What are some Good Questions?
February 15, 2021 8:19 PM Subscribe
Trying to jazz up the zoom happy hour and I am straight up out of ideas. Hoping to foster some earnest/fun/thoughtful discussion and reflection.
Looking to make a little experience for a group of friends to do over video. Some will know each other, some will not-- want to give them a series of open ended questions/topics to talk about amongst themselves as conversation fodder.
Like the 36 questions but not so ummmmm... loaded. Dinner party topics, but for when you haven't left your house in 100000 years.
Thanks Metafilter!
Looking to make a little experience for a group of friends to do over video. Some will know each other, some will not-- want to give them a series of open ended questions/topics to talk about amongst themselves as conversation fodder.
Like the 36 questions but not so ummmmm... loaded. Dinner party topics, but for when you haven't left your house in 100000 years.
Thanks Metafilter!
What's the best compliment you ever received?
posted by platinum at 9:27 PM on February 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by platinum at 9:27 PM on February 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
Why not try the Colbert Questionert? Here's a video of him asking the questions to Tom Hanks
There are 15 questions and some you might not wish to use if they may be a little loaded. But there are lots of light, fun ones.
1. What is the best sandwich?
2. What’s one thing that you own that you should really throw out?
3. What’s the scariest animal?
4. Apples or oranges?
5. Have you ever asked someone for their autograph?
6. What do you think happens when we die?
7. Favorite action movie?
8. Favorite smell?
9. Least favorite smell?
10. Exercise: worth it?
11. Flat or sparkling?
12. Most used app on your phone?
13. You get one song to listen to for the rest of your life: what is it?
14. What number am I thinking of?
15. Describe the rest of your life in five words
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 9:55 PM on February 15, 2021 [16 favorites]
There are 15 questions and some you might not wish to use if they may be a little loaded. But there are lots of light, fun ones.
1. What is the best sandwich?
2. What’s one thing that you own that you should really throw out?
3. What’s the scariest animal?
4. Apples or oranges?
5. Have you ever asked someone for their autograph?
6. What do you think happens when we die?
7. Favorite action movie?
8. Favorite smell?
9. Least favorite smell?
10. Exercise: worth it?
11. Flat or sparkling?
12. Most used app on your phone?
13. You get one song to listen to for the rest of your life: what is it?
14. What number am I thinking of?
15. Describe the rest of your life in five words
posted by NotTheRedBaron at 9:55 PM on February 15, 2021 [16 favorites]
Play Gentlemen’s Disagreement! Also known as “the perfect unhinged debate game”. It is SO fun; instructions and examples at the link (#6 on the list).
posted by stellaluna at 10:39 PM on February 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by stellaluna at 10:39 PM on February 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
"What's your best pandemic purchase?"
posted by DarlingBri at 3:58 AM on February 16, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by DarlingBri at 3:58 AM on February 16, 2021 [3 favorites]
If you could only eat one cheese for the rest of your life, for all cheese applications, what cheese would you choose?
posted by punchtothehead at 6:02 AM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by punchtothehead at 6:02 AM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
Pick the best and worst superpower.
Also you could message everyone before hand, ask the group "top 5 _______", (board game, candy bar, disney movie, classic rock song, etc) and then take turns going around, everyone announces their 5, then their 4, etc. Like this
posted by FirstMateKate at 7:37 AM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
Also you could message everyone before hand, ask the group "top 5 _______", (board game, candy bar, disney movie, classic rock song, etc) and then take turns going around, everyone announces their 5, then their 4, etc. Like this
posted by FirstMateKate at 7:37 AM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
The Pivot Questionnaire? The Proust Questionnaire? There are card games in this vein like We're Not Really Strangers and Klosterman's Hypertheticals and Supertheticals. This website I stumbled across while searching for a list of Hypertheticals could be useful.
posted by xenization at 10:24 AM on February 16, 2021
posted by xenization at 10:24 AM on February 16, 2021
Google “would you rather” for a list of questions, you can go from tame to weird but it’s always a fun discussion. I play it with my staff when we have a new member join.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 11:34 AM on February 16, 2021
posted by St. Peepsburg at 11:34 AM on February 16, 2021
Icebreakers I have used in classes/events:
"An ancestor (could be related by blood, or defined broadly like an intellectual ancestor) you would like to have here today."
"One thing you probably don't know about me...."
"The story of your name" - could be any part of the person's name, the literal meaning of the name, why they got the name they did, etc.
Favorite comfort food.
Last song you listened to (streaming services/itunes etc make this fairly easy to figure out) -- desert island song is too much pressure in my opinion!
A surprising skill you have
posted by spamandkimchi at 12:09 PM on February 16, 2021
"An ancestor (could be related by blood, or defined broadly like an intellectual ancestor) you would like to have here today."
"One thing you probably don't know about me...."
"The story of your name" - could be any part of the person's name, the literal meaning of the name, why they got the name they did, etc.
Favorite comfort food.
Last song you listened to (streaming services/itunes etc make this fairly easy to figure out) -- desert island song is too much pressure in my opinion!
A surprising skill you have
posted by spamandkimchi at 12:09 PM on February 16, 2021
When you make a sandwich, how do you cut it before eating? (Or do you eat it whole?) - north to south, east to west, or diagonally? When you take your first bite of said sliced sandwich, do you start at an end or in the middle?
posted by Oriole Adams at 12:15 PM on February 16, 2021
posted by Oriole Adams at 12:15 PM on February 16, 2021
When you're working outdoors, you often start the day with a stretch circle, and you often liven up a stretch circle with a silly question. Here's a list from my notes app from when I was a crew leader in Americorps.
Mediocre superpower / Useless superpower
Visit any historical period + you speak the language
Supervillain strategy / vibe / base
Add an animal body part to your body?
Something you'll never learn / you know you suck at
A body quirk of yours
Worst injury ever
What breed of dog are you
Pet every dog on earth vs every cat
You are Dr Moreau. What horrifying combination of animals guards your island?
Control one force of nature
First executive order as world dictator
King of what country
Which action hero as bodyguard
Laser tag Olympic team -- what celebs do you draft?
You're high on any drug forever, which one?
Everyone around you in the whole world will be high on what for the rest of your life?
If you could replace your hands with any breed of dog? (your wrist ends where the tail is)
Cry any liquid
Time travel to any concert / one band live per decade
What fictional dystopia would you live in?
Worst teacher?
Fave beatle
Erase your memory of any book or movie to watch it fresh
Blind half your life or deaf all of it
Go back in time and give yourself advice
Dinner party with historical figures
Make a video game (60 second limit to describe)
What actor would play you in your biopic
Fuck marry kill
Cannibalism -- who here do you eat first?
Change one event in the past
You're a stripper. What song do you strip to?
Wrestling alter ego & entry music
Two smells any time, on command
which celebrity would you like as a roommate?
Year of prison or 20 mins judge Judy diatribe? (Alternate: she has your browsing history, including incognito mode)
What do you daydream about when you saw?
James bond feature for your car?
Only one sport?
Eliminate one thought worldwide, nobody can ever think it again
Rent an animal from the zoo for a day to cuddle
Musical guilty pleasure
Add a mariachi band to any historical event? (alternate: ...and why is it the crucifixion)
What song has been stuck in your head most over your life / most recently
A feature you want in an infinite budget house
posted by Rinku at 1:18 PM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
Mediocre superpower / Useless superpower
Visit any historical period + you speak the language
Supervillain strategy / vibe / base
Add an animal body part to your body?
Something you'll never learn / you know you suck at
A body quirk of yours
Worst injury ever
What breed of dog are you
Pet every dog on earth vs every cat
You are Dr Moreau. What horrifying combination of animals guards your island?
Control one force of nature
First executive order as world dictator
King of what country
Which action hero as bodyguard
Laser tag Olympic team -- what celebs do you draft?
You're high on any drug forever, which one?
Everyone around you in the whole world will be high on what for the rest of your life?
If you could replace your hands with any breed of dog? (your wrist ends where the tail is)
Cry any liquid
Time travel to any concert / one band live per decade
What fictional dystopia would you live in?
Worst teacher?
Fave beatle
Erase your memory of any book or movie to watch it fresh
Blind half your life or deaf all of it
Go back in time and give yourself advice
Dinner party with historical figures
Make a video game (60 second limit to describe)
What actor would play you in your biopic
Fuck marry kill
Cannibalism -- who here do you eat first?
Change one event in the past
You're a stripper. What song do you strip to?
Wrestling alter ego & entry music
Two smells any time, on command
which celebrity would you like as a roommate?
Year of prison or 20 mins judge Judy diatribe? (Alternate: she has your browsing history, including incognito mode)
What do you daydream about when you saw?
James bond feature for your car?
Only one sport?
Eliminate one thought worldwide, nobody can ever think it again
Rent an animal from the zoo for a day to cuddle
Musical guilty pleasure
Add a mariachi band to any historical event? (alternate: ...and why is it the crucifixion)
What song has been stuck in your head most over your life / most recently
A feature you want in an infinite budget house
posted by Rinku at 1:18 PM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
Why do ghosts wear clothes?
posted by HiroProtagonist at 6:39 PM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by HiroProtagonist at 6:39 PM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
A few more from elsewhere on my phone (another Americorps season):
Starting today you can save and load your life like it's a video game. What do you do first? What would you try if you had no consequences?
Instead of body odor, your armpits now speak the same word over and over again when you exercise. When you'd be really stinky, they shout it. What word do they say?
What band or artist would you like to do the music for a musical about your life?
You're a hollywood executive, and you've just read the script for the biopic of your life. You think it needs some spicing up. What dramatic twist would you give your life as it is now to maximize the drama?
You are the first human to meet aliens. What lie about humanity do you tell them so that their next meeting, with the president, is as awkward as possible?
What do you think your great-great grandchildren would want to ask you about, if they travelled back in time to meet you? What about the present do you think humans from the far future will be nostalgic for?
Have you ever had an experience that you thought at the time might be supernatural?
Monkey's paw: go in a circle. Someone says a wish they have, and the next person gives it a twist to make it less appealing, then gives a wish of their own. Examples:
A: I wish I had one of those cars that looks like the batmobile and costs 10 million.
B: The gas pedal only functions when you have farted in the last 60 seconds. I wish I had a prehensile tail like a monkey.
C: The tail has a mind of its own and it constantly tries to get you in trouble. I wish I owned an island.
posted by Rinku at 6:44 PM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
Starting today you can save and load your life like it's a video game. What do you do first? What would you try if you had no consequences?
Instead of body odor, your armpits now speak the same word over and over again when you exercise. When you'd be really stinky, they shout it. What word do they say?
What band or artist would you like to do the music for a musical about your life?
You're a hollywood executive, and you've just read the script for the biopic of your life. You think it needs some spicing up. What dramatic twist would you give your life as it is now to maximize the drama?
You are the first human to meet aliens. What lie about humanity do you tell them so that their next meeting, with the president, is as awkward as possible?
What do you think your great-great grandchildren would want to ask you about, if they travelled back in time to meet you? What about the present do you think humans from the far future will be nostalgic for?
Have you ever had an experience that you thought at the time might be supernatural?
Monkey's paw: go in a circle. Someone says a wish they have, and the next person gives it a twist to make it less appealing, then gives a wish of their own. Examples:
A: I wish I had one of those cars that looks like the batmobile and costs 10 million.
B: The gas pedal only functions when you have farted in the last 60 seconds. I wish I had a prehensile tail like a monkey.
C: The tail has a mind of its own and it constantly tries to get you in trouble. I wish I owned an island.
posted by Rinku at 6:44 PM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
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posted by Ideal Impulse at 8:54 PM on February 15, 2021 [1 favorite]