Office parties are a great way to unwind, break the ice, and get to know your colleagues and to let your hair down as well. Office parties offer one more opportunity – to practice your English and social skills.

Office parties are the perfect place to strike a conversation with the colleagues you have always wished to speak with. The environment and mood is just perfect – neither too formal, nor too casual. This is the perfect setting to strike a casual conversation and indulge in some small talk.

However, for people who are complete novices, even a casual conversation at the party is enough to break them into a sweat. The fear of fumbling, making a mistake, mispronouncing, and many other such monsters come to haunt the mind when you are not confident about speaking in English. However, you should remind yourself of one thing always, if you do not practice spoken English, how will you ever improve and gain the confidence? Do not be afraid of making mistakes, rather take them sportingly and learn from them.

To help you out, we will give you a quick lesson to give you an idea of what a standard conversation at a party goes like. We, definitely, cannot predict what the mind of a conversation may crop up at a party, but we can definitely draw a rough sketch to prepare you beforehand so that you do not get caught unawares!

Here is an idea of a usual conversation at a party:

(Before we start, let us make some fictional characters amongst which the conversation will take place. Raj (our amateur English speaker), Suresh, and Priya should be good!)

Raj joins Suresh and Priya

Raj: Hey Suresh, how are you?

Suresh: Hello Raj, meet my friend Priya. Priya, this is Raj, he works in my department.

Priya: Hi, Raj.

Raj: Hi, Priya. So, which department are you in?

Priya: I am in accounts.

Suresh: Hey, let us get some finger food to eat, while we chat up.

Priya: Why, that is a good idea!

Raj: yes, let us go.

As you must have deduced by now, since this is a party, casual words like 'hey', 'chat up', etc. are acceptable. These words give your sentences a fun feel and are apt, given the situation. Now our scene is proceeding towards food. Remember, food is always a safe topic of conversation. Unlike other topics, where people can get judgmental or hurt, food is, by far, a safe topic and it is pertinent that you exploit this opportunity to its maximum.

At the buffet table:

Suresh: Priya, try these paneer fritters. They are amazing.

Priya: Sure.

Raj: I would like to has some, as well.

Suresh: Not has, Raj. You should say 'have'.

Raj: What?

Suresh: You should say, 'I would like to have some, as well.'

Raj: Oh. Thank you for correcting me.

Suresh (to Priya): Raj has been trying to improve his English speaking skills and he practices often. I must say, he has improved a lot.

Priya: Oh! That is terrific, Raj. All the best.

So, this is how you should always welcome help and correction. This is the only way you can improve spoken English. Joining an online English speaking class like eAgeTutor is also a good idea as it will help you understand the rules and nuances of English, thereby improving your spoken English.