Conversation Starters - Adolescents
1. If you had to give every human being one quality, what would it be and why?
2. Do you have any recurring dreams? Describe them?
3. What is the meanest thing someone could say to you?
4. If you could be a famous athlete, actor, writer or musician which would you choose and why? (It is fun to guess what the other people in the group will say before divulging answers)!
5. If you were invisible where would you go and what would you do?
6. If your life was made into a movie, who would play you? why?
7. If you could invent one thing what would it be?
8. What is the greatest song ever written?
10. What is the most important quality for a boss to have?
11. If you could know one thing about the future, what would it be?
13. How do you choose your friends?
14. What is the first thing you notice about a person?
15. What do you think is the biggest problem in the world and Why?
16. Describe the most beautiful thing you have ever seen.
17. What would the cover of your autobiography look like if it could not be a picture of you or your family?
18. If you could trade places with anyone in the world who would it be and why? How about someone in your family?
19. Do you ever talk to yourself? When and what do you say?
20. Tell the group (or other person) the most attractive thing about the person on your right.
Tips
- Forget yourself. Dale Carnegie once said, "It's much easier to become interested in others than it is to convince them to be interested in you." If you are too busy thinking about yourself, what you look like, or what the other person might be thinking, you will never be able to relax.
- The best conversations come from gaining new understanding about the topic discussed or the person. Try to lead into personal stories and anecdotes. These give limitless conversation and are revealing about the character of a person.
- It's okay to talk about yourself as long as the person listening is interested and getting new information about you or the topic. People don't like to rehash things they already know or have thought about so try to give a new perspective or way of thinking.
- While you want to talk about a topic, make sure you pause in between sentences, which allows for the other person to ask a question to clarify if they are understanding you and/or for them to interject with a thought of their own. Remember, you want to have a conversation, not be a story-teller.
- A compliment usually does the trick. For example, a "I like your handbag" could lead to a discussion over stores, bags, or anything.
- Always make eye contact and be sure the person knows you are listening. Some people like to half-listen and usually make horrible conversationalist. If the person is doing this or is doing it often or all the time then they're not the person you want to have a conversation with.