68 Killer Conversation Starters

Don’t know what to talk about? Here’s a sneak peek at 10 conversation starters from Science of People to help you break the ice and grow your circle.

Conversation Starters for Any Situation

Let’s start with some killer conversation openers. These are great for simply opening a conversation with someone new or someone you haven’t seen in a while. And they’re far more interesting than the standard “Where are you from?” and “what do you do?” those are so boring. Try these instead.

1. Working on anything exciting recently? This is a great one because it invites the other person to tell you something that they want to share. If they want to tell you about their favorite hobby, they can. If they want to tell you about their job, they can. And it’s a great way to know what’s at the top of someone’s mind.
2. What was the highlight of your day so far? This is my alternative to “How are you?” Asking someone the best part of their day is a great way to bring up positive vibes, as opposed to just giving you a boring update.
3. What’s your story? This is an interesting conversation starter because it invites someone to tell you a story about them, and you never know what exciting thing they might tell you.
4. What personal passion project are you working on right now? This is one of my favorites. You never know what secret side hustle someone has. I love asking this one to people I already know in one context, like work, but would love to know more about them personally.
5. How do you know the host? This one can be modified to any kind of event. If you are at a party, hopefully you both have the host in common. If you are at a networking or work event, you can modify it to “How long have you been a part of this organization?”
6. What was the highlight of your day today? This is a nice alternative to asking “how are you?” and it gets more interesting answers.
7. What was the highlight of your week? This is a great one to ask instead of the standard question “How are you?” or “How’s it going?” It helps people share a positive story instead of just giving an autopilot answer of “Fine” or “Good.”
8. Have you been to an event like this before? This one can be modified for most types of events, from birthday parties (did you come last year?) to networking events (do you come every month?).
9. What was the high-point and low-point of your day so far? This one is great if you have a talker. If you are speaking with an extrovert, asking questions for them to ruminate and expand on will tickle their fancy. Extroverts love this question.
10. Has this been a busy time for you? I don’t always like to ask people about being busy, but I use this conversation starter if someone seems distracted or not engaged. Sometimes acknowledging their busy-ness can hook them in.

Check out the full post here to get even more great ideas.

For more articles and resources like this, visit the Science of People blog.