We’ve all been in that situation where you are talking to someone, the conversation dies down, and you are both just sitting there as you try to think of a topic to talk about.
Topics to talk about
Definitely awkward. But hopefully these topics to talk about will help you avoid that situation in the future. You can commit some of them to memory and you’ll always have something to talk about.
First though, here are some general tips for a good conversation.
Conversation tips
Make sure to ask lots of follow up questions related to their answers. But remember it’s a conversation, not an interrogation. So when they ask you a question, make sure to give a long detailed answer and answer any follow up questions they ask you. Every conversation should be a give and take of talking and listening.
Don't discuss religion and politics until you get to know someone. There are no religion or politics topics on this list and that is because you probably shouldn’t discuss these topics unless you want to get into an argument with the person or make the person uncomfortable. Seriously, just don’t.
There are some people who might just not feel like talking. Remember, if someone gives you a lot of one word answers, doesn’t make eye contact, and doesn’t ask you any questions; that probably means they aren’t in the mood for a conversation. In that case it’s better to just end the conversation and leave them to their own thoughts.
Keep the majority questions open-ended. This will make it more likely to get answers that have a lot of detail so that you can ask follow up questions. If most of your questions are closed-ended you'll end up getting lots of yes, no, and one word answers.
Okay, enough with the introduction and tips. Here we go, topics to talk about. Enjoy!
Under each topic are a few sample questions to get you started and to help you think of other questions. But remember that these are just the beginning of the questions you can ask. There are many more possible questions for each topic. Come up with your own questions based on their answers or from your own creativity. And if you need even more topics and questions check out our interesting conversation topics page for a few more.
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Topics: 151
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Topics to talk about with someone you just met
These are your run of the mill, first meeting someone, topics to talk about. Your ice breakers. You’ll find that most people will have at least some things to say about each of these topics.
Once you stumble upon something interesting or something they are interested in, keep talking about that for a while. Branch off from your initial topic and ask follow up questions about whatever they seem interested in. Usually people like talking about themselves, so it's usually good to focus on them and be a good listener with occasional prompting follow up questions.
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1. Current situation
Usually the best way to start a conversation is to talk about your current situation. The questions you’ll ask vary greatly on where you are and what you are doing.
So for example, if you are waiting for something you might ask how long they’ve been waiting. Or if you are at a show or an event you might ask if they’ve seen the performer or speaker before. If you are traveling somewhere you might ask where the other person is headed. If you are at place that is serving food, talk about the food. If there is music playing, talk about the music.
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2. Job / Work
What do you do?
How long have you worked there?
Do you like it?
How are your coworkers?
What’s the best / worst thing about being a (their job)?
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3. Clothes
This one works best if you talk about what they are wearing. Maybe try complimenting a piece of clothing they are wearing that you like and ask where they got it.
What nickname did someone try to give you that never stuck?
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14. Handwriting
How readable is your handwriting?
How much effort went into inventing your signature?
How has your handwriting changed since school?
What's the worst thing you've misread in someone's handwriting?
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15. Getting lost
How would you find your way home if your phone died?
What's the strangest place you've ended up by accident?
Have you ever confidently led someone the wrong way?
How long do you keep going before asking for directions?
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16. Lost and found
What lost possession do you still wonder about?
Have you ever recovered something you thought was gone forever?
How far would you go to return someone's lost wallet?
Random topics to talk about
These are topics that might seem a little weird to ask someone you just met or to ask someone out of the blue. But they are great topics to talk about for friends or people you’ve gotten to know well. They also work well if a person shows an interest in the topic. We also have a huge list of good questions to ask that are similar to these types of questions.
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17. Ghosts
Have you ever been somewhere that felt haunted?
What would convince you that you'd seen a ghost?
If you were a ghost, who would you haunt?
What would be the most annoying way to haunt someone?
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18. Smells
What smell tells you something has gone horribly wrong?
What food tastes much better than it smells?
What would a stranger say your home smells like?
What smell would make the worst scented candle?
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19. Gross stuff
Probably save this one until after dinner.
What grosses you out more than it should?
What's the worst smell you've ever had to track down?
What disgusting thing can you handle without flinching?
What's the grossest thing you've found while cleaning?
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20. Time loops
What day would you hate to repeat forever?
What would you try if the day reset every morning?
How would you prove to someone you'd already lived that day?
What would you stop bothering with after a hundred repeats?
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21. Everyday conspiracies
What ordinary thing feels like someone planned it against you?
If missing socks were being stolen, who would want them?
What fake conspiracy would you start just to confuse people?
What would be the dumbest thing to organize a coverup over?
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22. Time capsules
What would you put in a time capsule today?
What everyday object would need the most explaining?
What would you leave out to make us look better?
Whose buried time capsule would you most want to open?
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23. Secret rooms
Have you ever found a room you didn't know existed?
Where would you hide a secret room in your home?
What would you keep in it?
What discovery behind a wall would make you move out immediately?
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24. Simulation theory
What everyday glitch makes you wonder if we live in a simulation?
What might be the point of running the simulation or simulations?
Do you think our civilization will ever be able to run simulations of creatures with intelligence that don't know they are in a simulation?
What would you ask whoever built our simulation?
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25. Unwritten rules
What unwritten rule do you follow that nobody ever taught you?
Which unwritten rule do people break that drives you nuts?
What unwritten rule would you break if nobody would ever find out?
What unwritten rule only exists in your family?
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26. Cars
What was the first car you owned?
What car would you like to have?
Do you like the car you have now?
How long have you had your current car?
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27. Photography
Do you take a lot of pictures?
What do you wish you'd taken a picture of?
Do you have a stand-alone camera or do you usually just use your phone?
Do you use a selfie stick?
What are some of your favorite photos you’ve taken?
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28. The beach
Do you like going to beaches?
How often do you go to a beach?
What good / bad memories of beaches do you have?
When was the last time you went to a beach?
What was the best / worst beach you’ve been to?
What’s your favorite thing to do at the beach?
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29. Hiking
How often do you go on hikes?
Do you like hiking?
What was the most beautiful hike you’ve been on?
What was the longest hike you’ve done?
Where is the best place to go hiking near you?
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30. Aliens
What should we avoid telling aliens about ourselves?
How about intelligent alien life?
Do you think we’ll find microscopic alien life in our own solar system?
Do you think that intelligent aliens have ever or will ever visit earth?
How different will alien life be to life on Earth?
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31. Change
How comfortable are you with change?
Do you think a lot of change is healthy or unhealthy for a person?
What do you think about the speed of change happening in the world today?
What do you think has been the biggest change that has happened in the last 50 years?
What still needs to be changed?
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32. Shopping
What do you like / hate shopping for?
Where do you usually shop for clothes / shoes / groceries?
How often do you window shop?
What bargain ended up costing you a fortune?
When shopping for clothes / shoes, do you prefer to shop alone or with other people?
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33. Charity / Volunteering
Have you done any volunteering?
How did you like it?
Do you ever contribute to charities?
How would you raise charity money without asking for donations?
Do you think any charities aren’t worth supporting?
What kind of volunteer would you like to try?
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34. Fishing
When was the last time you went fishing?
Do you like fishing?
What was the biggest fish you have ever caught?
Who do you go fishing with or do you go alone?
Where is your favorite place to fish?
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35. Languages
Do you know any other languages?
What words do you know in other languages?
What's the worst misunderstanding you've had in another language?
What is the most useful language to know?
What do you think about English becoming the default language?
What do you think would be the hardest language to learn?
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36. Stereotypes
How accurate do you think stereotypes are?
What stereotypes apply to you? Do you think they are accurate?
What are some positive stereotypes?
Why do you think stereotypes are so common?
What stereotypes are the most hurtful?
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37. Corruption
How widespread is corruption in your country / state / city / job?
What do you think is the most common type of corruption?
What is the most dangerous type of corruption?
What are some of the worst instances of corruption you’ve heard about?
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38. The distant future
What do you think life will be like in 10 / 25 / 50 / 100 years?
Do you think humanity is headed in a good direction?
What discovery could be made that would completely change the course of humanity?
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39. Parks / National Parks
You can make this one about neighborhood parks or national parks, whatever works best for your situation.
How often do you go to parks?
Are there a lot of parks around where you live?
Where is the best park you’ve been to?
What do you usually do when you are at a park?
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40. Space
What Earth luxury would people on Mars miss most?
If you could have a faster than light space ship and could go anywhere in space, where would you go?
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41. Animals
What is your spirit animal?
Besides dogs or domestic cats do you have any favorite animals?
What is the coolest thing you’ve seen an animal do?
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42. Crafts
What kind of crafts have you done?
Are you good with your hands?
What home improvement project would you like to attempt?
What is the coolest thing you’ve made?
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43. Exercise / Being active
This topic might go over better if the person you are talking to looks like they live an active lifestyle.
What do you do to stay active?
Do you like exercising or lifting weights?
What’s your favorite outdoor activity?
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44. Camping
How often do you go camping?
Where have you been camping?
What was your best / worst camping trip?
What do you usually take with you when you go camping?
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45. Fashion
Do you try to keep up with the latest fashion?
How would you describe your look?
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46. Sleep
What's the strangest place you've fallen asleep?
What’s your secret for getting a good night’s sleep?
What’s the longest you’ve gone without sleeping?
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47. Fixing things
What was the last thing you fixed?
What have you repaired with something ridiculous?
What did you try to fix but it ended up just making it worse?
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48. Culture / Sub cultures
What culture do you identify most with?
What’s the best and worst thing about popular culture?
What kind of culture did you grow up in?
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49. Art
What everyday object belongs in an art museum?
Do you ever go to art museums?
What do you think of modern art?
What is the coolest piece of art you’ve seen?
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50. Nature
What’s your favorite natural setting to be in?
How often do you get out into nature?
What’s the farthest you’ve been from civilization?
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51. Fruit
What’s your favorite / least favorite fruit?
What fruit flavor do you love but aren’t crazy about the actual fruit?
What fruit is the biggest pain to eat?
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52. Plants / gardening
What would you plant if your neighbors couldn't complain?
Have you ever had a garden? Would you like to have a garden?
What’s the coolest looking plant you’ve seen?
How often do you go to botanical gardens?
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53. Swimming
Can you swim? How did you learn?
Do you go swimming often? Where do you usually go swimming?
Where is the most beautiful / dirtiest place you’ve swum?
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54. Facts
What fact do you wish you'd never learned?
Are there any facts you learned that caused you to change how you lived your life?
What are some things that are bandied about as facts but aren’t true?
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55. Musical instruments
Can you play any musical instruments?
What musical instruments have you tried playing?
If you could play any musical instrument like a master without any effort, what instrument would you choose?
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56. Virtual reality
What do you think would be the most useful thing you could do with virtual reality?
What would be the most entertaining or interesting thing you could do with VR?
Do you think that VR will become mainstream in the near future?
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57. Privacy
How concerned about privacy are you?
Do you think all the hype about privacy is warranted?
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58. Self-driving cars
Would you buy a self-driving car if it was affordable?
Are you concerned about the rise of self-driving cars?
What will be some of the benefits of self-driving cars?
What are some truly bizarre websites you’ve been to?
What is the most useful site you’ve used?
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61. Internet
What direction do you think the internet is headed in?
What is the longest you’ve been offline?
What’s on the internet that you couldn’t live without?
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62. Brands
What brand name gives you completely the wrong idea?
What brands are not worth the extra money they charge? What brands are worth the extra money?
What brand has seriously gone downhill?
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63. Advertising
What ads annoy you the most?
Do you think that advertising affects your buying choices?
What ads are the most effective?
What product looks nothing like its ads?
What should companies have to admit in their ads?
Topics to talk about with friends
For friends you already know well. These are the ones you can argue about for an hour and nobody gets hurt. Probably.
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64. Googling
What comes up when you Google your name?
What is the weirdest thing you’ve Googled?
How bad would it be if your Google search results were made public?
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65. Celebrities
Which celebrities do you like / dislike?
How much do you follow news about celebrities?
Which celebrity would you trust with your house keys?
Which celebrity has done the most harm to society?
What makes you like / dislike a celebrity?
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66. Fame
Would you want to be famous?
What level of popularity do people have to have to be considered famous?
What are the biggest upsides and downsides of being famous?
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67. Super heroes
What do you think about the flood of super hero movies and TV shows?
Which super hero movie / TV show is your favorite?
Did you read comics when you were a kid?
Who is your favorite / least favorite super hero?
What super power would you like to have?
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68. Singing
Have you ever done karaoke? What’s your go to song?
Do you sing in the car while you are listening to music?
How good of a singer are you?
Do you think people are born good singers or can someone learn to be a good singer?
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69. Dancing
What song gets you dancing before you realize it?
Where do you usually dance?
If you could master any form of dancing, what type of dancing would you master?
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70. Cards
Do you like playing cards? What kind of games do you know how to play?
Have you ever won money playing cards?
How often do you play cards?
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71. Drinking
These questions are about alcoholic drinks, but if the person you are talking to doesn't drink I guess you could still talk about non-alcoholic drinks.
What’s your favorite drink?
Do you usually go out or have friends over when you have a few drinks?
Do you like beer or cocktails more? What types?
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72. Pet peeves
What annoying habit have you caught yourself doing?
What small things do you consider rude?
What does your friend, coworker or roommate do that bugs you to no end?
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73. Following on Social Media
What social media platform do you spend the most time on?
Who is the most interesting person you follow?
What kinds of people do you follow?
Who sometimes annoys you but you still follow them because they occasionally put out something amazing?
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74. Current trends
What are some current trends you just can’t get behind?
What current trend is going to look the silliest in 10 years?
Do you usually follow trends or just do your own thing?
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75. Comedy / Humor
What kind of sense of humor do you have?
Are there any comedians you really like?
What are some of your favorite comedies?
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76. Actors / Actresses
Who are some of your favorite actors or actresses?
What actor or actress will you watch no matter how bad the ratings for the movie are?
Which actor or actress used to be really popular but has fallen off the radar?
Which actor surprised you in a serious role?
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77. Games
What game on your phone or tablet are you really into now?
What was the best mobile game you’ve played?
What game brings out your worst competitive streak?
What video game ending would you change?
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78. Luck
When has bad luck saved you from something worse?
Do you think some people are born lucky or do you think people make their own luck?
What was the luckiest thing that happened to you?
What would you refuse to leave to luck?
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79. Pranks
What's the best prank you've seen someone pull off?
What prank backfired on the person who planned it?
How far is too far with a prank?
Which of us would be the hardest to fool?
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80. Group legends
Tell your versions before anyone starts correcting them.
What story do we tell every time we get together?
Which part gets less believable every time?
What happened that nobody outside this group would believe?
What did our group swear we'd never tell anyone?
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81. Borrowing things
What do you refuse to lend anyone?
What's the longest you've kept something you borrowed?
Have you ever lent something out and regretted it?
At what point should someone buy their own?
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82. Scams
What's the most obvious scam you've come across?
Have you ever realized you were being scammed halfway through?
What ridiculous offer would still tempt you?
Who here would argue with a scammer instead of hanging up?
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83. Roommates
What's the strangest thing a roommate has done?
What should every roommate agreement include?
What would make someone impossible to live with?
Which of us could share an apartment without a disaster?
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84. Getting kicked out
Have you ever been kicked out of somewhere?
What's the dumbest reason someone you know got kicked out?
What place would you be proud to get banned from?
Which of us is most likely to get us thrown out of a fancy hotel?
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85. Bad advice
What's the worst advice you've actually followed?
Who gives great advice they never follow themselves?
What advice sounds smart until you try it?
What terrible advice have you given someone?
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86. Bets
What's the dumbest thing you've made a bet about?
Have you ever lost a bet you thought was guaranteed?
What's the biggest bet you've made, money or something else?
Which of us would bet money before checking the facts?
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87. Weddings
What's the most memorable wedding you've been to?
What would you serve at a wedding with no budget limit?
What wedding song would clear the dance floor in seconds?
What's something you've seen go wrong at a wedding?
Topics to talk about on a date
For a first date, your crush, or someone you've been with long enough to run out of things to say. Keep it light, and actually listen to the answers.
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88. Travel
What tourist mistake did you only make once?
What did you like / dislike about (place they traveled)?
Have you ever tried a dating site or app? How did it go?
Do you think that online / app dating or more traditional ways of dating are better?
What do you think could be done to improve online dating and dating apps?
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90. Ice cream
What’s your favorite flavor?
What’s your favorite ice cream brand or shop?
Where was your best ice cream experience?
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91. Cooking
What are some good cooking shortcuts you know?
What are you the best at cooking?
What are you the worst at cooking?
What was your most epic cooking failure?
Who is the best cook you know?
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92. Happiness
What did you expect to enjoy much more than you did?
What do you think leads to long term happiness?
Can a person learn to be happier?
What do you do that makes you happy in the short term but makes you unhappy in the long term?
Do you think people are happier on average now than they were in the past?
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93. Flirting
How can someone tell you're flirting?
What flirting advice deserves to be retired?
What's the most obvious excuse you've used to talk to someone?
How would you get my attention across a crowded room?
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94. First impressions
What do people usually notice about you first?
What was your first impression of me?
What do people tend to get wrong about you?
What's a first impression you got completely wrong?
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95. Compliments
What makes a compliment sound fake?
What do you wish people noticed about you more?
How do you react when someone compliments you?
What's the strangest compliment you've ever received?
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96. Dates gone wrong
What's gone hilariously wrong on a date?
What's the quickest you've realized a date wasn't going anywhere?
What could rescue a date that started badly?
What's the worst date story you've heard from a friend?
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97. Romantic gestures
What's something you find surprisingly romantic?
What supposedly romantic thing would make you uncomfortable?
How big can a romantic gesture get before it's embarrassing?
What romantic gesture have you put the most planning into?
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98. Surprises
How do you feel about surprise parties?
What's a surprise someone managed to keep from you?
What's the best surprise you've ever pulled off for someone?
Have you ever ruined a surprise without meaning to?
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99. Crushes
Who was your first crush?
What harmless thing can kill a crush instantly?
What made you suddenly notice someone you already knew?
How obvious are you when you like someone?
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100. Embarrassment
How easily do you get embarrassed?
What's an embarrassing moment you can finally laugh about?
What embarrassing thing did you do as a kid that your family still brings up?
How good are you at pretending something embarrassing didn't happen?
Topics to get to know someone
These topics to talk about are great for getting to know someone better. They are great for when you’ve gone past the friendly introductory small talk and feel like you’ve made connection with the person.
What was your elementary / junior high / high school like?
Did you go to college? What did you major in?
Where did you go to college / high school?
What kind of kid were you when you were in high school?
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117. Where they have lived
Where’s the best / worst place you’ve lived?
What was your college apartment / dorm like?
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118. Children
This topic usually only works if you both have children. So you have something in common to talk about. If one of you doesn’t have children, you might want to skip this topic.
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119. Stress
What stresses you out the most?
How stressed are you on a daily basis?
How can people tell you're stressed before you say anything?
What’s stressing you out these days?
What stresses you out but really shouldn’t?
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120. Changing your mind
What did you swear you'd never do, then end up enjoying?
What finally convinced you?
When have you admitted you were wrong in an argument?
What opinion have you kept even though everyone disagrees?
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121. Forgiveness
How long do you usually stay mad?
What makes an apology believable?
What can you forgive once but not twice?
Can you forgive someone and still stop seeing them?
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122. Keeping promises
What's a promise you've kept for a long time?
What do you refuse to promise anyone?
When is breaking a promise the right thing to do?
What promise mattered more to someone than you expected?
Topics to talk about at work
Safe for the break room, but not boring. Save the salary talk and the office gossip for people you trust.
And if you're the new person, these are a pretty easy way to find out who you'll actually get along with.
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123. Previous jobs
What kind of jobs have you worked at?
What’s the best / worst / most interesting job you’ve had?
What’s the longest you’ve worked at a job?
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124. Driving
What’s your favorite / least favorite place to drive?
How is your commute?
Do you usually listen to music, talk radio, podcasts, or silence while driving?
What’s the best road trip you’ve been on?
If you want more road trip questions, check out this article from our friends at Deeper Conversations.
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125. Apps
What’s your favorite app on your phone?
What app did you delete, then reinstall a couple of days later?
This only works if they or you are into Podcasts. If you don’t know about podcasts, you should check them out. Whatever you are into, there is probably a podcast about it.
What podcast do you always start up as soon as it hits your feed?
What are some podcasts that you used to be into but you don’t listen to anymore?
What kind of podcast would you start if you were given the chance?
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127. Creativity
How creative are you?
What do you do that requires you to be creative?
Is creativity something that can be learned?
Who is the most creative person you know?
How important is creativity for your job?
What profession requires the most creativity?
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128. Office lore
What story does every new person here eventually hear?
What rule makes you wonder what happened before you arrived?
What's the oldest unexplained object in the building?
What office mystery would you love to finally solve?
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129. Meetings
What's the strangest place you've had a meeting?
What's the longest meeting you've sat through?
What actually makes a meeting worth attending?
What's the funniest thing that's interrupted a meeting?
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130. Work jargon
What work phrase took you forever to understand?
What acronym did you confidently get wrong?
What phrase from your job sounds ridiculous outside work?
How would you explain your job without using any jargon?
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131. First days
What do you remember about your first day here?
What did everyone forget to explain?
Who helped you figure things out?
What's the funniest misunderstanding you've had as the new person?
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132. Customer requests
Leave names out of this one.
What's the strangest request you've had from a customer?
What did customers assume you could do by magic?
When did a customer actually have a better idea?
What customer request were you glad you said no to?
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133. Team outings
What's the best work outing you've been on?
What activity got surprisingly competitive?
What outing would people actually show up for?
What team building exercise should be banned forever?
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134. Training videos
What training video do you still remember?
What could they have explained in one sentence?
Have you ever had to act in one?
What ordinary task would make the most ridiculous training video?
Topics to talk about with family
For parents, grandparents, siblings and the kids. Some of these will get you stories you've somehow never heard, even from people you've known your whole life.
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135. Where they grew up
What was your hometown like?
Did you enjoy where you grew up?
How much did where you grew up shape you?
What hometown rumor did you grow up believing?
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136. Things they were into
What games did you play as a child?
What kind of hobbies did you have when you were growing up?
What did you try to copy from a cartoon?
What fads or interests were you really into when you were younger?
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137. Holidays
What were your favorite holidays when you were a child?
How about now, what are your favorite holidays now that you are older?
What holiday do you wish existed?
What are your plans for (upcoming holiday)?
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138. Retirement
Who do you know who's having the most fun in retirement?
What do people get wrong about being retired?
How do you think you’ll adapt to retirement?
Where would you like to settle down after you retire?
How has retirement changed over the years?
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139. Aging
How old do you want to live to?
Do you think younger or older people are happier? Why?
What have you stopped caring about as you've gotten older?
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140. History
How long do you think you would have survived in prehistoric times?
What historical mystery would you most like solved?
What’s the most important lesson people can learn from history?
What historical figure was not as great as people think they are?
