How to introduce/talk about casual topics in Coffee chats?

I have some coffee chats coming up, and as I'm preparing for them, a lot of the advice I've seen is to try to make it more relaxed and casual which makes sense. I'm generally decent at keeping conversations going naturally, but I have no idea how to turn a professional one into a casual one. I reached out to them under the premise of learning about their experiences at their firm and generally just talking about more professional things, so I'm thinking about ways to shift from professional topics to casual topics and I'm coming up empty. How do people in coffee chats generally talk about casual topics? 

2 Comments
 

What I found usually works is when they introduce themselves and tell you about their background, you ask follow up (unscripted) questions. It comes off very natural and they begin speaking about themselves in a personal way which helps turn the convo into more of a casual vibe. Just reciprocate the energy that they give you.

 

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