I dream of a world where people talk, not to fill the silence, but because we’re human beings and are therefore naturally intrigued by one another. This has nothing to do with introversion or because anybody sucks it. Nobody sucks at small talk. Some people just refuse to give in to our society’s accepted list of things to talk about when you meet people for the first time. Small talk doesn’t leave lasting impressions and it does not spark connection. But isn’t connection the reason why people converse in the first place? Here are 30 things to discuss about life that might be just more interesting than what we had for lunch. If you think some of them might be a little too much for a first meet, start with the lighter topics.
1- Discuss your favorite memories from grade school.
2- Discuss your worst memories from high school.
3- What’s their favorite form of art?
4- TV shows and movies and what fictional characters they relate to
5- Ask about all the favorites, and about why all the favorites are favorites.
6- What do they do when it rains?
7- If they are “for the rest of my life” person or “in the moment” person
8- Argue about who had it easier, our generation or our parents’ and if the next millennia will have it worse
9- If they’d rather be a joyful simpleton or a worried genius
10- What’s their take on a zombie-apocalypse and if they think they would survive it
11- What are three things they have to do everyday (besides the obvious: brushing their teeth, changing their clothes, going to the bathroom, etc.)
12- Ask if they like animals because that’s an important question. If someone doesn’t like animals, don’t like them. You guys suck.
13- What is their drink of choice? Are they a late night drink kinda person or coffee in the morning kinda person? Or are they both?
14- If they’re a morning or a night person.
15- Discuss how labels and categories should be something of the past and how the only title that should be given to someone is a human being.
16- Talk about the many unwelcome existential dreads about nothing in particular we all go through.
17- If they’d rather live forever or die tomorrow
18- What’s their stance on supernatural phenomena?
19- What country they’d like to live in? and why?
20- This one is not a topic to discuss but try to make up new songs. it’s fun putting ideas together and rhyming words.
21- Ask about the story of how they met their best-friend/s
22- What was the worst phase of their life so far?
23- And what was the best phase of their life so far?
24- What was their boogeyman growing up?
25- Who is their Idol?
26- Their version of what constitutes as a perfect day
27- What’s their Karaoke go to song?
28- When was the last time they were so moved, they did something gracious?
29- Ask them what do they want the most and why they want it
30- Discuss life’s unanswered questions. Start with “which came first, the chicken or the egg?”
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that small talk isn’t one of life’s little pleasures. I know you’re just gonna have to turn to it in certain situations! All I’m saying is, let’s not get stuck in small talk and forget that we’re here to know one another. Let’s break the social patterns and make an effort to come up with quirky, fun and personal questions! Even if we might come off as weird!
