If you’re one of the fortunate ones this year to be able to get all of your family together in the same room around the holidays, fun conversation starters can help engage the whole table and get people talking—and more importantly—connecting.  

I don’t know about you but I start to feel uncomfortable when there are large gaps of silence when sharing a meal with a group of people.  I am typically the one who asks the questions to get conversations started.  It’s no fun to eat a meal with a group of people and everyone is quiet.  A couple of years ago my wife bought “Table Topics.”  Each box contains a series of questions to get people around a table thinking and talking.  It is great to use for kids, adults and couples.  I highly recommend trying it.     

I am hoping your time with family during the Christmas holidays will be lots of fun. To keep things lively around the table, it is important that you have at your disposal some conversation starters in the form of fun or thoughtful questions that can fill in any awkward silences and have a little fun at the same time.  I have found that with the right questions, you learn new things about the people you thought you knew the best.  My hope is that these conversation starters will help break the ice around your dinner table this Christmas.

1. If you had to pick an unconventional career for a week, what would you pick?
2. What is your most embarrassing childhood memory.
3. If you could have a superpowered sense, which would it be?
4. What is one nice thing you can say about the person sitting across from you?
5. What was the best thing that happened to you this year?
6. Share something that made you smile about a previous family dinner.
7. If you had a truck full of Lego bricks and no time limit, what would you like to build?
8. What is one creative talent you wished you could do?
9. What’s your favorite song right now?
10. Would you rather be in front of a crowd performing, behind the scenes organizing and planning, or in the audience enjoying the show?
11. What is one thing that scares you but you’d like to try it sometime?
12. If you could only eat one meal for the next week, what would it be?

As you can see from the list above, these questions can be be great when younger and older folks get together, and you want to go beyond the typical holiday chatter. So go ahead—be brave and go beyond the typical dinner-table banter and see what interesting conversations you can help get started this Christmas.  Remember, it’s about connecting!

What other fun questions can you think of? Share in the comments below!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from my family to yours.  God Bless!

Your Virtual Life Mentor,

Doug