Four Topics for Conversation Starters

I am amazed at the numerous amounts of conversation starters I’ve seen all over the web. If you look on Pinterest, there are even printable charts with questions to ask your children each year on their birthdays. Building relationships with people is an essential part of reaching them with the gospel, and showing our care. For those of us who are not naturally gifted in making conversation, this can be very helpful. But instead of thinking in terms of “specific questions,” I suggest thinking in terms of topics.

I am amazed at the numerous amounts of conversation starters I’ve seen all over the web. If you look on Pinterest, there are even printable charts with questions to ask your children each year on their birthdays. Building relationships with people is an essential part of reaching them with the gospel, and showing our care. For those of us who are not naturally gifted in making conversation, this can be very helpful. But instead of thinking in terms of “specific questions,” I suggest thinking in terms of topics.

It might be helpful to look through a list of questions, but you don’t have to memorize a long list of them. Instead, consider a few important topics such as family, school, weekly activities, or spiritual things. Then try to ask questions from one of these areas.

Family

We all have or have had a mom and a dad, and sometimes siblings. You could ask what a child likes best about his mom. You might ask questions about how many siblings they have, or where they fall in the birth order.  If you both have a something in common, comment on it. For example, “I have an older sister too,” or “I love that about my mom as well.”

School

For school-aged kids, consider asking them about school. After all, that is where they are spending the bulk of their time during the week. Questions could range from their favorite teacher to their favorite class to their favorite lunch food. Other questions might include how much homework they have or whether they ride the bus.

Weekly Activities

Ask them what they like to do for fun, or about the best part of their week. You might also ask cultural questions such as inquiring about their favorite TV shows, movies, books, or music.

Spiritual Things

There is a multitude of questions one could ask on spiritual topics such as “What is your favorite bible verse?,” “Do you talk with your parents about God?,” or “What is the funniest story in the Bible?” Asking questions about God is often a great segue into sharing the gospel.

So, what about you. What kind of topics have you found to be great conversation generators?