What are good conversation starters?

Open questions about a specific moment, like "What is the best meal you have had this year?" or "What are you looking forward to this week?" They are easy to answer and they invite a story, which gives the other person something to build on.

What are good conversation starters for a first date?

Keep it light and curious: "What is a small thing that made your week better?", "What is your go-to comfort food?" or "Where is the best place you have traveled?" Skip heavy topics like exes and money, and follow up on whatever they light up about.

What are good conversation starters over text?

Short, specific questions that are fun to answer from a phone: "What song has been stuck in your head?" or "What is the best thing you ate this week?" Avoid "how was your day?" because it usually gets "fine" as an answer.

How do you keep a conversation going after the starter?

Ask a follow-up about a detail they mentioned, share your own answer, and react to what they said before moving on. People remember being listened to more than they remember the question you asked.

Conversation Starters: 120 Good Ones for Any Situation

What makes a good conversation starter

The best starters are not clever. They are easy to answer and hard to answer with one word.

Open-ended. “What did you do this weekend?” beats “Did you have a good weekend?” because a yes or no ends the conversation.
Specific. “What is the best thing you have eaten this month?” gets a real answer. “What do you like?” gets a shrug.
Easy to answer. Nobody wants to deliver a life philosophy to a stranger. A good starter can be answered in one sentence.
Story-inviting. Questions about a moment, a person or a first time lead somewhere. Questions about opinions in general usually do not.
Low pressure. The person should be able to answer honestly without feeling judged or put on the spot.

Easy everyday conversation starters

These work almost anywhere: at work, with neighbors, in a waiting room or at a family gathering.

What is the best thing that happened to you this week?
What are you looking forward to right now?
What is the last thing that made you laugh out loud?
What is your favorite way to spend a free Saturday?
What is a show you could rewatch forever?
What is the best meal you have had recently?
What is a small thing that always improves your day?
What did you want to be when you were ten?
What is something you have been meaning to try?
Where is the first place you would go if you had a free week?
What is the best advice you have ever been given?
What is a song that instantly puts you in a good mood?
What is your morning routine like on a perfect day?
What is the best thing you have learned recently?
What was your favorite part of the year so far?
What do you always order when you eat out?
Which season do you like best, and why?
What is something you are proud of that nobody asks about?

Fun and funny conversation starters

When you want laughs instead of life stories.

What is the most useless talent you have?
If your life had a theme song, what would it be?
What is the strangest thing you have ever eaten?
What is a harmless lie you tell all the time?
Which cartoon character do you relate to the most?
What is the weirdest dream you remember?
If you could have any animal as a pet and it was perfectly trained, which would you pick?
What is the worst fashion choice you have ever made?
What would your reality show be called?
What is a rule you think should exist but does not?
Which food would you defend in an argument?
What is the most embarrassing thing you have done in front of a crowd?
If you had to eat one meal every day for a year, what would it be?
What is the silliest thing you have ever been scared of?
Which fictional place would you most like to live in?
What superpower would be the most annoying to actually have?

Conversation starters for a first date

Curious, warm and not too heavy. The goal is to find the topics where their face changes.

What is the best part of your week so far?
What do you do when you have a whole day to yourself?
What is a place you have been that you think everyone should see?
What is your favorite thing about the city you live in?
What is the best concert, show or event you have been to?
What is a hobby you got into that surprised you?
What is your go-to comfort food?
What does a perfect Sunday look like for you?
Tell me about a trip that went wrong in a way that turned out great.
What is something people usually get wrong about you at first?
What is the last thing you got really excited about?
Who is someone in your life you admire?
What is a movie or book you recommend to everyone?
What made you pick the work you do now?
What is something you are learning right now, even slowly?
What are you hoping to do before the year ends?

Conversation starters for couples who have been together a while

After a few years, “how was your day?” runs on autopilot. These bring back the curiosity.

What is a small moment from this month you want to remember?
What is something I do that makes your day easier?
What is one thing you would like us to try together this year?
When did you last feel really proud of me?
What is a memory of us that you replay sometimes?
What is something you have never told me about your childhood?
What was your first impression of me, honestly?
What is a song that reminds you of us?
What is one thing you wish we did more of?
Tell me about a day you would happily live again.
What is a dream you have put on hold?
What is something I taught you without meaning to?
If we could live anywhere for a year, where would you pick?
What is a tradition of ours you never want to lose?
What is something you are worried about that you have not said out loud?
What would a perfect ordinary Tuesday look like for us?

Conversation starters for friends and parties

Good for a group, a dinner table or a road trip. Short questions that everyone can answer.

What is the best party you have ever been to?
What is the most spontaneous thing you have ever done?
Who in this room would survive longest in a zombie movie?
What is a hill you will absolutely die on?
What is your most unpopular opinion about food?
What is the best trip you have taken with friends?
What is the first concert you ever went to?
What is a skill you wish you could download instantly?
If this group started a business, what would it be?
What is the most memorable gift you have given or received?
What is a story your family tells about you all the time?
What was your worst job, and what did it teach you?
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would be at the table?
What is something you used to love that you cannot stand now?

Conversation starters over text

Short, easy to answer from a phone, and unlikely to get a one word reply.

What is the best thing you ate today?
What song has been stuck in your head?
What are you watching right now?
What is one thing that made you smile today?
If you could teleport anywhere this weekend, where would you go?
What is the last photo you took?
What is a small win you had this week?
Send me the last emoji you used and tell me why.
What is the best meal you could order right now?
What is your biggest guilty pleasure show?
What is the most useful app on your phone?
What are you doing this weekend, and what do you wish you were doing?
What is a place you want to take me someday?
If you could pause time for an hour, what would you do?

Conversation starters for awkward silences

For the moment when small talk dries up. These keep it light and still go somewhere.

What is something small that you are looking forward to?
What is the best compliment you have ever received?
What is the most interesting thing you have read or heard lately?
What was your favorite place to hang out as a teenager?
What is a smell that takes you straight back to childhood?
What is one thing you would change about your daily routine?
What is the best thing about where you grew up?
What would you do with an extra hour every day?
What is a place near here that you think is underrated?
What is the best gift you have ever gotten?
What is a skill you wish you had picked up earlier?
What is one thing you are curious about right now?

Would you rather: quick picks

Fast, low stakes and great for getting everyone talking. Always ask “why?” after the answer. For a bigger list, see our would you rather questions.

Would you rather always be 10 minutes late or always be 20 minutes early?
Would you rather live by the beach or in the mountains?
Would you rather never use social media again or never watch another movie?
Would you rather have a personal chef or a personal driver?
Would you rather be able to speak every language or play every instrument?
Would you rather give up coffee or give up dessert?
Would you rather have a rewind button or a pause button for your life?
Would you rather take a long road trip or a short flight?
Would you rather have summer all year or winter all year?
Would you rather read minds or see the future?
Would you rather cook every meal or never cook again but eat only takeout?
Would you rather have one amazing vacation a year or a small trip every month?
Would you rather know the date you will die or the cause?
Would you rather live in the city you love with a tiny home or in a big house in a city you dislike?

How to keep a conversation going

A good starter only opens the door. These habits keep it open.

Ask a follow-up about a detail. If someone says they went to Portugal, ask what they ate, not whether they liked it.
Share your own answer. A conversation is a trade. If you ask a question and offer nothing back, it starts to feel like an interview.
Listen for the part they got excited about. Their voice or face will change. That is the thread to pull.
React before you ask the next thing. “That sounds amazing” or “Oh no, what happened next?” takes two seconds and makes people want to keep talking.
Let silence breathe. A pause is often someone thinking of a better answer.

Turn these into a group game

You do not need an app to play. Write 20 or 30 of your favorite starters on slips of paper and drop them in a bowl.

Pass the bowl around. Each person draws a slip and reads it out loud.
The person who drew it answers first, then everyone else answers the same question.
Each player gets one pass, which means they can swap their slip for a new one.
If a story gets good, let it run. The game is the conversation, not the list.

For more question sets, try questions to ask to get to know someone, this or that questions and questions to ask your partner. If you are planning a night out, see games to play on a date.

If you would rather not prepare slips, Duoo is an iPhone app with party games for two to eight players that runs on one phone, offline, and includes question games like Would You Rather and Never Have I Ever. A printed list or a bowl of paper slips works just as well, so use whichever is easier on the night.