200+ Best Icebreaker Questions to Get the Conversation Started

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Avoid nervous encounters and awkward silences with someone you’ve just met by using these great icebreaker questions to get the conversation rolling in fun, thoughtful, and creative directions.

Icebreaker Questions

Best

Delve right in with someone you’ve just met by using these classic icebreakers that will get practically everyone racking their brains for their perfect answer.

There are no right or wrong answers, and the spotlight is on them to give their own opinions and ideas.

1. What’s the most interesting place you’ve ever traveled to?

2. What famous people, alive or dead, would you most like to have dinner with?

3. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

4. If you were in charge of the country, what’s the first law you’d introduce?

5. What are your top three bucket list items?

6. If you could be somebody else for just one day, who would you be?

7. If you could have any superpower, what superpower would you choose?

8. If you were stranded on a desert island, what book, album, and movie would you want to have with you?

9. Imagine your favorite chef will make a starter, main course, and dessert of your choice. What meals would you choose?

10. If you won the lottery, what’s the first thing you’d buy?

11. Which continent would you be most interested in traveling around?

12. Have you ever kept any of your New Year’s resolutions permanently?

13. If you were guaranteed a lifespan of 200 years, how would you change your life today?

14. If you had your own talk show, who would be the first guest you invited on?

15. If you had a time machine that could only be used once, which year would you visit?

16. If a genie appeared, what three things would you wish for?

Fun

If you want to keep things light-hearted and not too deep or personal, give some of these fun icebreaker questions a try.

17. What TV show are you currently hooked on?

18. What’s your favorite meal of the day?

19. Which decade had the best fashion?

20. What animal do you think you’re most similar to?

21. What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?

22. Who’s your favorite character from film, TV, or books?

23. What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?

24. If you could stay one age forever, which age would you choose and why?

25. If you could have any talent, which talent would you choose?

26. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, which food would it be?

27. What TV show did you binge the quickest?

28. What’s your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?

29. Do you prefer going to dinner at other people’s houses or hosting people at yours?

30. Which household chores are you best at, and which do you secretly hate?

31. What is your favorite sport to watch? What’s your least favorite?

32. Which three emojis best represent you?

33. If you could only ever eat one vegetable again, what vegetable would you choose?

34. Do you like musicals? If so, which one is your favorite?

35. What’s your favorite way to exercise?

36. What’s the scariest film you’ve ever seen?

37. Have you ever won a competition?

Interesting & Unique

Kick off the conversation with some truly thought-provoking topics by using a few of these unique icebreaker questions, that are ideal for more casual settings.

38. Do you believe in aliens?

39. What song do you think has the best lyrics ever written?

40. What’s the best fancy dress costume you’ve ever worn?

41. If your house was on fire, what three things would you grab?

42. If you could be fluent in any language, which one would you choose?

43. What is something that most people love but you think is overrated?

44. If you could build your dream house, what quirky features would it have?

45. If you could live anywhere for six months with unlimited money and no job, where would you pick?

46. If you could find out the date of your death, would you want to know?

47. If you could have an endless supply of one food, what food would you choose?

48. If you could be reincarnated as an animal, which animal would you want to be?

49. Which celebrity do people say you look the most similar to?

50. If you could win an Olympic gold medal for a sport, which sport would you like to win it for?

51. Which smartphone app do you spend too much time on?

52. If you had the chance, would you ever travel into space?

53. What’s your favorite scene from a TV show or film?

54. Have you ever met a celebrity? If so, who? What were they like?

55. If you were in charge of the national curriculum, what subject would you add that isn’t currently taught in schools?

56. If you could make one thing illegal, what would it be?

57. Do you think technology is more of a force for good or bad in the world?

58. What would you want if you could have an unlimited supply of anything for the rest of your life?

59. If you could become an instant expert in one topic, what would you choose?

60. What do you think has been the most useful invention in the last 20 years?

Funny

Great for house parties, gatherings, or taking the nerves out of date nights, these icebreaker questions are sure to get plenty of laughs and revealing insights.

If you need to bring the tension down a few notches, throw a few of these into the conversational embers and see what happens.

61. What’s the worst haircut you’ve ever had?

62. What was your most embarrassing moment?

63. What’s your go-to karaoke song?

64. Who’s your famous crush?

65. What song do you dance to when nobody’s watching?

66. What’s the best prank you’ve ever played on somebody or somebody has played on you?

67. What’s your favorite strange food combination?

68. What’s your most embarrassing date story?

69. How long would you survive in a zombie apocalypse?

70. What did you get into most trouble for at school?

71. Which celebrity did you have a poster of on your wall as a teenager?

72. What’s the last website you visited on your smartphone?

73. Have you ever lied about something to impress a date? Did they find out?

74. What fashion trend is currently popular but will embarrass us in ten years’ time?

75. If you were arrested for something, what’s the likeliest thing it would be for?

76. What’s the most embarrassing thing your parents did when you were growing up?

77. What lie have you felt guiltiest about telling?

78. What would you do if you could commit any crime and be guaranteed to get away with it?

‘Would You Rather’

A great way to take the pressure off coming up with original answers, ‘would you rather’ questions are ideal for breaking the ice, as they present you with two answers to choose from.

Be sure to check out our list of 100+ ‘would you rather’ questions if you want plenty more conversational kindle in your metaphorical back pocket.

79. Would you rather lose all your past memories or never be able to make new ones?

80. Would you rather meet your ancestors or your great, great-grandchildren?

81. Would you rather be able to read minds or fly?

82. Would you rather travel backward or forwards in time?

83. Would you rather have permanent darkness or permanent daylight?

84. Would you rather go on holiday to the beach or the countryside?

85. Would you rather never eat your favorite food again or have to eat it for every meal?

86. Would you rather be fluent in every language or be able to speak to animals?

87. Would you rather be an amazing singer or dancer?

88. Would you rather be able to change a past event or see into your future?

89. Would you rather never be able to tell a lie or have everybody see your internet search history?

90. Would you rather live in an extremely hot or extremely cold environment?

91. Would you rather have lots of acquaintances but no best friends or two close best friends but no acquaintances?

92. Would you rather be a famous sports star or a famous film star?

93. Would you rather find and marry your soulmate but have no money or win the lottery but never find love?

94. Would you rather have Spiderman or Batman on your side in a fight?

95. Would you rather spend a day with your favorite actor or your favorite musician?

96. Would you rather never be able to drink coffee or tea again?

97. Would you rather have a rewind button or a pause button to use in life?

98. Would you rather live without your phone or your laptop?

Personal (Get to Know Someone Better)

If you intend to get to know someone better straight away, such as a first date or a mutual friend you’ve really clicked with, take your conversations to a new level with these personal icebreakers.

99. How would you describe yourself in five words?

100. Would you describe yourself as an introvert or an extrovert?

101. What’s your dream holiday destination?

102. Do you have any phobias?

103. What was your favorite subject in school?

104. What’s your favorite place to visit in your local area?

105. What is one thing that doesn’t cost anything and brings you joy?

106. What is your favorite memory from your childhood?

107. How would your best friend describe you in five words?

108. What’s the kindest thing you’ve ever done for a stranger?

109. What are your five biggest pet peeves?

110. Do you prefer to spend time indoors or outdoors?

111. If you could only ever eat one type of cuisine for the rest of your life, what cuisine would you choose?

112. Who was your favorite musician during your teenage years? Do you still listen to them now?

113. Are you an early riser or a night owl?

114. What is your favorite genre of music?

115. What do you consider to be your best character trait?

116. If you were given the funding to start your own business, what business would you open?

117. How many languages do you speak?

118. Have you ever had an imaginary friend?

119. Are you a cat person or a dog person? Or neither?

120. What is your favorite tradition during the festive period?

121. When was the last time you spent a day without your phone?

122. If you wrote an autobiography, what would the title be?

123. What was your favorite cartoon to watch as a child?

124. Do you prefer sweet or savory food?

Deep

Some people prefer to keep their walls up, while others are happy to dive into deep, intimate, and personal conversation.

If you’re confident the person you’re chatting with is the latter, connect on a much greater level with these deep icebreaker questions.

125. Have you ever been in love?

126. What is your relationship with your family like?

127. What’s your biggest fear?

128. What untrue assumption do people tend to make about you?

129. Who has taught you the most about life?

130. What’s the biggest goal you want to achieve in your life?

131. What qualities are important to you in a romantic partner?

132. What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever gone through?

133. Do you believe in love at first sight?

134. If you could give advice to your 16-year-old self, what would you tell them?

135. Do you have any regrets in life? If you could go back and change them, would you?

136. What about your current lifestyle would your younger self be most surprised to find out?

137. What scene from a film never fails to make you cry?

138. What do you feel most insecure about?

139. What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received?

140. What one item do you keep purely for sentimental value?

141. Do you believe in soulmates?

142. What three things in your life are you most grateful for?

143. What would you like to be remembered for after your death?

144. What qualities do you look for in a friend?

145. What has been your most significant achievement in the last year?

146. How would you summarise your life in three words?

Virtual

Be it for someone you’ve met online, a colleague, or someone from an online group, a virtual conversation can still be just as engaging if you ask the right questions.

Give some of these virtual icebreakers a try when you have to kick off virtual meetings or engage people over the internet.

147. What does your morning routine look like?

148. Have you ever had an embarrassing moment on a virtual call?

149. If you could have a historical figure as a work colleague, who would you want to have?

150. Which one item could you not live without?

151. What’s your best tip for staying productive?

152. What do you do to unwind after a busy day?

153. How do you combat distractions when working from home?

154. If you could have any view outside your office window, what view would you choose?

155. How do you typically spend your weekends?

156. What TV shows that you’ve seen recently would you recommend?

157. What podcasts or music do you listen to while working remotely?

158. What was your most embarrassing moment in an interview?

159. Would you rather be the funniest or the most intelligent person in the room?

160. If an alien appeared right now, how would you explain your job to them?

161. Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Team-Building (for Coworkers)

Ideal for building closer bonds with your coworkers if you work from home, use these team-building icebreakers when starting a new job or when talking to a new member of the team.

Without the office camaraderie or the water cooler chat, there’s still plenty of ways to build strong relationships with your team virtually.

162. What’s the best part of your job?

163. What was your first job?

164. What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?

165. Are you a tea or coffee drinker?

166. What’s the best work project you’ve ever been involved in?

167. What do you do during your free time?

168. What common misconceptions do people have about your job?

169. Which successful businessperson do you most admire?

170. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

171. If you could only keep five apps on your smartphone, which apps would you pick?

172. If you had an extra hour of free time every day, how would you spend it?

173. What has been the proudest moment of your career?

174. What’s your favorite motivational quote?

175. What did you buy with your first ever paycheque?

176. What three luxury items would you take with you to a desert island?

177. What item that you’ve bought did you save up for the longest time?

178. If your life was a film, what genre would it be?

179. What’s the best professional development or self-help book you’ve read?

180. How do you deal with stress at work?