5 min freeA stranger at a partyA stranger at a party, rehearsed out loud
1
person runs this conversation
5 min
The shortest conversation
Music, an accent, nobody you know, and no reason for either of you to keep talking. The hardest part is not starting it. It is leaving without ending it badly.
B1 · workingB2 · confident
Who you will be talking to
A stranger at a party, with 1 of these 1.
In whichever order helps. The first 5 minutes with a free partner cost nothing, so you can talk to two of them before you choose.
5 min freeA stranger at a partyWhat actually happens
Five things people say before they start.
One of them is usually the real reason. What sits underneath it is what actually gets scored.
/01
“You both say your names and then look at the room.”
The first thirty seconds
Two people who have just met and one of them has to say something that is not the weather. What you are doing here, what they are doing here, and one detail worth picking up.
/02
“You nodded at something and the conversation went sideways a minute later.”
Hearing half of it
There is music, they have an accent, and a word went past you. Asking for the specific piece you missed is worth more than asking for the whole sentence again, and both are worth more than nodding.
/03
“Everything you have said is true, correct and completely flat.”
Landing something small
A joke, a bit of yourself, a mild opinion. It is the register nobody is taught: warm and appropriate at once, neither textbook nor slang picked up from a series.
/04
“You waited for them to leave first, and they were waiting too.”
Getting out of it well
Ending a conversation with somebody you like, in a way that leaves the door open. This is the part people rehearse least and regret most.
Not the situation you need?
Bring the real thing: the job description, the date on the letter, the words the school used. Everyone who runs a stranger at a party will work from what you actually walked in with.
How a first conversation worksWhat it costs
One price a minute, whoever you talk to.
A harder conversation simply runs longer. The shortest way to rehearse a stranger at a party is 5 min.
You pay for the seconds you talk, and the minutes come off a balance you already hold. Nothing renews, and you are never sent a bill. Plans and refunds.
Your first 5 minutes
What 5 free minutes are for.
01
Say you did not catch it
Once, out loud, naming the word. It is a criterion, and it is the one that decides how the rest goes.
The terms, in full
- Free
- 5 minutes
- No card asked for
02
Change the subject yourself
The score notices who moved the conversation, which is usually not the person rehearsing.
Paid for out of your free minutes
- The first thirty seconds
- Hearing half of it
- Landing something small
- Getting out of it well
Questions
What people ask before they start.
Nearby
What people open next.
The rest of Social first, then everything else at the same difficulty.
All the situationsA friend, on a call
A2 · basicB1 · workingB2 · confidentThey ask how your week was and then wait. The four seconds after the question are the whole exercise.5 peoplefrom 6 minJust talking
A2 · basicB1 · workingB2 · confidentA flatmate at the stove, a friend from an online group, a traveller at the hostel. Nothing to decide, everything to say.4 peoplefrom 6 minMeeting someone new
A2 · basicB1 · workingB2 · confidentA friend of a friend, a café, and nobody obliged to keep it going. The first two minutes are the whole thing.2 peoplefrom 6 min
A2 · basicB1 · workingB2 · confidentThey ask how your week was and then wait. The four seconds after the question are the whole exercise.5 peoplefrom 6 minJust talkingA2 · basicB1 · workingB2 · confidentA flatmate at the stove, a friend from an online group, a traveller at the hostel. Nothing to decide, everything to say.4 peoplefrom 6 minMeeting someone newA2 · basicB1 · workingB2 · confidentA friend of a friend, a café, and nobody obliged to keep it going. The first two minutes are the whole thing.2 peoplefrom 6 min