Small talk lesson plans from A1 to C1
Small talk feels easy to native speakers and terrifying to learners, because the rules are never written down. A small talk ESL lesson plan makes them visible. The lessons on this page build the skill in steps:
| Level | Lesson | What students can do after |
| A1-A2 | Small Talk | Use ready phrases for common topics and avoid awkward silences |
| A2-B1 | The Art of Small Talk | Start, keep and end a casual conversation at work or with friends |
| A2-B1 | What's The Weather Like Today? | Talk about the weather, the safest topic there is |
| B1-B2 | Pet Peeves, Compliments | Share opinions lightly and give and receive compliments naturally |
| B2-C1 | Just Kidding, Weather Forecast | Tease, joke and rescue a joke that fell flat |
The Art of Small Talk also works as a business English small talk lesson plan, since half its situations happen at work. For more small talk activities for ESL students, add a two-minute role-play at the end of any lesson: students meet at a coffee machine and must keep talking until the timer stops. Our role-play exercises give you more formats.
Small talk topics that work with adults
The most common question teachers ask is what to let students talk about. These ESL small talk topics are safe with almost any adult group:
- The weather
- Plans for the weekend, or how the last one went
- Food, coffee and places to eat
- Travel and holidays
- Films, series and books
- Pets
- The commute or the traffic
- Hobbies and sport
- Work, without asking about salary
- The place where you are right now
And four topics that people usually avoid in small talk, which are worth teaching as a cultural point:
- Money and salaries
- Politics
- Religion
- Weight and appearance
A topic is only half the skill. Teach two or three conversation starters for each one (Busy weekend?, Have you tried the new place downstairs?) and, more important, the follow-up questions that keep the talk going: Oh really, where?, How was it?, What made you choose that? Students who learn to ask one follow-up question sound far more fluent than students who know twice as many words.
Everyday communication skills
Some of the hardest moments in a second language have nothing to do with vocabulary. They are the moments when you didn't hear, don't agree or need to say no. These ESL communication activities practice exactly those moments and build ESL conversation skills that textbooks rarely cover:
| Skill | Lesson | Level |
| Asking for clarification | Come again? | A2-B1 |
| Agreeing and disagreeing | Finding Common Ground | A1-A2 |
| Apologizing | In The Wrong | A2-B1 |
| Saying no politely | Saying No, Making Excuses | B1-B2 |
| Listening well | On The Same Page | B1-B2 |
| Knowing when to stop | Oversharing | B2-C1 |
Come again? is the most popular lesson on the page, because every learner has nodded along to a sentence they did not understand. Saying No and Making Excuses also give students polite refusals that don't burn bridges, which adults need with colleagues as much as with friends. For more ways to keep these lessons lively, see 10 tips for teaching conversational English.
Idioms, slang and humor
Students who can follow a conversation still get lost when people start joking or using slang. Feelings Idioms and Love Idioms teach expressions people use all year. CU 2morrow, m8! decodes internet language, and How To Speak Gen Z explains what younger people actually mean. For humor, try Stand-up Comedy at B1-B2 and Laughing Out Loud at B2-C1.
The Speak Like series teaches the same natural English through real dialogue from Friends, Gilmore Girls and Bridgerton. Students watch a short scene, learn the phrases the characters use and then act out their own version.
Slang and humor work best at B1 and above, when students have enough English to notice what is unusual. Start with one lesson as a treat at the end of a term, and you will see how much more natural their small talk becomes. Every small talk ESL lesson plan on this page gets easier to teach once the group has laughed together at least once.
Small talk and communication FAQ
How do I teach small talk to a shy student?
This is the most common question about how to teach small talk to ESL students. Start with ready-made phrases from the A1-A2 Small Talk lesson, practice them in short, timed pairs, and let shy students prepare one question in advance. Making small talk gets easier once students know they have something to say.
Are there lessons for small talk at work?
Yes. The Art of Small Talk covers both social and work situations, and Negotiations and The Office Gift Dilemma deal with tricky conversations with colleagues.
From which level can I teach idioms?
From A2-B1. Start with idioms tied to one topic, such as feelings, and save slang and wordplay for B2.
How is this page different from the speaking lessons?
The speaking lessons give students topics and questions to discuss. This page teaches the skills of the conversation itself: starting, reacting, refusing, apologizing and joking.
Every small talk ESL lesson plan on this page comes with a teacher subscription, together with the rest of the library.