25 Great Conversation Starters for Professional Settings

Conversation Starters

The first time you attend professional events like job fairs and conferences can be daunting, but the right ice breakers can lead to interesting conversations and level up your networking experience. Funny conversation starters and icebreakers are a great way to make the people around you more comfortable and open the way for deep conversations and create the potential for opportunities.

Why Networking is Important

The ability to network is crucial to career development in many different industries. This is because networking is the key to creating friendships, finding mentors, and developing strong working relationships with your peers. If you want to get ahead and develop your skills, then collaboration is all-important. In fact, CNBC reports that 70% of all jobs are not listed on job sites, and as much as 80% are filled as a result of personal and professional connections, i.e., a result of networking. So the right conversation starters at your next conference could have a huge impact on your future.

25 Conversation Starters for Professional Events

The ability to know which icebreakers are the best in any situation is something that develops with experience. There are some conversation topics that are generally not good for any professional setting (for example, religion and politics), but anything to do with pop culture tends to be quite safe. Consider these interesting and funny conversation starters for your next professional event:

• Where is your favorite place in the world?
• What’s the best thing about your current job?
• Would you rather give up coffee or wine?
• What are your top five favorite movies?
• If you could live in any TV show for a day, then which one would you choose?
• When was the last time you went to the beach?
• What was your dream job as a child?
• Do you have a favorite restaurant? (Specify the city you are in if they are a local!)
• Where did you take your all-time favorite holiday?
• What are the top three items on your bucket list?
• What’s the biggest regret of your career so far?
• What’s your favorite thing about yourself?
• Do you still speak to your childhood best friend?
• What’s your favorite food?
• Do you have a favorite sport?
• Do you play any sports?
• What was your favorite subject in high school?
• What’s your least favorite way to travel? Why?
• Do you prefer Netflix or DVDs?
• If you could have one superpower for life, then what would it be?
• What do you think are the best and worst things about social media?
• Do you have a favorite podcast?
• Do you prefer ice cream or cream with chocolate cake?
• What’s your favorite thing to do in your free time?
• What’s your favorite type of music?

These questions will prompt the people you are talking with to open up and get the conversation flowing in fun and interesting ways. The key to a successful event is knowing how to keep the conversation going after breaking the ice.