and exit it gracefully with a new contact — the Open–Build–Exit moves, model openings, and live practice.1 hr 13 minFree
- Safe Topics & TaboosGoal: keep small talk in the safe zone — and rescue the conversation in seconds when a taboo topic comes up, with the Graceful Pivot and three model rescues.1 hr 13 minOutline
- Building Professional RelationshipsGoal: turn someone you met once into a real professional contact — the 48-Hour Message, three model follow-ups, and live practice.1 hr 13 minOutline
- Active Listening & Follow-up QuestionsGoal: respond to a contact's story with LACE — listen, acknowledge, clarify, extend — so they walk away feeling truly heard.1 hr 6 minOutline
- Networking at ConferencesGoal: work a conference with ready lines for its four key moments — the booth conversation, the keynote debrief, the graceful exit, and the follow-up.1 hr 13 minOutline
- The Elevator PitchGoal: a 30-second answer to “What do you do?” that people understand, remember, and want to ask about — the Who–What–Wow–Hook pitch, three model pitches, and live practice.1 hr 13 minOutline
- LinkedIn & Digital NetworkingGoal: write a LinkedIn connection request that gets accepted — the GIVE framework, three model requests, and live practice.1 hr 6 minOutline
- Following Up After EventsGoal: a follow-up system that keeps contacts alive — sort the same evening, send the 48-hour message, give value first, and stay warm for months.1 hr 13 minOutline
How to use it in a lesson
- Lessons run 66 to 73 minutes, with a timing on every stage, so you can see before you start what fits your slot.
- Start with "Starting Conversations at Events": its whole plan is on this site, stage by stage, with the target vocabulary, free to read and to teach from on any video call.
- For a shorter slot, skip a practice stage or cut the discussion short: the stages are a guide, not a script.
Teach Networking & Small Talk with your student
Lesson 1 of this course is free. A free account opens it in the interactive player, and the rest of the course is included with Starter. Teaching it live with your student in the Tuton classroom starts with a 7-day free trial.
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