Best Conversation Starters

Are you looking for some inspiration on how to get the ball rolling when it comes to having a good conversation? Then you came to the right place! In this article I will give you some of the best conversation starters, cover some of the most interesting topics to have a conversation about, give you tips on maintaining a good conversation, and share other advice all aimed at improving your conversational abilities.

Why should you improve your conversational skills?

Having good conversation skills is the foundation of human interaction. Having good conversation and communication skills can help you:

• Form deeper and more meaningful connections with people
• Improve workplace relations
• Improve workplace performance
• Expand your social network
• Expand your professional network
• Get dates more easily
• Attract friends more easily
• Have better success online dating
• Have better success on tinder
• Have better success texting girls/guys
• Enjoy yourself more

Are you convinced yet that it would be worthwhile to learn ways to improve your conversation skills? Communicating effectively and interacting with your peers can have such a positive impact on your day to day life that you’d be crazy not to want to learn how to increase your abilities. 

Best Questions to Ask to Start a Conversation

Sometimes the most challenging part of having a good conversation is coming up with ways to start one in the first place. If you’ve ever been around someone new, and you couldn’t come up with anything to say, you know exactly what I mean! Let’s take a look at some of the best conversation starters. Anytime you need to get an interesting conversation started, just ask one of the following questions: 

• If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
• What is the best advice you were ever given?
• What is the worst advice your were given?
• What is your favorite band?
• What is your favorite movie?
• What is your favorite song?
• What is your favorite quote?
• What’s your earliest childhood memory?
• What do your parents do for work?
• What do you do for work?
• Where do you see yourself in 2 years?
• What is your dream job?
• What is your dream vacation?
• Describe your perfect day
• What is your favorite meal?
• Do you have any pets?
• What was the worst date you’ve even been on?
• If the world was ending tomorrow, how would you want to spend your last day?
• What was your favorite subject in school?
• Do you prefer hot or cold weather?
• What’s your favorite season?
• What’s your favorite animal?
• If you were famous, what would you be famous for?
• What are your best traits?
• What are your worst traits?
• What’s your favorite sport?
• What is your favorite TV show?
• If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose and why?
• If you were to get a tattoo, what would it be?
• What age are you gonna let your kids start dating?
• What are the best qualities a person can have?
• What’s on your bucket list?
• What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?
• What’s the happiest memory you have?
• Who have been the biggest influence on your life?
• Does the future scare you, and if so what about it does?
• What keeps you up at night?
• Who is your favorite couple and why?
• What does success mean to you?
• What’s the hardest you remember laughing?
• What are you passionate about?
• How do you spend your leisure time?
• What are your favorite hobbies?
• What is your favorite book?
• What do you like most about your friends?
• Do you have any pet peeves?
• What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received?
• If you could time travel to any period for a day, what period would you time travel to?
• What is your least favorite chore?
• What are you thankful for?
• What are you most proud of?
• What is your greatest achievement?
• What was the most challenging thing you’ve ever faced?
• What was your first job?
• What was your least favorite job?
• What fun plans do you have planned over the weekend?
• How long do you go without checking your phone in an average day?
• Do you have any new year’s resolutions and did you keep them?
• What bad habits do you have that you wish you could stop?
• Are you a morning person or a night person?
• What’s the most embarrassed you’ve ever been?
• Are you a jealous person?
• What makes you angry?
• What bores you?
• What is your guilty pleasure?

Asking any of the questions above is a great way to get a conversation started. But if you need more ideas on conversation starters, you can also ask about specific topics of conversation. Some conversation topics are more interesting than others, and some or more suited for certain environments. For example, you likely wouldn’t start the same topic of conversation at a networking event as you would at a bar, or with friends. Read below for the best conversation topics. 

Best Conversation Topics

 

• Work/Career

• Life Goals/Ambitions

• Passions and Hobbies

• Life Experiences

• Current Events

• Movies/Music/Art

 

Work/Career

When getting to know somebody knew, starting a conversation about their work and career can be a great subject to talk about. You can talk about their past jobs, current job, stresses of the job, and how they like it. You can learn a lot about a person by the kind of work they do. Everyone likes to talk about their jobs, because it’s an important part of who a person is. 

This is an especially good conversation topic at networking events, because that’s what they are for. So next time you need an easy go-to conversation topic, consider asking about the person’s career.

Life Goals/Ambitions

This one can still be work related, depending on the person, but everyone has different ambitions. For some people if you ask them their life goals, they will simply say “to have kids and a loving family.” Others might answer that they want to live a simple life and have an honest job. Other’s just want that big promotion at work, so it is related to work, but that’s not true for everyone. This is an interesting topic of conversation to have because it really lets you get an idea for the interests and mindset of the person. You can really learn a lot about a person by what they want to achieve in life.

Passions and Hobbies

People love to discuss the things that interest them. That’s why asking a person about their passions and hobbies can be a very interesting conversation to start. Everyone enjoys different things, and unwinds in different ways. That’s what makes it so interesting to interact with new people. 

This is a good topic to ask about pretty much anywhere you are. It can be appropriate at work, in school, with friends, at family gatherings, and even at bars and out in public. Everyone loves to talk about the things that move them. Think about how long you could go on talking about the things you love

Life Experiences

Asking somebody about their life experiences can yield a very interesting conversation. You can ask them about where they group, how many brothers and sisters they had, where they’ve been on vacation, crazy things they’ve done, great memories they’ve had. The possibilities are endless. It’s fun to learn about a person past and all the things that have contributed to the person they are today. If you need a good conversation subject, asking about different life experiences they have had is a surefire way for a good conversation.

Current Events

If you’re somebody who’s always plugged into current events you can have an easy conversation about any of the current hot topics. Whether it’s a social, political or pop-culture related event, people love to discuss things that are current, so this is a pretty safe and easy conversation topic to start.

The only drawback is that some topics have people divided, and you might want to tread lightly on the subject with strangers. For example if you’re discussing something political, some people are very passionate about their beliefs, and a friendly conversation could turn into an argument if you’re not careful. Just keep that in mind next time you start a conversation. 

Movies/Music/Art

Lastly, conversations about music, movies, T.V. shows and other art forms are some of the best conversation topics you can start. It’s always enjoyable to talk to someone about their likes and dislikes when it comes to the media they consume. It’s even more enjoyable when you can connect with somebody new over your shared appreciation of a particular artist or movie. Finding people who share the same interests as you is an easy way to make meaningful connections and have an enjoyable chat. 

Maintaining a Conversation

Getting the conversation started is only the first part, and pulling from any of the questions above can help you do that. But the next thing you need to learn is how to keep a conversation going. If you just keep asking question after question, it might start to feel more like an interrogation than a friendly chat. 

Tips on How To Maintain a Conversation

 

• Ask more questions about the topic of conversation

• Listen intently for cues on conversation

• Be honest

• Read body language

• Practice good eye contact

• Stay relaxed

• Practice active listening

 

Ask More Questions About the Current Topic of Conversation

This is one of the most important skills you can master in order to maintain conversations more easily. When you’re having a conversation with someone about a particular subject, learn to ask related questions to explore the topic in more depth. 

For example, if you’re talking with someone who is in school, and the person is discussing their schoolwork, you can ask them:

• What are you studying?
• What kind of career are you hoping to have?
• What is your dream job?
• Do you care more about making money or being passionate about your job?
• What’s your favorite class and why?
• What’s your least favorite class and why?

By asking related questions, you can turn the subject of schoolwork into a great conversation and get to the person’s likes, dislikes, ambitions and goals. These kinds of questions keep a conversation flowing and really allow you to understand another person. This is why it’s such an important skill to develop if you want to improve your ability to start and maintain conversations more easily. 

Listen Intently for Cues on Conversation

Sometimes when you’re talking with someone, they already have things on their mind that they would like to discuss and vent about. You need to learn to be aware of these so you can explore these avenues of conversation. 

For example, if you are talking with someone and they talk about how stressful there day was, they might be trying to lead the conversation to vent about their day. You can pick up on this and ask them:

• Tell me about your day?
• What was so stressful?
• Have you been experiencing a lot of stress lately?
• How do you destress after a day like today?

By listening intently for cues you can learn to follow the other persons lead on what they want to converse about. Conversation is give and take. Sometimes you have to lead the conversation, other times you follow the other persons lead. Become perceptive of these conversational cues and you will have an easier time coming up with things to talk about.

Be Honest

Being honest and true to yourself is an important part of maintaining a conversation. Sometimes when we are in a group, or chatting with somebody that we really want to impress, we try to filter the things we say in order to look better. This is something you want to avoid. If you are open and true about your thoughts on any particular subject, the conversation can flow more naturally and you will have an easier time talking.

But if you are holding back your true thoughts in an attempt to impress someone, it comes off as inauthentic, and you might run out of things to say, which will make it harder to keep the conversation going. 

Read Body Language

Becoming perceptive of body language will help you in your ability to maintain a conversation. When you learn to read body language, you can understand the topics of conversation to explore more deeply with a person, and the topics to avoid. 

For example, if you start a conversation on the subject of politics, and then you find the person you are talking with starts to make less eye contact, they might not enjoy or feel comfortable with the current topic of conversation. If you ask them a question about their favorite hobby, and you see their eyes light up, you can tell that this is a topic they love to talk about, and you should ask more questions about this subject.

Reading body language also comes into play when approaching somebody new like in a bar setting. If you approach the person and they don’t make eye contact, face away from your, or are constantly checking your phone, they are not really interested in you. 

Learning to read body language can help you avoid conversations that make the other person bored or uncomfortable, and it can help you realize when a person is not interested in conversing with you altogether. These are important skills to develop if you want to improve your conversational abilities.

Practice Good Eye Contact

Another important part of having a conversation with someone is proper eye contact. We’ve all been in the middle of a sentence when you see the other person staring at their phone or something else, and you start to question whether they are listening to you. When the other person does not feel like you are really listening they can feel devalued and disprected, which is why healthy eye contact is so important.

We recommend the 50/70 rule when it comes to eye contact. What this means is that about 50 percent of the time while speaking you must try to maintain good eye contact. While listening, try to maintain eye contact about 70 percent of the time. 

Proper eye contact shows confidence and also lets the other person know you are listening and interested. This is an important part of any conversation, so next time you’re chatting with someone, make sure they know you are listening by practicing good habits.

Stay Relaxed

Staying relaxed helps conversations flow more naturally. If you aren’t relaxed in a conversation you may start to tense up and overthink everything you say. This is especially true for you if you have social anxiety. Some people get really nervous in social situations which prevents them from opening up. If you find yourself tensing up during a conversation, there are a couple of things you can do to relax yourself. 

Firstly comes awareness. Be aware in a social situation when you are starting to tense up and slow down your breathing and relax any tension you have in your muscles. When your body starts to tense up, you are releasing the stress hormone cortisol in your bloodstream. This stress can limit the amount of oxygen that gets to your brain, which means you won’t be able to think as clearly. If you can sense that you are starting to feel tense, and relieve this tension and take deeper breaths, you can improve your ability to stay relaxed. This will also allow you to think more clearly, which means you will have less trouble responding to the conversation you are having. 

The second thing you can do to stay more relaxed during conversations is fake confidence. You’ve likely heard this advice before: fake it till you make it. Well it really does work. When you project confidence in your voice, your body will actually feel more confident during a conversation. Next time you’re starting to feel nervous when chatting with someone new, just try to say your sentences in a strong and confident voice, and it will help you feel more at ease.

Staying relaxed is an important part of starting and maintaining a good conversation with someone. If you stay relaxed, you are able to think and respond more clearly to the conversation. By being relaxed you also make the other person feel more at ease, which means you both can connect more meaningfully.

Practice Active Listening

Active listening is a strategy of listening that keeps you engaged when having a conversation. 

To practice active listening, during a conversation follow these guidelines:

• Stay neutral, not passing any judgement on what is said
• Remain patient and do not try to fill pauses in the conversation, let your partner finish what they are saying
• Practice good nonverbal body language (smiling and eye contact when appropriate)
• Ask questions about what your conversation partner is saying
• Ask for clarification when you are confused
• Summarize what is said back to your partner

Active listening is effective because in many conversations, whether they be work related or social, your conversation partner needs to know you are listening to them and paying attention. Active listening communicates that you are present and focused, which your conversation partner will greatly appreciate. 

Conclusion

There are endless possibilities on unique and fun questions you can ask to get a conversation started, as well as a variety of interesting topics that can give you some great insights into a person. By starting a conversation on the right topic, and practicing the strategies we’ve covered on how to maintain conversations more easily, you can really have some great chats with people that will feel almost effortless. 

The key thing to remember is that the ability to start and maintain a good conversation is a skill that must be practiced. You will get better over time if you keep at it, and start to become perceptive of the ways you can improve. It won’t be enough to just read this guide, you need to continually practice and you will see a gradual improvement over time. 

If you’re a guy and need more ideas on starting conversations with girls, check out our guide on interesting topics to talk to a girl about.