Had a good chat with @Amal John last week where we talked about building rapport and ice-breaking in new conversations. Little tips and tricks to build rapport; I often ask people where they are located as I can usually find a comical or relatable story about most UK cities. Equally, I've travelled a fair bit so asking where people's grandparents came from (IMO) is a more polite way to find out someone's heritage... be interested in people. It makes them interested in you.