Whether you are on a date or having dinner with people you barely know, you can sometimes run out of things to talk about. When that happens, thoughts rush through your head searching for a topic, any topic, to break the awkwardness that makes silence last forever.

Use some of the questions below to ask lighthearted questions and keep the conversation going. If you want to create more intimacy, you can check these questions too.

Conversation starters

  1. When was the last time you walked for more than an hour?
  2. What was the best gift you ever received and why?
  3. If you had to move abroad, where would you live and why?
  4. Do you read a newspaper often and which do you prefer? Why?
  5. If you could invent a new flavor of ice cream, what would it be?
  6. What is the best restaurant you’ve been to in the last month?
  7. Describe the last pet you owned.
  8. What is your favorite holiday? Why?
  9. What was the funniest thing that ever happened to you when you were with a small child?
  10. What’s the best gift you ever received?
  11. Do you prefer to get up early or stay up late?
  12. Where are you from? Name all of the places you’ve lived.
  13. What did you do this summer?
  14. What is your favourite movie/TV series?
  15. When was the last time you went to see a play?
  16. What is the best TV show you’ve seen in the last month?
  17. What is your favorite holiday? Why?
  18. What is the best book you’ve read in the last three months?
  19. What country would you most like to visit? What attracts you to this place?
  20. Do you think left-handed people are more creative than right-handed people?
  21. What is the last concert you saw? Had you seen them before? Where?
  22. Do you subscribe to any magazines? Which ones? What have you subscribed to in the past?
  23. What did you like to do when you were 10?
  24. What is the best/worst advice you have been given?
  25. What are your pet peeves?
  26. What is the one food you could eat for the rest of your life?
  27. If you won the lottery, what would you do first?
  28. Have you ever stolen anything?
  29. If you could only save one item from a house fire, what would it be?
  30. If you could be famous, would you want to? Why?