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Making small talk doesn't have to be painful, even if it's with a boss you want to impress or blind date you want to see alot more of! Believe it or not, making small talk can be fun - even for quiet personality types. Making small talk is also an art that can be learned.

"So…how about this weather?" doesn't often lead to stimulating dialogue (but don't hesitate to use it if you're desperate). If you must make small talk about the weather, be specific. Say, "It'sfreezingcold outside – have you ever heard that saying, 'colder than ________' ? Where did that come from, anyway?" might work better, depending on who you're talking to.

Making small talk can be difficult even if you're an extrovert, but it's especially difficult for introverts. Here's how to enjoy making small talk.
How to Make Small Talk: 10 Tips for Starting Conversations With People You Don't Know

1. Keep up with current events.Make small talk about the news, sports, your community, or politics (unless politics is too controversial. On second thought, that can generate some pretty fiery dialogues!)

2. Comment on a piece of clothing or accessory.Ask where it came from, what the significance is, how much it cost (just kidding). Making small talk is about being observant about people you don't know well.

3. Pay attention to what they're saying.When you're making small talk, follow up on phrases; for instance, if they say they're "excellent", ask why – ask where you can get some. If they mention that they're exhausted, follow up on it. When you're making small talk, remember that great conversations and good connections can be just around the corner.

4. Share an anecdote about your day.Did you lose your keys or find $10? Maybe you ate at a new restaurant recently, or found a great new CD. Making small talk is about sharing the little things.

5. Ask what movies or books they've seen or read recently.Someone once asked me that at a party. Admittedly, at first it felt contrived, but then we had a fantastic conversation about the book I was reading! Making small talk is about trying new conversations.

6. Talk about tv.Share your favourite tv shows - whether it's Oprah's revelation of The Secret or the your favorite sitcom. If you're Canadian, Little Mosque on the Prairie might be interesting to discuss! Making small talk about pop culture is easy and fun.

7. Recall your past conversations with the same person.Ask if their son is still ill or how the Mexican holiday went. Making small talk is easier when your memory is good. 

8. Ask open-ended questions that require an explanation.For instance, "How are you?" isn't as effective as "Whatever happened with '__________' you were dealing with?" ('__________' could be a business deal, family problem, or financial investment) Remember that anything is a potential topic of conversation.You can even talk about how uncomfortable you are making small talk – and ask them how they do it.

9. Relax.Enjoy yourself.People are interesting! If you combine these tips for making small talk with sincere interest, you'll embark on a fascinating conversational ride.

10. Let it go.If the conversation feels like dragging a piano uphill then it may be time to move on or let silence take over. You can't connect with everyone, and some conversations simply refuse to take life! Making small talk involves knowing when it's time to move on.

Charity is down, and so are the fortunes and perceptions of the rich.
But Forbes has come up with yet another list to give us hope for the wealthy. The 'Billion-Dollar Donors' ranks people who have given away (not just pledged) at least $1 billion in total. The great virtue of the list is that the gifts don't have to be recent.

Interestingly, of the world's 793 billionaires, by Forbes' count, only 14 make the list.

'I'm surprised there aren't more,' said Herbert Sandler, the billionaire banker who sold his mortgage company before the global financial crisis. 'It's a shame there aren't a lot more.'

Here are the people Forbes calls 'the most generous people on the planet' (assuming a correlation between dollars and generosity).

1 Bill Gates, $28 billion donated.
2 George Soros, $7.2 billion
3 Gordon Moore, $6.8 billion.
4 Warren Buffett, $6.7 billion.
5 Eli Broad, $2 billion.
6 James Stowers, $1.9 billion.
7 Herbert and Marion Sandler, $1.5 billion.
8 Michael Bloomberg, $1.5 billion
9 Li Ka-shing, $1.37 billion
10 Dietmar Hopp, $1.25 billion
11 Michael Dell $1.2 billion
12 Klaus Tschira, $1.1 billion
13 Stephen Schmidheiny $1 billion
14 Ted Turner, $1 billion

My 15-year-old is disinclined to work for her GCSEs, saying her time is better spent preening herself in preparation for assignations with her delightful, diligent, privately educated, moneyed boyfriend. She insists the money spent on nail-painting, hair-colouring and the like is an investment and will be more than repaid when he marries her. Is she deluding herself?

A curious mother

Dear Curious Mother, 

Surprising as this may seem in the 21st century, your daughter's strategy is not unusual. Evidence on speed-dating gathered by the economists Michèle Belot and Marco Francesconi shows that women are attracted by rich men, while men focus more on a woman's physical appearance. Lena Edlund, another economist, has found that in the areas of her native Sweden where the wealthiest men live, women of prime marriageable age are over-represented.

However, your daughter is only 15; for Edlund, “prime marriageable age” is 25-44. Your daughter is either going to have to get her hooks into this chap unusually early, or she is going to have to keep him on the boil for another decade – a lot of nail-painting.

Not only is she concentrating her investments into a single asset by abandoning her education, but she may even be making her main goal harder to achieve. Belot and Francesconi discovered that a strong social trend towards “assortative mating” means that although educated, high-achieving men are not interested in marrying a rich woman, they do like educated high-achieving women, rather than shallow girls with shiny nails.

Your daughter should learn to work hard and look good at the same time. Not only will it advance her immediate goals, it will also – sadly – stand her in good stead for the rest of her life.