# The Life Altering Effect of Small Talk With Strangers

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-school-of-life-7778042/the-life-altering-effect-of-small-talk-with-strangers
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-school-of-life-7778042/the-life-altering-effect-of-small-talk-with-strangers.md
Podcast: [The School of Life](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-school-of-life-7778042)
Published: 2026-06-03T05:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/VG2169682438.mp3?updated=1778652498
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/VG2169682438.mp3?updated=1778652498
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-school-of-life-7778042/episodes/the-life-altering-effect-of-small-talk-with-strangers
Duration seconds: 352

## Resource

Taking the time to start a small chat with a stranger might be more consequential than it seems. It may even play a part in changing the world. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/gcwuj Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/wlSZ0 FURTHER READING You can read more on this and other subjects here: https://bit.ly/3VMWVFb “Taking time to have small chats about nothing in particular with people we don’t know and are unlikely ever to meet again can — from some perspectives — seem like the height of absurdity. Maybe we’re in a coffee shop and someone is preparing us a drink. Perhaps we’ve crossed a neighbour in the hallway while getting our post. Or we’re on a train, waiting for the doors to open. Why would we bother to hold up our day for a few moments, given how many things we already need to do and how many good friends we have that we haven’t seen in far too long? We may also have a more high minded defence for our silence: we aspire to be profound people and there is no way that we can get anywhere meaningful with a near or complete stranger in a compressed amount of time. We shun the smaller chats because — in the back of our minds — we tell ourselves that we are already sufficiently deeply committed to the long and consequential ones…” MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on SELF in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLself SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ X: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelon…

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