Britain’s Loose Lips League Table - Catherine Blyth

We prefer to do it in queues rather than lifts, hairdressers do it best and nearly half of us are it more than twice a week – it seems Brits can’t get enough of small talk.

Research by Chit Chat Bingo paints a vivid picture of Britain’s conversational habits with Belfast topping the loose lips league (see league table below) – and more than 15 per cent of us finding romance from conversations with strangers.

• Nearly two-fifths of us chat to a stranger about once a week
• More than half say small talk brightens their day
• The weather and sport are the top conversation topics
• ‘Do you come here often’ is regarded as the worst small talk opener
• Simon Cowell and The Queen are most popular ‘dream conversations’
• People chat more openly online than in person
• Friendships, romance and marriage have been started from small talk

Catherine Blyth, author of The Art of Conversation, comments: “Many people say they despise small talk, but without it there would be no big conversations. It exercises our wits, improves well being and changes lives. Because everyone we encounter is a portal to another world, and small talk is what opens the door.”


Lee Knott, head of marketing services for Chit Chat Bingo, added: “We know from our customers how much they love talking to other players online and given that more than half of us say that making small talk brightens our day we should all do it more often.”


Men v women


It seems there is a divide between men and women when it comes to making small talk – nearly three times as many men (14.4%) prefer to chat in a bar compared to women (5.2%) whereas females are twice as likely to catch up at the school gate (7.8%) than men (4%). Equally, men are three times as likely as women to discuss sport (29.6%) while women are twice as likely to natter about their favourite TV programmes (18.2%).


Why we do it


More than half of us (56%) say that making small talk brightens our day – and nearly a third highlight they have formed friendships as a result of chatting to strangers. In fact, for around 15 per cent of us, making small talk has brought romance with surprisingly around 5 per cent saying it brought about their marriage.


Catherine Blyth’s tips on making small talk

1. Approach small-talk as a treasure hunt: your goal is to find some common ground.
2. Remember enthusiasm matters more than what you say – so meet their eye, smile and show how pleased you're are to meet them.
3. Don’t tease, boast, moan, bitch, make personal remarks until you have established a degree of intimacy – and know you have the same sense of humour.
4. Don’t ask a question unless you're genuinely interested in the answer, and have something to add.
5. The shortest route to an interesting conversation is to find out what interests them – then find a way to make it relevant to you
6. Conversation thrives or dies by how well it flows, so when you make an observation, tag on a question, and that will keep the ball rolling.
7. If you notice someone’s glass is empty and yours is still full, you are probably talking too much – let them have their turn!
8. Don’t rush to be pally as you could drive them away. Instead, build intimacy in four steps: first exchange greetings, then information, then opinions, then feelings.
9. Asking someone for help is  a great way to start talking – it instantly flatters someone and gives the conversation a purpose.
10. Try asking someone how far they have come – the Queen always asks it! 

Regional differences


Based on length, frequency and time spent conversing – as well as those that loathe and how well other cities rate them we have devised a ‘loose lips league table’ of Britain:

City	Length of conversations	Hate it	Frequency	Each day	Rated by others	Total
Belfast	10	8	10	1	7	36
Cardiff	8	9	9	3	4	33
Glasgow	9	5	3	9	6	32
Birmingham	7	6	7	8	3	31
Newcastle	1	10	1	10	9	31
Liverpool	2	3	6	5	10	26
London	3	4	4	6	8	25
Bristol	5	7	8	2	1	23
Leeds	6	2	2	7	2	19
Manchester	4	1	5	4	5	19

For a full breakdown of all the statistics including comparisons between regions, ages and men and women please contact David Child or Kimberley Nanson on 020 8332 9690 or at chitchat@lucre.co.uk. 


Notes to editors


Research was carried out in April by the UK National Research panel at YourSayPays. Results were collected from a sample of 1,000 people across the UK. YourSayPays is a national research panel and can be found at www.yoursaypays.co.uk. YourSayPays has over 25,000 panellists from across the UK.


Which celebrity would you most like to have a conversation with:

1. The Queen  21.1%
2. Simon Cowell  20.5%
3. Brad Pitt  10.3%
4. David Beckham  10.2%
5. Katie Price  10.2%
6. Gordon Brown  9.6%
7. David Cameron  8.7%
8. Kate Moss  5.7%
9. Nick Clegg  3.7%

Top conversation topics

1. Weather  28.7%
2. Sporting matches 18.9%
3. Current affairs  17.9%
4. TV   13.9%
5. General Election 8.5%
6. Public transport delays 5.3%
7. Celebrities  3.5%
8. Flirting   3.3%

Worst opening lines

1. Do you come here often?   31.5%
2. What about the weather?   16%
3. Have you booked any holidays this year? 13.7%
4. Don’t I know you from somewhere  12.2%
5. What job do you do?    7.7%
6. Doing anything nice at the weekend?  6.5%
7. What school/university did you go to?  5.2%
8. Have you been waiting long?   4.7%
9. Is this seat taken?    2.5% 

Research was carried out in April by the UK National Research panel at YourSayPays. Results were collected from a sample of 1,000 people across the UK. YourSayPays is a national research panel and can be found at www.yoursaypays.co.uk

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