There’s always an awkwardness to going out in a larger group at least in the first few minutes until a topic or more get going and people can pick the subject they want to pursue. It’s always easier to go out in two but it rarely has the potential to turn out as fun. Even if you’re in a new group or in a group of old friends there will still be a moment of suspense before somebody cracks the ice and you might as well do it yourself. If you’re out in a pub with a small group of friends or colleagues you can always pump up the conversation by ordering a first round of drinks and making harmless observations about the choices people make. There’s always a good vibe to a friendly tease. Then look well who it is that’s with you and you’re bound to have a pending question for at least one of the people there. Ask and don’t worry to much about integrating everybody into the discussion. Once one conversation starts the others will feel more at ease and comfortable to start their own conversation or just interfere in the ones of the others. If the environment you’re in is work related than the subject are best kept neutral and formal. Even if you’re on a break and your colleagues are also good friends you shouldn’t distance yourself too much from the general atmosphere. Use topics as assignments, the usual gossip but always make sure you know who’s around and how formal and informal relations generally form within the company. Breaks are usually short and everybody is mostly focused of making the most of them. If it’s a lunch break don’t spend it with a group which makes you tense but spend it with friends and then you won’t have to worry to much about conversation. After all the whole point of a lunch break is enjoying the meal.

Other popular topics for a decent conversation in a small group can involve travel plans which you have, holiday plans. Everybody feels nice to talk about projects for the future and to put aside the thought of work and focus on plans to spend your free time. The others will also be more than happy to take their turn at describing their holiday plans. You might even get some practical use out of this. You never know how you can improve your plans. There’s a lot of information out there but some things are best found out through experience and what better way to share that experience than through conversation.

There are many topics you can think of that make a good conversation but always make sure you ask the other persons about his well-being without asking for too many details. It is good to be considerate and interested in the others before launching a conversation. That way you’ll all know you’re not just talking just for wasting time .

If you’re ever in the mood to just let go after an intense work period and you just feel like goofing around the safest thing to do is have fun with a close friend. Since it would be a contradiction to put some real energy into this you might as well just make fun of him in a considerate way of course. Here’s a list of funny questions you can ask your friends and you’re guaranteed to have a laugh.

A first one could sound like this: “If you dug a hole to the other side of the Earth would you stop and hang at the center because of gravity?”. This is obviously a rhetorical question but who cares. Just seeing your friend bemused and puzzled by your question will be reason enough to laugh your heart out. Not to mention if he tries to explain the error of your thoughts. It will get even better once he gets the hang of it.

You also always run the risk of slightly irritating your friend but what are friends for if not to tolerate and accept you in your worse condition.

So don’t be afraid to ask away.

Another stupid question would be to ask if it’s rude for a deaf person to talk sign language with their mouth full of food? This is a perfectly legitimate question. And if pro and con are opposites would the opposite of progress be congress? Since bread is square why is salami round? These are just some more examples of harmless funny questions.

If you don’t want your friend to feel neglected ask him something about himself. Ask him what gets him scared and then ask him to detail on it until you see his face change and then just laugh away. This might sound a little cruel but if you don’t lose complete control you can get him back on the right track. Even so, you’d better just stick to the impersonal questions. There’s no reason to turn a voluntary momentary lapse of reason into a mistake you’ll regret.

Ask your friends if cannibals can get arrested if they have eaten a person who was drunk. Ask if women were to be running the Pentagon the missiles and submarines would be shaped different. Soon enough you won’t be the only one laughing. All sorts of questions that pop into your mind are proof of your curiosity and unwillingness to go through this world without genuinely making a sense of it. There’s nothing more lovable than this type of immature questions. Ask your lover what you have done if you try to fail and succeed at it and if it is just a coincidence that there are 24 hours in a day and 24 beers in a case.

Such silly questions won’t take long until they wear out and go belly-up but by then you’ll be relaxed and ready to get back to work.

Christmas parties are the occasion to interact with your colleagues or associates in a more informal setting and finally get to wear that outfit you’ve been dying to show off but couldn’t in a regular formal context. Family Christmas parties are no longer the pinnacle of the holiday. Once people couldn’t wait to strip from their work clothes, persona and spend time with the family but in these modern times, when job and personal life intermingle, the ultimate Christmas party is the one that gives you a new chance to reaffirm yourself, to be charming without much of the formal restraints and to just enjoy what you have achieved so far.

No matter how mind blowing the outfit might be, we all need good conversational skills or we’d be socially dead. So it’s Christmas, so it’s a celebration. Well, many see it as just a different episode of their job. So what can you talk about at such a party? How do you initiate a successful conversation when the general feeling is that business is tabu and that one should not go too deep into their personal lives.

Well one great conversation starter is commenting on the party, the food, the atmosphere. There’s always something to work on when you talk about your likes and dislikes. You can easily slip into references to other parties you’ve been to and maybe even tackle some of your own personal preferences and always inquire those of other people. Don’t forget to dig into the food and beverages at the party. Show you are relaxed and enjoying yourself. The only turn off is of course the moderation factor. Nobody likes to see somebody so profoundly concentrated on consuming that conversation is the furthest thing from his intentions and the intentions of others.

Your basic Christmas party can take many shapes and put on different disguises. Smell every opportunity to talk about what the buzz is, if that’s the case. Make sure you’re not left out and always focus on adapting, mingling and feeling good. After all, it’s a party and everybody should also perceive this time as a time off and no matter how careful you still have to be not to step on anybody’s toes, remember that everybody likes someone who knows how to party and let go. Be careful only for that fine line between letting go in good taste and letting go in bad taste. Only you can tell this line judging from others’ actions .

Other great conversation starters can be your own family Christmas party. People usually like to share this kind of personal information and it can bring them together. You get the chance to mention your loved ones and also give others a chance to another to do the same. Then you’ll both know where your heart truly is and that’s enough to assign you that fundamental conversation partner to whom you can come back to more times during the party.

How conversationally challenged and verbally impaired do we need to be before turning to conversation starter cards? This is a common prejudice in many social circles. People could easily argue that only a confident person would dare and know how to properly use conversation starter cards. They can be a fun tool and the object is eventually to mediate the relation between people, helping them grow familiar to each other until the cards become obsolete, unnecessary.

There are many types of conversation starter cards and the offer is very diverse and it can range from humorous to mostly intimate questions. What you should start by understanding is that conversation cards are mainly just a game to play with your friends, with new colleagues but even with your family. You would be surprised how much more there is to know about your family members which we all tend to take for granted and end up in shock not from what we find out but more so from the fact that we never knew that thing about them.

There’s no question of surrendering your ego when you decide to let some cards lead your conversations if you understand that it is just a game At the same time, don’t underestimate their power to bring about full-on revelations.

Which is the best way to introduce cards to a group of people and what is the best approach to using them? Things can go terribly wrong if you don’t use them wisely and you can start by letting everyone know that it’s normal to raise your eyebrow in the beginning but that it’s more important to enjoy yourself and have fun with it. The object is not to find out your most intimate thoughts and weaknesses. The object is just to find out more about the way you relate to others and about how different you perceive the same experiences.

The only rule is to be honest. Opening true conversations and always listening to the response is basically the rulebook for the game.

The cards can help out in a lot of circumstances. For one thing they can improve family life by bringing the members together for at least once a week. It’s a known fact that children from families who take the time to talk and listen are always better prepared to deal with life’s difficulties and don’t resort to other ways of relief like drugs and alcohol. In an organizational environment the cards can be used as a cohesion strategy in team building and  as an ice breaker for various training programs. They can be highly effective and can enhance further communication.

Examples of frequent topics or questions that can come up in such games are: “Are you attracted or repelled by people who are different? Talk more about your reasons”, “If you could go back in time and live in any era what would it be? Why?” and so on.

As you can see the questions are harmless but can become very powerful. There’s no harm in trying them out and do pass them on  to someone else when you think you’ve used them up.

If you’re having second thoughts about marriage don’t deny them, don’t shake them off. The last thing you want is to readdress them when the whole mechanism of marriage has already taken over your life. Analyze your doubts and insecurities. Don’t let them get the best of you but make sure this is a bet you want to take. There are risks involved as everywhere in life but there are also endless satisfactions to sharing your life with a better half.

Questions that should never be postponed or disregarded range from character to preference for the wedding ceremony. You never know out of what that seed of decisive argument can spring and open your eyes. Don’t be afraid to test your relationship but do it wisely not neurotically.

If you find yourself on the threshold of a new life and you still don’t know your future spouse’s family don’t be so naive as to think all people besides the two of you don’t matter and can never interfere with your life. Take the lead, and integrate yourself in the whole picture of the other one’s life. Mystery and seclusion in two is just perfect if all you want is a romantic affair. For a marriage to succeed you must be prepared to let the relationship loose that aura of mystery and fascination. If the love is strong it will survive and turn into something more valid, stronger and authentic.

Another thing is to not let financial matters intimidate you. Money is only as important as you let it be. People in love can settle financial differences without feeling threatened by  them. A prenuptial agreement is always the wise way to go. Do it wisely, swiftly and think of it as the worst case scenario that will never happen. It’s all just an exercise of imagination if you can keep level-headed and focus on what is really important, which is the image of you and your lover settling down in the intimate haven of marriage.

The wedding itself can be the hardest test on a relationship. The ceremony is known to bring out the worst in brides and grooms who often reconsider their position. Of course seldom does a ceremony get canceled for such disagreements but, even so, it can make brides and grooms reflect some more. The wedding ceremony is usually dominated by the bride’s wishes and lifelong dreams but the groom should also always have an input and many times he is more affected by his exclusion than he would care to admit. Brides should also take a moment to go through the plans with her future husband and, in turn, he should be interested and come up with suggestions. Planning a wedding can even bring them closer and usually the result is always perfect. You can’t really go wrong with a wedding ceremony. Even if nothing falls into place the energies and the atmosphere is so positive and comforting that people are bound to feel good, relaxed and emotional.

There are also questions better left unasked if your love deserves to be consumed before any other things are considered. Nowadays divorce is a common practice so the general feeling is that you should always choose to try out the water rather than to stand scared of later getting a cold.

Never claim to know everything there is to know about your boyfriend or you’ll just be setting yourself up for shock. The trouble with boyfriends is that even when you got yourself a really honest one he still won’t open up as much as you would like him to. Boys are like that. They don’t communicate all their thoughts though they think as much as we do, are just as insecure and, often enough, just as vain.

Boys are also just as egocentric as we can be and far from them the try to seem mysterious by intent. You are not wrong to perceive him as more naive than industrious. So then, do boys just not feel the need to share their emotions? Or are they so modest about their own thoughts? Or are we just too open in contrast to them? As women we do sometimes too eagerly look and ask for validation and reassurance for their emotions.

As a matter of fact it’s mainly the basic mechanism of our mindsets and interests. Women have an emotional locus for her thoughts whereas boys have more of an instinctual locus for their thoughts. They don’t break things apart so much and they answer when asked but rarely follow up on their insecurities though it can happen and the woman can definitely play a part.

There is never the need to nag him. Don’t harass him and don’t suffocate him. Remain independent and you’ll get much better results. The strategy is to never let your emotions get the best of you. Even so, don’t forget to let him know of your affection. As always there is a fine line and a sensitive balance in all matters of the heart.

But there’s always room for strategy and if you know what to ask and how to lead the conversation you can break into his most intimate thoughts in no time. You just need to be proactive.

To really get to know your boyfriend you have to basically study him as you would a primate. See what he likes, how he reacts to different stimulus, how he defends himself and so on. Then, when you have him cornered, let your questions subtly but efficiently play their part.

Start with neutral questions. Be interested in what he has be doing that day. Monitor any clues as to what got to him recently and then exploit that to the fullest. Did he have an argument with a good pal? What happened and why? Has he always felt a certain competition between them?

Try to move on to more personal platforms and don’t feel guilty to work on his weaknesses and insecurities. It’s in his own interest too. How can you help him if he’s not made vulnerable first? Don’t detail on his weaknesses but let him feel comfortable enough not to hide them from you.

You don’t have to psychoanalyze him but feel free to go more into the depth of his thoughts. If you don’t help him he’s probably never going to do it on his own and he’s bound to feel lightened from the load and, who knows, maybe even grateful. But do you also get your answers from this process of insight? If you know what you want to know and if you are truly committed, there’s bound to be something in it for you. You will be able to conclude on things like his moral standards, his sensitivity, his character.

Always lead the conversation, don’t be silent and he’ll follow.

First dates are always awkward and dangerously trigger high levels of anxiety and stress, that is if you want it to go somewhere and we all know, no matter how disillusioned we are, there’s always some hope in the perspective of a fresh relationship.

Naturally, conversation is the ice-breaker within reach for anyone calm enough to assess his condition, risks and opportunities. So why not go better prepared to a first date? Some topics can be of interest to virtually all people and if you keep all options in sight you won’t have any trouble bringing up a subject and, first rule, no matter how much your date shrugs or raises his/her eyebrows, never abandon a subject abruptly! What will follow is a silence so deep that it will echo with failure.

So keep a relaxed tone of voice, don’t suffocate your words. Be confident and prepared to laugh at your own clumsiness.

But what are these subjects and conversation starters that you can really master beforehand? The first would be, of course, compliments, loads of compliments. Don’t exaggerate but make sure you are not the only one ready to be confident and rather amused instead of frustrated. Always remember you are both in the same situation.

The next classical subject which should be mentioned here just so that you don’t forget about it, is dating. To find out the other person’s point of view on dating and chances of success can be very significant and can also bring you closer and more at ease with the whole situation.

You probably already knew these two starters but always make sure you smooth things up by body language. Don’t just spit out words as if memorized before. Last rule before going into the more subtle strategies: listen to your date, feel possible directions, find a flow and go with it.

Now conversation starters, together with wine, imply more mastership to be turned into genuine success. There’s only so much wine you can drink before conversation should take off and replace it.

So take a first sip of whatever social lubricant you consume, make a compliment, share your views on dating and then start off to making him/her open up gradually. Ask questions like: “Have you been in the dating business for long or have you been married?” “Do you have any children?”, “Are you more of a career person?”. Try to feel where he/she would like to detail the subject. Try to hit a chord as to what is most important in her life and always insert short comments about your own experience with the same think. Be sympathetic and slightly curious, interested whatever your true reactions. This kind of attitude is more likely to give you better chances at becoming truly interested that just nodding, letting your mind drift away, yawning.

When this part of the conversation seems saturated you should move on to more neutral subjects. There has been constant debate on whether people should start with neutral subjects and gently touch on more personal subjects later in the conversation but that increases the risk of alienating the other and not being able to ever return naturally to what you really wanted to know.

Neutral subjects can range from entertainment to art and leisure. You shouldn’t bring up politics, religion or other controversial subjects on a first date. You wouldn’t want any prejudice to take the lead. Unless of course you are neutral on the subject.

Let the surroundings inspire you and, last rule, never check out on someone else!

There are many kinds of conversation. According to the place and time, and most importantly to the people who take part in a conversation, topics can differ quite much. Everyone knows that we don’t talk about the same thing with our friends, or with our parents or with our teachers.

Even the style will differ; you might allow yourself certain words to use when you are with your colleagues, but not using those words when with your parents or family.  But however will each conversation differ from one another, you should always try to find the perfect conversation starter in every circumstance.

People who can interact easily with others and don’t have a hard time finding common interesting topics are often said to be intelligent, open-minded people, who are great team-players and can adapt to almost every circumstance. Actually, being like this is not so hard. All you have to do is always pay attention to the place and the people around you take a quick scan of everything and then, once you have made your impression you’ll know what to do.

At a family dinner conversation for example, you might be a bit reserved. There is your mother and father sitting at the table, your grandparents and even your aunts and uncles maybe. So there is not quite much to talk about with them, but anyhow, sometimes you must. In these cases it is always good for you to keep a “low profile”. This means that is always best to say little than talk too much. You probably know that there are things that a teenager does that older people might find disturbing, so it’s best not to tell every little thing that you do. They have probably forgotten that once they did the exact same things. So if you are asked about what do like to do, or what your afterschool program is, try to answer generally, say that you do ordinary stuff just like everyone does. In this case you don’t get questioned further.

What happens at a family dinner to which you bring your new girlfriend or boyfriend for the very first time? It’s no use to say that there will be lots of questions asked, and lots of awkward silent pauses. You have to make up a good family dinner conversation starter to avoid an inconvenient situation.

You parents might ask certain thing about your date, like where does he live, who are his parents and what do they do, what does he want to be when he grows up; and depending on what answers they will get, the questioning goes on and on.

So if you want to “save” you partner from all these daunting questions, you can try intervening with an interesting topic.  First, you must admit that you cannot speak about the weather, when your parents are dying to find out everything about your date. So if the topic really must be about him, or your relationship, try and bring up his hobbies for example. You can say: Did you know that Jack likes surfing? So you not even save him from annoying family questions but even get him talk about what he likes, and your parents will surely love to listen.

In this case, you get a good conversation flowing, and everyone will be pleased.

People just like gossiping. Whenever or wherever they are, no matter what kind of problem they might have, if they hear a good gossip, they immediately lighten up, and forget about their problems. It’s not that we are amused by someone’s troubles or failures, is just that we are somehow delighted to hear that it can go wrong for others too not just for us.

Also, when we hear something good about others (which is quite rare I must add), we tend not to believe it, or to try and make it look as if it is overrated or exaggerated.  So maybe it’s not a good thing that we like gossip, but there is nothing we can do about it: it is in our genes. Many times, even if you are not gossiping at all, you find out that you have made a quite good gossip topic among some people you know, or even people who you don’t know. So there is almost no way to avoid gossip.

So what do you if you are one of those persons who doesn’t like gossiping but still have to face some friends who do, or have to go to a meeting where the main topic will include a great deal of gossiping and telling the “latest news” about others.

You can think of a good conversation starter to avoid gossip sin. The very first thing you should do is to try not to talk about other people. The first step to gossiping is to bring up an issue about some other people. So always try to avoid that if you want to avoid gossip.

Instead of starting a conversation about other people, you can come up with a good conversation starter to avoid gossip sin by asking funny, silly or interesting questions. These questions are not related to anyone, so talking and laughing about them could harm no one.

There are many interesting questions which you can use to start a conversation, and you can be sure your partners will even forget about gossiping, and they even might realize that having an interesting conversation is more fun and even more useful, than gossiping endlessly about someone else’s life.

So you can start by asking what their favorite destination to travel in the world is. You can be sure that everyone dreams about exotic places or historical locations where they might like to go. Ladies especially will just love to talk about fashion centers like Milano, Roma, Paris or other places that are romantic and full of adventure.

By starting a question like this, you’ll have quite good chances to avoid useless gossip. But what happens when they all said what they had to say about their favorite places, and you feel like conversation turns once again into gossiping.  That is when you should have another gossip avoiding question to ask. It can be almost anything. You can even try a silly question like, what is the speed of the dark. If you have among them people who are at bit interested in physics, you can be sure they will have a good conversation topic.

So it’s not important what you ask, until your partners are hooked up on them, you can be sure you’ve avoided gossip.