How did you hear about tonight?Follow-up: Who else from your circle came along?
How many of these have you been to before?Follow-up: What has changed since your first one?
What brought you to this one?Follow-up: What would make it worth the trip?
What does a normal Tuesday look like in your job?Follow-up: Which hour of it do you like most?
What does the company on your badge do?Follow-up: How do you explain it to your family?
What is keeping you busy at work this month?Follow-up: Which part of it do you look forward to?
What is the short version of what you do?Follow-up: What does the long version add?
What is your connection to the people running this?Follow-up: How did that come about?
What were you hoping to find here today?Follow-up: How close have you come so far?
What would have to happen tonight for you to call it a good evening?Follow-up: How can I help with that?
Which city did you wake up in this morning?Follow-up: How was the journey?
Which part of the program are you here for?Follow-up: What do you hope to take home from it?
Who do you know here so far?Follow-up: How did the two of you meet?
Show all 128 openers (115 more)
Joining a group 12
How do you all know each other?Follow-up: Who met whom first?
What did I miss while I was finding this room?Follow-up: Which part should I catch up on first?
What have I walked in on?Follow-up: Which side of it is each of you on?
What is each of you hoping to get out of tonight?Follow-up: Who in this circle can help with that?
What is the topic over here?Follow-up: Who here knows the most about it?
What is the verdict on the day so far?Follow-up: What would raise the score?
What line of work is everyone in?Follow-up: Which two of you have the most in common?
What were you all laughing about just now?Follow-up: What did I just miss?
What were you disagreeing about before I arrived?Follow-up: What would settle it?
Which of you should I ask about where to eat nearby?Follow-up: What do you order there?
Which session did you all just come out of?Follow-up: What did each of you make of it?
Who here has been coming to this event the longest?Follow-up: What keeps you coming back?
Coffee queue and lunch line 13
How do you take notes at events like this?Follow-up: What happens to the notes afterwards?
How is the coffee here, out of ten?Follow-up: Where is the nearest better cup?
How long is your day today?Follow-up: What is the last thing on it?
What did you skip to be in this line?Follow-up: How sure are you it was the right call?
What has been your find of the day so far?Follow-up: What will you do with it on Monday?
What is good on this table today?Follow-up: What should I leave alone?
What is the most useful free thing you ever picked up at an event?Follow-up: What do you still use it for?
What is your order, so I know what is worth the wait?Follow-up: How did you settle on that?
What is your plan for lunch?Follow-up: Who are you sitting with?
What snack would you add to this table if you ran the catering?Follow-up: What would you remove?
Where have you found the quiet corners in this building?Follow-up: What do you use them for?
Which session are you heading to after this?Follow-up: What made you pick it?
Which stand in the exhibit hall is worth a stop?Follow-up: What were they showing?
After a talk 13
How does that match what you see in your own work?Follow-up: Where does it differ most?
How much of that was new to you?Follow-up: Which part had you heard before?
How would that approach go down at your company?Follow-up: Who would push back first?
What did you make of that talk?Follow-up: Which part will you still remember next week?
What made you choose this session over the others?Follow-up: What was your second choice?
What was missing from that session?Follow-up: Who could give the missing talk?
What was the one idea in there you might try?Follow-up: What would you need to try it?
What would you have asked if there had been time?Follow-up: Who in the room could answer it?
What would you tell a colleague who missed that session?Follow-up: Who will you tell first?
Where did the speaker lose you, if anywhere?Follow-up: What would have kept you?
Which audience question was the sharpest?Follow-up: How would you have answered it?
Which slide would you like a copy of?Follow-up: Who on your team needs to see it?
Which talk today has been the most useful so far?Follow-up: What did you write down?
About their work 16
How did you end up in this field?Follow-up: What was the plan before that?
How is your busy season different from the rest of the year?Follow-up: How do you get ready for it?
What are you trying to learn at the moment?Follow-up: How are you going about it?
What did you finish lately that went better than expected?Follow-up: What would you do the same way next time?
What do people outside your industry get wrong about it?Follow-up: Where do you think that idea comes from?
What does your company do that nobody else does?Follow-up: How did it come to do that?
What has changed most in your job in the last two years?Follow-up: Which change do you welcome?
What kind of customer do you most like working with?Follow-up: What do they have in common?
What kind of person would be useful for you to meet tonight?Follow-up: Who here might know someone like that?
What part of your job would surprise a new graduate?Follow-up: When did it first surprise you?
What piece of software does your whole week run through?Follow-up: What did you use before it?
What problem is your team working on right now?Follow-up: What makes it hard?
What question do clients ask you most often?Follow-up: What do you wish they asked instead?
What trend in your field gets more attention than it deserves?Follow-up: What deserves the attention instead?
What would you build with twice the headcount?Follow-up: What is stopping it today?
Where do you go to keep up with your field?Follow-up: What did you last pick up there?
The event and the city 12
How do you decide which events are worth the time?Follow-up: How did this one pass the test?
How does this year compare with last year?Follow-up: What did they change?
What do you know about the history of this venue?Follow-up: Where did you pick that up?
What have you seen of the city so far?Follow-up: What is still on your list?
What is the local tip a visitor should know?Follow-up: Who told you?
What is the most useful event you have been to in this field?Follow-up: What made it work?
What made you pick this event over the others on the calendar?Follow-up: Who had to approve it?
What will you do with the hour after this ends?Follow-up: Who is going with you?
What would you change about the way these events are run?Follow-up: What would you keep exactly as it is?
Where should a visitor eat around here?Follow-up: What do you order?
Which other events are on your calendar this year?Follow-up: Which one would you recommend to me?
Which speaker were you most looking forward to?Follow-up: How did they do?
Coworkers you have not met 14
How did your team end up with its name?Follow-up: What would you rename it?
How long have you been with the company?Follow-up: What has changed most since you joined?
What are you working toward this quarter?Follow-up: What could get in the way?
What did you do before you joined us?Follow-up: What did you bring with you from there?
What does your team wish other teams knew?Follow-up: How could my team make your week easier?
What is the project everyone on your team is talking about?Follow-up: When does the rest of the company see it?
What is your lunch routine on office days?Follow-up: Where is the best lunch near the office?
What shortcut or tool here do most people not know about?Follow-up: How did you find it?
What was the most useful thing you learned in your first month here?Follow-up: Who showed you, or did you work it out alone?
What would you tell someone who starts here next week?Follow-up: What did nobody tell you?
Where do you usually work from, and how is it?Follow-up: What would improve it?
Which meeting in your week earns its place?Follow-up: What makes it work?
Which team are you on, and what is it working on?Follow-up: Where does that touch my team?
Who should I talk to if I want to understand your side of the business?Follow-up: What should I ask them first?
Coworkers you see every day 16
How do you explain your job to a relative who has never seen it?Follow-up: Which part do they never believe?
What are you listening to while you work these days?Follow-up: What does it do for your concentration?
What are you looking forward to once this week is done?Follow-up: How long has it been in the diary?
What did you think this job would be like before you started?Follow-up: What turned out differently?
What do you think our team does better than anyone gives it credit for?Follow-up: Who should hear that?
What gets you through the hour after lunch?Follow-up: What did you try that did not work?
What has taken up more of your week than you expected?Follow-up: What did it push aside?
What is a small win from this week that nobody saw?Follow-up: Who should hear about it?
What is the best lunch you have brought from home this month?Follow-up: Would you share the recipe?
What is the oddest request that has landed on your desk?Follow-up: What did you do with it?
What would you change about how our team runs its week, if it were up to you?Follow-up: What would you leave exactly as it is?
Which colleague's way of working have you borrowed from?Follow-up: What did you change to make it yours?
Which habit of this workplace would you keep if you ran the place?Follow-up: Which would you drop first?
Which mug in the kitchen is yours, and how did you come by it?Follow-up: What happens when someone else takes it?
Which piece of work here are you proudest of?Follow-up: Who else had a hand in it?
Which task do you save for the end of the day, and why that one?Follow-up: What do you always do first?
Online events and chat 9
How does your team stay in touch between meetings?Follow-up: What did you try that failed?
What did you write down from the last speaker?Follow-up: What will you do with it?
What is the most useful online event you have attended, and why did it work?Follow-up: What could this one borrow from it?
What is the story of the thing behind you on screen?Follow-up: Who chose it?
What is your setup for a day full of calls?Follow-up: What was the best upgrade?
What made you sign up for this session?Follow-up: What would make it worth the hour?
What time is it where you are, and what comes after this for you?Follow-up: How many more calls today?
Where are you joining from today?Follow-up: What is it like there right now?
Which point from the chat should we pick up again?Follow-up: What would you add to it?
Leaving politely 10
How do you like people to follow up after an event?Follow-up: What makes you reply?
What is one thing I could send you after today?Follow-up: Where should I send it?
What is the easiest way to stay in touch with you?Follow-up: When is a good time to follow up?
What is your plan for the rest of the evening?Follow-up: Which part are you looking forward to?
What should I look out for from your team this year?Follow-up: When will it be public?
What should I read or watch to learn more about what you do?Follow-up: Where can I find it?
Where will you be for the rest of the day, in case we cross paths?Follow-up: What should I ask you about then?
Which session are you off to next?Follow-up: Where will you be at the break?
Who can I introduce you to before I go?Follow-up: What should I tell them about you?
Who else here should I make sure to meet?Follow-up: How should I introduce myself to them?
How this list was compiled: Written for this page in September 2026; no opener or follow-up is copied from another list. The cards are grouped by the moment a guest is in (first hello, joining a group, the coffee queue, after a talk, leaving) and every card is an open question, so none can be answered with yes or no. Every line was screened against the site blocklist: nothing sexual or romantic, no alcohol or drugs, nothing about a person's body, pay or age, no politics or religion, and no real people. Two groups are for the workplace: Coworkers you have not met (14 cards) and Coworkers you see every day (16 cards, added on 2026-09-19 for one-to-one talk at the coffee machine or on a shared walk). Check-in questions that open a meeting for a whole team belong to the icebreaker decks. Levels are our judgment, not a measurement: easy is answered in a few words, medium takes a short story, hard asks for an opinion. On 2026-09-19 the deck was compared with every other question deck on this site, and openers that repeated one elsewhere were rewritten; the 16 cards added later that day went through the same comparison before they were kept. Two facts quoted on the page were checked on 2026-09-19. Mark Granovetter's survey of 282 professional, technical and managerial workers in Newton, Massachusetts: of the 54 who found a job through a personal contact, 16.7% saw the contact often (at least once a week), 55.6% occasionally and 27.8% rarely, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_ties . The usual length of an elevator pitch, about thirty seconds to two minutes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator_pitch . Licence: own work
How it works
You are holding a coffee at the edge of a room where everyone seems to know someone. Pick your moment: the 128 networking conversation starters run from first hello and joining a group to leaving politely, with two sets for the office.
Read the full guide
Pick the moment you are standing in
The moments sit under Topic. First hello works on one person by the door. Joining a group is for a circle already talking: what have I walked in on? After a talk uses the one thing you both just sat through. Read three cards before you walk in, then pocket the phone.
Work talk and two kinds of coworker
About their work holds the business conversation starters: what trend in your field gets more attention than it deserves? Two groups are conversation starters at work. Coworkers you have not met is for the elevator: which team are you on, and what is it working on? Coworkers you see every day holds conversation starters with coworkers you already know: which mug in the kitchen is yours?
Talk to people you barely know: in Mark Granovetter's Newton survey, 54 found a job through a contact, and one in six saw them often.
Every question comes back to you, so have two sentences ready. An elevator pitch runs thirty seconds to two minutes; a hello wants less.
Before the event, pick your moment; on the end card, Copy the list copies the openers for your notes and Print prints them.
Questions and answers
What are good conversation starters for networking events?
Questions about what you share right now: the talk that just ended, the line you are both in. What did you make of that talk needs no pitch. Save what do you do for the second minute, and ask for the short version.
How do I join a group that is already talking?
Stand at the edge, wait for a pause and ask the whole circle, not one person. Joining a group has 12 lines for it, such as what is the topic over here. If nobody turns, find someone standing alone and deal from First hello.
How do I leave a conversation without being rude?
Ask a closing question and act on the answer. Who else here should I make sure to meet sends you across the room. What is the easiest way to stay in touch with you ends in a contact swap. Leaving politely has 10 of these.