- So, anyway, What am I doing here?

- How did you remember that?

- They didn't take her purse?

- Hey. Did you write this?

- You were just trying to fit in, weren't you?

Sharona: Wow. This is where you grew up?
Adrian Monk: Are you surprised?
Sharona: Nah, I just always pictured something different.
Adrian Monk: Like what?
Sharona: I don't know. Like a laboratory.

Sharona: You like The Who?

Adrian Monk: The what?
Sharona: The rock band The Who. You have the album.

'Extra' means inappropriately excessive, maybe a little dramatic. Doing more than what the situation calls for. Often a little inappropriate.

"Like, if someone's laughing really hard at all your jokes, and it's unnatural and too much, your jokes aren't that funny, you might say, 'He's so extra'."

350 Good questions to ask

GOOD QUESTIONS TO ASK

What weird food combinations do you really enjoy?
What social stigma does society need to get over?
What food have you never eaten but would really like to try?
What’s something you really resent paying for?
What would a world populated by clones of you be like?
Do you think that aliens exist?
What are you currently worried about?
Where are some unusual places you’ve been?
Where do you get your news?
What are some red flags to watch out for in daily life?
What movie can you watch over and over without ever getting tired of?
When you are old, what do you think children will ask you to tell stories about?
If you could switch two movie characters, what switch would lead to the most inappropriate movies?
What inanimate object would be the most annoying if it played loud upbeat music while being used?
When did something start out badly for you but in the end, it was great?
How would your country change if everyone, regardless of age, could vote?
What animal would be cutest if scaled down to the size of a cat?
If your job gave you a surprise three day paid break to rest and recuperate, what would you do with those three days?
What’s wrong but sounds right?
What’s the most epic way you’ve seen someone quit or be fired?
If you couldn’t be convicted of any one type of crime, what criminal charge would you like to be immune to?
What’s something that will always be in fashion, no matter how much time passes?
What actors or actresses play the same character in almost every movie or show they do?
In the past people were buried with the items they would need in the afterlife, what would you want buried with you so you could use it in the afterlife?
What’s the best / worst practical joke that you’ve played on someone or that was played on you?
Who do you go out of your way to be nice to?
Where do you get most of the decorations for your home?
What food is delicious but a pain to eat?
Who was your craziest / most interesting teacher
What “old person” things do you do?
What was the last photo you took?
What is the most amazing slow motion video you’ve seen?
Which celebrity do you think is the most down to earth?
What would be the worst thing to hear as you are going under anesthesia before heart surgery?
What’s the spiciest thing you’ve ever eaten?
What’s the most expensive thing you’ve broken?
What obstacles would be included in the World’s most amazing obstacle course?
What makes you roll your eyes every time you hear it?
What do you think you are much better at than you actually are?
Should kidneys be able to be bought and sold?
What’s the most creative use of emojis you’ve ever seen?
When was the last time you got to tell someone “I told you so.”?
What riddles do you know?
What’s your cure for hiccups?
What invention doesn’t get a lot of love, but has greatly improved the world?
What’s the most interesting building you’ve ever seen or been in?
What mythical creature do you wish actually existed?
What are your most important rules when going on a date?
How do you judge a person?
If someone narrated your life, who would you want to be the narrator?
What was the most unsettling film you’ve seen?
What unethical experiment would have the biggest positive impact on society as a whole?
When was the last time you were snooping, and found something you wish you hadn’t?
Which celebrity or band has the worst fan base?
What are you interested in that most people aren’t?
If you were given a PhD degree, but had no more knowledge of the subject of the degree besides what you have now, what degree would you want to be given to you?
What smartphone feature would you actually be excited for a company to implement?
What’s something people don’t worry about but really should?
What movie quotes do you use on a regular basis?
Do you think that children born today will have better or worse lives than their parents?
What’s the funniest joke you know by heart?
When was the last time you felt you had a new lease on life?
What’s the funniest actual name you’ve heard of someone having?
Which charity or charitable cause is most deserving of money?
What TV show character would it be the most fun to change places with for a week?
What was cool when you were young but isn’t cool now?
If you were moving to another country, but could only pack one carry-on sized bag, what would you pack?
What’s the most ironic thing you’ve seen happen?
If magic was real, what spell would you try to learn first?
If you were a ghost and could possess people, what would you make them do?
What goal do you think humanity is not focused enough on achieving?
What problem are you currently grappling with?
What character in a movie could have been great, but the actor they cast didn’t fit the role?
What game have you spent the most hours playing?
What’s the most comfortable bed or chair you’ve ever been in?
What’s the craziest conversation you’ve overheard?
What’s the hardest you’ve ever worked?
What movie, picture, or video always makes you laugh no matter how often you watch it?
What artist or band do you always recommend when someone asks for a music recommendation?
If you could have an all-expenses paid trip to see any famous world monument, which monument would you choose?
If animals could talk, which animal would be the most annoying?
What’s the most addicted to a game you’ve ever been?
What’s the coldest you’ve ever been?
Which protagonist from a book or movie would make the worst roommate?
Do you eat food that’s past its expiration date if it still smells and looks fine?
What’s the most ridiculous thing you have bought?
What’s the funniest comedy skit you’ve seen?
What’s the most depressing meal you’ve eaten?
What tips or tricks have you picked up from your job / jobs?
What outdoor activity haven’t you tried, but would like to?
What songs hit you with a wave of nostalgia every time you hear them?
What’s the worst backhanded compliment you could give someone?
What’s the most interesting documentary you’ve ever watched?
What was the last song you sang along to?
What’s the funniest thing you’ve done or had happen while your mind was wandering?
What app can you not believe someone hasn’t made yet?
When was the last time you face palmed?
If you were given five million dollars to open a small museum, what kind of museum would you create?
Which of your vices or bad habits would be the hardest to give up?
What really needs to be modernized?
When was the last time you slept more than nine hours?
How comfortable are you speaking in front of large groups of people?
What’s your worst example of procrastination?
Who has zero filter between their brain and mouth?
What was your most recent lie?
When was the last time you immediately regretted something you said?
What would be the best thing you could reasonably expect to find in a cave?
What did you think was going to be amazing but turned out to be horrible?
What bit of trivia do you know that is very interesting but also very useless?
What’s the silliest thing you’ve seen someone get upset about?
What animal or plant do you think should be renamed?
What was the best thing that happened to you today?
As a child, what did you think would be awesome about being an adult, but isn’t as awesome as you thought it would be?
When’s censorship warranted?
What’s the most boring super hero you can come up with?
What would be some of the downsides of certain superpowers?
What word is a lot of fun to say?
What current trend do you hope will go on for a long time?
What actors or actresses can’t play a different character because they played their most famous character too well?
Where’s your go to restaurant for amazing food?
What’s something that all your friends agree on?
What’s your best story from a wedding?
What languages do you wish you could speak?
What’s the most pleasant sounding accent?
What’s something that everyone, absolutely everyone, in the entire world can agree on?
What country is the strangest?
What’s the funniest word in the English language?
What’s some insider knowledge that only people in your line of work have?
Who do you wish you could get back into contact with?
How do you make yourself sleep when you can’t seem to get to sleep?
If people receive a purple heart for bravery, what would other color hearts represent?
What are some of the best vacations you’ve had?
If there was a book of commandments for the modern world, what would some of the rules be?
What’s the craziest video you’ve ever seen?
What’s your “Back in my day, we…”?
If you could know the truth behind every conspiracy, but you would instantly die if you hinted that you knew the truth, would you want to know?
What animal would be the most terrifying if it could speak?
What’s the worst hairstyle you’ve ever had?
What habit do you have now that you wish you started much earlier?
If you were given one thousand acres of land that you didn’t need to pay taxes on but couldn’t sell, what would you do with it?
What about the opposite sex confuses you the most?
When was the last time you yelled at someone?
What’s the opposite of a koala?
What kinds of things do you like to cook or are good at cooking?
What life skills are rarely taught but extremely useful?
What movie universe would be the worst to live out your life in?
If you could hack into any one computer, which computer would you choose?
Who do you feel like you know even though you’ve never met them?
What’s the most ridiculous animal on the planet?
What’s the worst thing you’ve eaten out of politeness?
What’s the most historic thing that has happened in your lifetime?
What happens in your country regularly that people in most countries would find strange or bizarre?
What has been blown way out of proportion?
When was a time you acted nonchalant but were going crazy inside?
What’s about to get much better?
What are some clever examples of misdirection you’ve seen?
What’s your funniest story involving a car?
What would be the click-bait titles of some popular movies?
If you built a themed hotel, what would the theme be and what would the rooms look like?
What scientific discovery would change the course of humanity overnight if it was discovered?
Do you think that humans will ever be able to live together in harmony?
What would your perfect bar look like?
What’s the scariest non-horror movie?
What’s the most amazing true story you’ve heard?
What’s the grossest food that you just can’t get enough of?
What brand are you most loyal to?
What’s the most awkward thing that happens to you on a regular basis?
If you had to disappear and start a whole new life, what would you want your new life to look like?
What movie or book do you know the most quotes from?
What was one of the most interesting concerts you’ve been to?
Where are you not welcome anymore?
What do you think could be done to improve the media?
What’s the most recent show you’ve binge watched?
What’s the worst movie trope?
What’s a common experience for many people that you’ve never experienced?
What are some misconceptions about your hobby?
What’s the smartest thing you’ve seen an animal do?
What’s the most annoying noise?
What’s your haunted house story?
What did you Google last?
What’s the dumbest thing someone has argued with you about?
If money and practicality weren’t a problem, what would be the most interesting way to get around town?
What’s the longest rabbit hole you’ve been down?
What’s the saddest scene in a movie or TV series?
What’s the most frustrating product you own?
What inconsequential super power would you like to have?
What qualities do all your friends have in common?
What odd smell do you really enjoy?
What’s the coolest animal you’ve seen in the wild?
What’s the best lesson you’ve learned from a work of fiction?
What food do you crave most often?
Who in your life has the best / worst luck?
What fashion trend makes you cringe or laugh every time you see it?
What’s your best story of you or someone else trying to be sneaky and failing miserably?
Which apocalyptic dystopia do you think is most likely?
If you had a HUD that showed three stats about any person you looked at, what three stats would you want it to show?
What’s the funniest thing you’ve seen a kid do?
What’s your secret talent?
What’s the best way you or someone you know has gotten out of a ticket / trouble with the law?
Tear gas makes people cry and laughing gas makes people giggle, what other kinds of gases do you wish existed?
What’s the most beautiful beach you’ve been to?
What’s the most anxiety inducing thing you do on a regular basis?
What’s something that everyone agrees we should change, but somehow it never changes?
What trend are you tired of?
What’s incredibly cheap and you would pay way more for?
What’s your grossest bug story?
What would the adult version of an ice-cream truck sell and what song would it play?
What company do you despise?
When was the most inappropriate time you busted out in laughter?
What would be an accurate tag line for each month?
What’s the most overrated product out on the market?
What word do you always misspell?
What naps are the most satisfying?
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve found lying on the ground / side of the road?
What’s the funniest TV show you’ve ever seen?
What’s the most embarrassing story from your childhood?
What animal is the most majestic?
What’s something that everyone knows is true, but we don’t like to admit it?
What’s the weirdest text or email you’ve gotten?
What always cheers you up when you think about it?
What sport could you play the longest in a televised game, without anyone discovering you aren’t a professional athlete?
If you could talk to animals and they would understand you, but you couldn’t understand them, what would you do with that power?
What’s the most boring sport, and what would you do to make it more exciting?
What’s the creepiest tech out there?
Who did you use to look up to, but they screwed up and you lost faith in them?
What’s fine in small numbers but terrifying in large numbers?
Do you like things to be carefully planned or do you prefer to just go with the flow?
What animal would you most like to eat?
What fictional characters have you had a crush on over the years?
What would the box with all your hopes and dreams inside look like?
What was the worst shopping experience you’ve ever had?
What story you’ve heard has stayed with you and always disturbs you every time you think about it?
What was the most important appointment or deadline you missed?
If you were a clown themed super hero, what powers would you have?
If you could airdrop anything you want, worth two million dollars or less, anywhere you want, what would you airdrop and where would you airdrop it?
If you lived in a virtual reality world of your own creation, what would it look like?
What escalated very quickly?
What two things are terrible when separate but great when you put them together?
What did you believe for way too long as a child?
What big event do you think will happen soon that most people aren’t expecting?
What still makes you cringe when you think back on it?
What current trend makes no sense to you?
If you owned a restaurant, what kind of food would it serve?
Which celebrity is the most likely to have a collection of canes that are just for show?
What’s the weirdest crush you’ve had?
What do a lot of people have very strong opinions about, even though they know very little about it?
What’s your go to casino game?
An epic feast is held in your honor, what’s on the table?
What’s your favorite holiday movie?
Who is the most manipulative person you’ve ever met?
Who is the most creative person you know?
What’s the funniest pick up line you’ve heard?
What seemingly innocent question makes you think “It’s a trap!”?
How ambitious are you?
What did you like / dislike about where you grew up?
What elements of pop culture will be forever tied in your mind to your childhood?
What’s your good luck charm?
What’s legal now, but probably won’t be in 25 years?
Would you want the ability to hear the thoughts of people near you if you couldn’t turn the ability off?
When was the last time you stayed up through the entire night?
What’s something that people think makes them look cool, but actually has the opposite effect?
What’s the oldest thing you own?
What has someone borrowed but never given back?
Where is the best place you’ve been for taking walks?
If cartoon physics suddenly replaced real physics, what are some things you would want to try?
What from the present will withstand the test of time?
Who in your life is the worst at using technology?
What’s the weirdest conversation you’ve eavesdropped on?
What just around the corner tech are you eager to get your hands on?
What was the darkest movie you’ve ever seen?
What do you do when you hear something fall in the middle of the night while you are in bed?
What outfit could you put together from clothes you own to get the most laughs?
What’s the most disgusting sounding word in the English language?
What was ruined because it became popular?
What outdated slang do you use on a regular basis?
What was the biggest realization you had about yourself?
What’s your best example of easy come, easy go?
What small change greatly improves a person’s appearance?
What topic could you spend hours talking about?
What happens regularly that would horrify a person from 100 years ago?
What do a lot of people hope will happen but is just not going to happen?
What’s the weirdest thing that has happened to you while working at your job?
What questions would you like to ask a time traveler from 200 years in the future?
Which way should toilet paper hang, over or under?
What’s the most physically painful thing you’ve ever experienced?
What horror story do you have from a job you’ve had?
What’s the most rage inducing game you’ve ever played?
What’s the biggest overreaction you’ve ever seen?
What are some of the most common misconceptions?
What job doesn’t exist now but will exist in the future?
What awful movie do you love?
What normally delicious food gets ruined when you wrap it in a tortilla?
What’s your best example of fake it till you make it?
What were you completely certain of until you found out you were wrong?
What’s something commonly done that gets progressively weirder the more you think about it?
What’s the cutest thing you can imagine? Something so cute it’s almost painful.
If you were given unlimited resources, how would you lure the worst of humanity into one stadium at the same time?
What do you think about when you hear the word “classy”?
What near future predictions do you have?
What do you need help with most often?
What piece of “art” would you create if you had to pretend to be an artist and submit something to a gallery?
What do you do to make the world a better place?
What’s the best and worst thing about the country you are from?
If you were in charge renaming things so that their names would be more accurate, what names would you come up with?
What’s better broken than whole?
What values are most important to you?
What’s the best sandwich you’ve ever had?
What’s the worst thing you ate from a fast food restaurant?
What’s something that I don’t know?
What profession doesn’t get enough credit or respect?
What memory of yours feels real but is most likely false?
What’s your “and then it got worse” story?
What was the most amazing physical feat you’ve managed to pull off?
What’s the most annoying thing about the social media platform you use most often?
If you were hired to show tourists what life is really like where you live, what would you show them / have them do?
What would be the most unsettling thing to keep occasionally finding around your house?
What nicknames do you have for people in your life?
What does the opposite sex do that you wish that you could do, but it’s not anatomically feasible or it’s socially frowned upon?
How much do you plan / prepare for the future?
What do you hate most and love most about your car?
What weird potato chip flavor that doesn’t exist would you like to try?
What’s the silliest thing you’ve convinced someone of?
How much do you think names affect the outcomes of people’s lives?
What product or service is way more expensive than it needs to be?
What’s the shadiest thing you’ve seen someone do?
What was the last situation where some weird stuff went down and everyone acted like it was normal, and you weren’t sure if you were crazy or everyone around you was crazy?
What did you eat so much of that now you hate it?
What are some of the dumbest lyrics you’ve heard in a song?
Where’s the line between soup and cereal?
What word do you always mispronounce?
What do you think you do better than 90% of people?
What would be the worst food to be liquefied and drunk through a straw?
What’s the weirdest thing about modern life that people just accept as normal?
How much of your body would you cybernetically enhance if you could?
If you wanted to slowly drive a roommate insane using only notes, what kind of notes would you leave around the house?
If you had a giraffe that you needed to hide, where would you hide it?
What’s the clumsiest thing you’ve done?
What songs do you only know the chorus to?
Think of a brand, now what would an honest slogan for that brand be?
What’s something common from your childhood that will seem strange to future generations?
What’s the most amazing place in nature you’ve been?
What’s quickly becoming obsolete?
Where is the most uncomfortable place you have ever slept?
What’s the most annoying animal you’ve encountered?
What’s your best example of correlation not equaling causation?
In what situations, do you wish you could throw down a smoke bomb and disappear?
When was the last time you were hopelessly lost?
What songs do you feel compelled to sing along with when you hear them, even if you don’t totally know all the words?
What product do you wish a company would make a “smart” version of?
What two films would you like to combine into one?
What’s are some of your Pavlovian responses?

Topics to talk about

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.

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.

TOPICS TO GET THE CONVERSATION STARTED

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.

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.

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)?

3. Clothes

This one works best if you talk about what they are wearing. Maybe try complementing a piece of clothing they are wearing that you like and ask where they got it.

You can also try some of these clothes conversation starters.

4. News

Again, stay away from political news stories.

What do you think about (current news story)?
Did you hear about (news story)?
How much do you follow the news?
What do you think doesn’t get enough news coverage?
What gets too much attention in the news?
How do you get your news?

5. Sports

Do you like (sport you like)?
What teams do you follow?
What was the last game you went to?
What do you think about (popular player / team that is doing well)?
Do you play any sports?
Who do you think will win the (major sports event)?

More sports questions.

6. Where they are living

Avoid asking exactly where they live. You don’t need to know their address. Just keep it to general areas.

What part of (city you are in) do you live in?
How do you like your neighborhood?
When did you move there?
What’s the best thing about living in that part of town?

7. Not too distant future

Just a heads up, this can sometimes make the person you are talking to think you want to make plans with / date them.

What are your plans for the weekend?
Where are you planning to go for your next vacation?
Anything exciting going on this week?

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.

1. Free time

What do you do in your free time?
How much free time do you have?
What do you wish you had more time for?

2. Music

What kind of music are you into?
What music did you like when you were younger?
What’s your favorite band / singer?
Have you been to any concerts recently?
What’s your favorite album?

More music conversation starters.

3. Movies

What type of movies do you like?
What’s your favorite movie?
Who’s your favorite actor / actress / director?
What’s the last movie you saw?

More movie conversation starters.

4. Food

What’s your favorite food / ethnic food / restaurant / thing to cook / seasonal food?
Do you like cooking?
How do you usually find good restaurants?
What weird foods have you tried?

More food conversation starters.

5. Books

Do you like reading books?
What types of books do you like?
What’s the last book you read?
What’s your favorite book?
What book is overrated?
Are there any books you would really recommend I read?

More book conversation starters.

6. TV

What shows do you watch?
What do you think about (popular TV show)?
Have you seen (TV show you like)?
What are some shows that ended that you were really into?
What show do I really need to check out?

7. Travel

Where have you been on vacation?
What did you like / dislike about (place they traveled)?
Where do you wish you could go?
What place do I really need to see?
What’s your favorite place you’ve been?

More travel conversation starters.

8. Hobbies

Do you have any hobbies?
How long have you been doing them?
How did you get started?
What common misconceptions do people have about your hobby?
What hobbies did you have when you were younger?

9. 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.

10. Pets

Are you a cat person or a dog person?
What do you think about (animal) as a pet?
What pets have you had?
What pet would you like to have?

11. Restaurants

What good restaurants do you know of around here?
What’s your go to restaurant when you want to eat out but can’t decide where to go?
What’s your favorite (Mexican/ Thai / Vietnamese / etc.) restaurant around here?
What’s your favorite pizza place near here?

More restaurant conversation starters.

12. 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?

13. 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?

14. 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?
What actors or actresses only play one character in every movie they are in?

15. Learning / Studies

What kinds of things do you pick up easily?
What subjects were hardest for you in school?
What kinds of things are you interested in learning more about?

TECH TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT

Our lives are filled with tech. We are surrounded by it. So these tech topics to talk about will probably appeal to whoever you are talking with even if they aren’t super into tech. Here are some more tech questions as well.

That being said, if the person you are talking to seems a bit clueless about tech, you might want to switch to another topic.

1. Apps

What’s your favorite app on your phone?
What app do you spend the most time on?
What app would you suggest everyone get?
What app do you wish you didn’t have to use?

More app conversation starters.

2. Internet

What do 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?

3. Games

What game on your phone or tablet are you really into now?
What was the best mobile game you’ve played?
Do you like board or card games?
How about console or PC games?

4. 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?

5. Phones

What phone do you have?
How do you like your phone?
How often do you get a new phone?
What do you look for when you get a new phone?
How many phones have you lost or broken?

6. Privacy

How concerned about privacy are you?
Do you think all the hype about privacy is warranted?

7. 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?
Will there be any drawbacks of self-driving cars?

8. Podcasts

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 do anymore?
What kind of podcast would you start if you were given the chance?

9. 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 occasional put out something amazing?

10. Websites

What websites do you spend the most time on?
What are some truly bizarre websites you’ve been to?
What is the most useful site you’ve used?

PERSONAL HISTORY TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT

These can be great “get to know you” topics to talk about, but they can also get very personal. So you might want to save most of these for when you know a person a little bit better.

1. 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 were some of the best and worst things about where you grew up?

2. 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 cartoons or shows did you watch when you were a kid?
What fads or interests were you really into when you were younger?

3. School

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?

4. Friends

Do you stay in touch with your old childhood friends?
What do you usually do when you hang out with your friends?
Do you prefer having a lot of friends or just a few close ones?
How long have you known your best friend?
How did you and your best friend meet?

5. Family

How many siblings do you have?
Do you live close to your family?
Do you still go to a lot of family gatherings?
What family traditions do you have?

6. 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?

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?

4. Friends

Do you stay in touch with your old childhood friends?
What do you usually do when you hang out with your friends?
Do you prefer having a lot of friends or just a few close ones?
How long have you known your best friend?
How did you and your best friend meet?

5. Family

How many siblings do you have?
Do you live close to your family?
Do you still go to a lot of family gatherings?
What family traditions do you have?

6. 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?

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.

1. 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?

2. 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)?

3. Coffee

Do you like coffee?
How many cups do you usually drink a day?
How do you take your coffee?
Where do you usually get your coffee fix?
What kind of coffee do you usually order at a café?
How often do you go to a café?

4. Photography

Do you take a lot of pictures?
What do you usually take pictures 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?

5. 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 do?
What’s your favorite thing to do at the beach?

6. 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?

7. Aliens

Do you think alien life exists?
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?

8. 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?

9. Cooking

Are you good at cooking?
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?

10. Talents and Skills

Is there anything you are naturally good at?
What do you wish you were better at?
What are the most useful skills you have?
What skills would you like to learn?
What are some skills that you think everyone should learn?
Do you have any unusual skills or talents?

11. Shopping

What do you like / hate shopping for?
Where do you usually shop for clothes / shoes / groceries?
How often do you window shop?
Do you prefer shopping online or in person?
When shopping for clothes / shoes, do you prefer to shop alone or with other people?

12. Habits

What’s your best / worst habit?
Have you ever succeeded in breaking a bad habit?
What’s a good habit you’d like to start?
What’s a bad habit that you just can’t seem to break?

13. Goals

What are some things you want to achieve before you die?
What is the silliest goal you have?
What goals have you achieved so far?
How good are you at finishing what you start?
What goals have you realized just aren’t going to happen?

14. Social media

What social media platform do you use most often?
Which social media platforms do you not get?
Are there any social media outlets that you don’t like but have to be on them because of friends or family?
How much time do you spend on social media?

15. Charity / Volunteering

Have you done any volunteering?
How did you like it?
Do you ever contribute to charities?
What charities do you think are most worthwhile?
Do you think any charities aren’t worth supporting?
What kind of volunteer would you like to try?

16. 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?

17. Languages

Do you know any other languages?
What words do you know in other languages?
What language do you wish you could learn?
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?

18. Online dating

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?

19. 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?

20. Stress

What stresses you out the most?
How stressed are you on a daily basis?
What’s the best way to relieve stress?
What’s stressing you out these days?
What stresses you out but really shouldn’t?

21. 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?

22. Heroes

Who did you look up to as a child?
Who do you look up to now?
Did you have any of your role models let you down?
What is the most heroic profession?
What makes a person a good role model?

23. Happiness

When are you happiest?
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?

24. Advertising

What ads annoy you the most?
Do you think that advertising affects your buying choices?
What ads are the most effective?
What are some clever or funny ads you have seen?
Do you think the internet would survive without advertising?

25. Celebrities

Which celebrities do you like / dislike?
How much do you follow news about celebrities?
Would you ever want to be famous?
Which celebrity has done the most good for society?
Which celebrity has done the most harm to society?
What makes you like / dislike a celebrity?

26. Retirement

At what age would you like to retire?
What would you like to do once you retire?
How do you think you’ll adapt to retirement?
Where would you like settle down after you retire?
How has retirement changed over the years?

27. 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?

28. 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?

29. Weather

Yeah, it’s a bit cliche but sometimes it works well!

What’s your favorite type of weather?
What do you like to do on rainy days?
What is the best thing do on hot / cold / sunny / windy days?
What’s the worst storm you’ve been through?
Where do you think the best place to live is for the type of weather you like?

30. 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?
How long would you like to live?

31. 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?

32. 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?

33. Space

Given the chance, would you go to colonize Mars if you knew you would never be coming back to Earth?
Do you think there are intelligent aliens in our galaxy?
If you could have a faster than light space ship and could go anywhere in space, where would you go?

34. 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?

35. Aging

How old do you want to live to?
Do you think younger or older people are happier? Why?
What is the perfect age to be?

36. 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?

37. 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?

38. Drinking

These questions are about alcoholic drinks, but if the person you are talking about 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?

39. Googling

What comes up when you Google your name?
What is the weirdest thing you’ve Googled?
How bad would it be if you Google search results were made public?

40. 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?

41. Ice cream

What’s your favorite flavor?
What’s your favorite ice cream brand or shop?
Where was your best ice cream experience?

42. Fashion

Do you try to keep up with the latest fashion?
Where do you usually shop for clothes at? Why there?
How would you describe your look?

43. Luck

Who is the luckiest / unluckiest person you know?
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?
Do you have any good luck charms or rituals?

44. Sleep

How much sleep do you need to function? Do you usually get more or less than that?
What’s your secret for getting a good night’s sleep?
What’s the longest you’ve gone without sleeping?

45. Dancing

How good of a dancer are you?
Where do you usually dance?
If you could master any form of dancing, what type of dancing would you master?

46. 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?

47. Fixing things

What was the last thing you fixed?
How good are you at fixing things?
What did you try to fix but it ended up just making it worse?

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?

49. Art

What kind of art do you like?
Do you ever go to art museums?
What do you think of modern art?
What is the coolest piece of art you’ve seen?

50. 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?

51. Brands

Do you have any brands that you are really loyal to?
What brands are not worth the extra money they charge? What brands are worth the extra money?
What brand has seriously gone downhill?

52. 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?

53. 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?

54. Plants / gardening

How good are you at taking care of plants?
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?

55. 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?

56. Facts

What’s the most interesting fact you know?
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?

57. Pet peeves

What kind of things get on your nerves more than they should?
What small things do you consider rude?
What does your friend / coworker / roommate that bugs you to no end?

58. 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?

59. 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?

60. History

How long do you think you would have survived in prehistoric times?
What is the most interesting period of history?
What’s the most important lesson people can learn from history?
What historical figure was not as great as people think they are?

#Topicstotalkabout

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- So, anyway, What am I doing here?

350 Good questions to ask

GOOD QUESTIONS TO ASK

Topics to talk about

TOPICS TO GET THE CONVERSATION STARTED

1. Current situation

2. Job / Work

3. Clothes

4. News

5. Sports

6. Where they are living

7. Not too distant future

TOPICS TO GET TO KNOW SOMEONE

1. Free time

2. Music

3. Movies

4. Food

5. Books

6. TV

7. Travel

8. Hobbies

9. Children

10. Pets

11. Restaurants

12. Current trends

13. Comedy / Humor

14. Actors / Actresses

15. Learning / Studies

TECH TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT

1. Apps

2. Internet

3. Games

4. Virtual reality

5. Phones

6. Privacy

7. Self-driving cars

8. Podcasts

9. Following on Social Media

10. Websites

PERSONAL HISTORY TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT

1. Where they grew up

2. Things they were into

3. School

4. Friends

5. Family

6. Previous jobs

4. Friends

5. Family

6. Previous jobs

RANDOM TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT

1. Cars

2. Holidays

3. Coffee

4. Photography

5. The beach

6. Hiking

7. Aliens

8. Change

9. Cooking

10. Talents and Skills

11. Shopping

12. Habits

13. Goals

14. Social media

15. Charity / Volunteering

16. Fishing

17. Languages

18. Online dating

19. Super heroes

20. Stress

21. Creativity

22. Heroes

23. Happiness

24. Advertising

25. Celebrities

26. Retirement

27. Stereotypes

28. Corruption