Polite Conversation Topics

Ten safe subjects for a table of strangers or in-laws, each with questions to open it.

Polite Conversation Topics

How has your week been so far?

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What is still to come before it ends?

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All 120 questions

Weather and seasons 12

  • If you could order tomorrow's forecast, what would it say? Follow-up: What would you do with a forecast like that?
  • What did the weather do to your plans this week? Follow-up: How usual is that for the time of year?
  • What do people around here do when the weather turns? Follow-up: Which of those have you joined in on?
  • What do you do on the first warm day of the year? Follow-up: Where do you head?
  • What do you remember about the snowiest winter of your life? Follow-up: How long did the snow keep everyone indoors?
  • What does the first cold morning of the year make you want to do? Follow-up: Which coat or blanket comes out first?
  • What is the wildest storm you have ever watched from a window? Follow-up: Where were you when it rolled in?
  • When did the sky last make you stop and stare? Follow-up: Who else was looking up?
  • Where have you lived that had the best weather? Follow-up: What did an ordinary afternoon there feel like?
  • Which do you handle better, a heat wave or a cold snap? Follow-up: What gets you through the other one?
  • Which season do you look forward to most? Follow-up: What is the first sign of it you watch for?
  • Which sound of rain do you like best: on a roof, a tent or a window? Follow-up: What were you doing while it came down?

The place you are in 12

  • What do you like most about this part of town? Follow-up: Where around here would you send a first-time visitor?
  • What do you think this building was before it was this? Follow-up: Which detail gives it away?
  • What have you tried from the table so far? Follow-up: Which dish should I go back for?
  • What is one thing in this room you would take home if you could? Follow-up: Which shelf or wall would it go on?
  • What is your connection to the people who invited us? Follow-up: How far back does it go?
  • What music would you put on for a crowd like this one? Follow-up: Which tune goes on first?
  • What was your trip here like today? Follow-up: Which way did you come?
  • Which corner of this room would you pick to sit in all evening? Follow-up: What makes a corner a good one, for you?
  • Which other gathering does this one remind you of? Follow-up: What did that gathering get right?
  • Which part of today were you looking forward to most? Follow-up: How is it turning out so far?
  • Who have you already met here today? Follow-up: What did you find you had in common?
  • Whose idea was today's gathering, as far as you know? Follow-up: How long has it been in the works?

Food and cooking 12

  • What did the kitchen smell like in the home you grew up in? Follow-up: What was usually on the stove?
  • What did you eat for the first time this year? Follow-up: How soon would you have it again?
  • What do you always bring when you are asked to bring a dish? Follow-up: Which step of the recipe do you never rush?
  • What do you cook when you want an easy dinner? Follow-up: How did that become your standby?
  • What is on your plate at a perfect weekend breakfast? Follow-up: Who does the cooking that morning?
  • What is the best thing to come out of your oven lately? Follow-up: Who got the first helping?
  • What is the most ambitious thing you have ever cooked or baked? Follow-up: How did the first slice or spoonful go over?
  • Which bakery, diner or lunch counter do you miss from a place you used to live? Follow-up: What did you always get there?
  • Which fruit or vegetable tells you summer has arrived? Follow-up: What do you make with the first one of the year?
  • Which kitchen tool could you not do without? Follow-up: What do you reach for it to do?
  • Which place to eat do you send everyone to? Follow-up: What should a first-timer order there?
  • Which regional food should everyone try once? Follow-up: Where is the right place to eat it?

Travel and places 12

  • How much do you plan before a trip, and how much do you leave open? Follow-up: What has an unplanned day led you to?
  • Mountains, coast, city or countryside: which do you choose for a week off? Follow-up: What goes in the bag for a week like that?
  • What do you like to bring back from a trip for the people at home? Follow-up: Who is the hardest to choose for?
  • What is a place near here that visitors tend to miss? Follow-up: When is the best time to go?
  • What is the prettiest drive or train ride you have taken? Follow-up: Which stretch of it do you still picture?
  • Where was the last place you went for a few days away? Follow-up: Which day of it was the best?
  • Where would you go tomorrow if someone handed you the tickets? Follow-up: Who would get the seat next to you?
  • Which bridge, tunnel or ferry crossing do you remember best? Follow-up: Where were you headed that day?
  • Which place have you heard so much about that you want to see it yourself? Follow-up: Who keeps telling you about it?
  • Which town turned out better than you expected? Follow-up: What was it that brought you round?
  • Which trip do you find yourself telling stories about? Follow-up: Which of those stories gets told most?
  • Window seat or aisle, front seat or back: where do you like to ride? Follow-up: How do you pass the miles?

Hobbies and free time 12

  • How do you wind down at the end of a long day? Follow-up: What time does the winding down begin?
  • What do you collect, or what would you if you had the shelf space? Follow-up: Which piece would you show a visitor first?
  • What do you do for fun that takes no screen at all? Follow-up: How often do you manage it?
  • What do you enjoy doing outdoors? Follow-up: Which place nearby is made for it?
  • What have you been getting better at this year? Follow-up: What was the turning point?
  • What have you been making, fixing or growing lately? Follow-up: What stage is it at now?
  • What have you looked up lately just to satisfy your curiosity? Follow-up: What was the answer, in the end?
  • What kind of puzzle do you reach for: words, numbers, pieces or none? Follow-up: How long does one take you?
  • What pastime did you love at fifteen and still keep up? Follow-up: What has changed about how you do it?
  • What would you like someone to teach you this year? Follow-up: Who do you know that could?
  • Which hobby have you always meant to try? Follow-up: What would lesson one look like?
  • Which of your pastimes did someone in your family pass down to you? Follow-up: What did they show you first?

The day and the week 12

  • How does a weekday morning go at your house? Follow-up: Which part of it runs like clockwork?
  • How has your week been so far? Follow-up: What is still to come before it ends?
  • What are you looking forward to this weekend? Follow-up: What has to get done before then?
  • What did last weekend hold for you? Follow-up: Which part went better than planned?
  • What did you get done before you came here today? Follow-up: What is waiting for you when you get back?
  • What do you pass every day that you have grown fond of? Follow-up: What would you miss if it were gone?
  • What good news have you heard lately? Follow-up: Where did the news reach you?
  • What have you been up to since the start of the month? Follow-up: Which part of it would you gladly do again?
  • What is the most useful thing you have done this week? Follow-up: What does that free you up to do now?
  • What plans do you have for the next holiday or long weekend? Follow-up: What is already settled?
  • What pleasant surprise has come your way lately? Follow-up: Who was behind it?
  • Where do you get your favorite cup of coffee or tea? Follow-up: What makes theirs better than the rest?

Hometowns and neighborhoods 12

  • How long have you lived around here? Follow-up: What has changed most in that time?
  • What do you like most about where you live now? Follow-up: What took the longest to get used to?
  • What does your street sound like on a quiet morning? Follow-up: Which sound tells you the day has begun?
  • What is growing in your yard, on your balcony or on your windowsill? Follow-up: Which plant needs the most looking after?
  • What is the kindest thing a neighbor has ever done for you? Follow-up: How did you return the favor?
  • What is your favorite spot within a short walk of your front door? Follow-up: At what hour is it at its best?
  • What is your hometown known for? Follow-up: How do the locals feel about that?
  • What local tradition where you live do outsiders find odd? Follow-up: What do people say about how it began?
  • Where did you grow up? Follow-up: What was the best thing about being a kid there?
  • Where do you take guests who are seeing your town for the first time? Follow-up: What do they usually say about it?
  • Which place from your childhood neighborhood do you still think about? Follow-up: What would you find there today?
  • Which town or city have you most enjoyed living in? Follow-up: What would you bring from there to here?

Books, films and music 12

  • What did you last see on a stage or a big screen? Follow-up: What did you say on the way out?
  • What do you listen to in the car or on a walk? Follow-up: What last made you stay in the car to hear the end?
  • What do you put on when you want music in the background? Follow-up: When does it get turned up?
  • What have you been reading lately? Follow-up: How did it land in your hands?
  • What should I watch next, going by what you have enjoyed lately? Follow-up: Who would enjoy it most?
  • Which author, band or director do you follow from one work to the next? Follow-up: Which of their works came your way first?
  • Which book have you given as a gift more than once? Follow-up: Who got the first copy?
  • Which instrument did you learn, or try to learn, growing up? Follow-up: What tune can you still manage?
  • Which kind of show would you go a long way to see? Follow-up: How far have you gone for one?
  • Which movie do you stop and watch every time you come across it? Follow-up: Which scene do you wait for?
  • Which song gets everyone in your family singing? Follow-up: Who knows every verse?
  • Which storybook did you ask for again and again as a child? Follow-up: Who did the reading?

Pets and animals 12

  • Dog person, cat person or neither: how did you end up that way? Follow-up: Which animal made up your mind?
  • How did a pet you know come by its name? Follow-up: Who did the naming?
  • What animal did you wish for as a child? Follow-up: How close did you come to getting one?
  • What did the first pet in your family teach you? Follow-up: Who did most of the feeding?
  • What do you remember about your first trip to a zoo, farm or aquarium? Follow-up: Which animal did you stay with longest?
  • What does a pet you know do when visitors arrive? Follow-up: How long does the greeting last?
  • What habit does a pet you know have that nobody can explain? Follow-up: When did the habit start?
  • What is the oddest animal fact you know? Follow-up: How did it come up the last time you told it?
  • What pets have you had over the years? Follow-up: Which of them had the grandest name?
  • Which animal have you been lucky enough to see up close? Follow-up: How near did you get?
  • Which animal is smarter than people give it credit for? Follow-up: What have you seen one do?
  • Which birds or animals turn up around your home? Follow-up: Which visitor are you happiest to see?

Sports and games 12

  • What game did the kids on your street make up? Follow-up: How did anyone win it?
  • What gets you moving: a walk, a swim, a ride or something else? Follow-up: Where do you go for it?
  • What is the best thing about watching a local team play? Follow-up: Which field or gym do you know best?
  • What is the most exciting finish you have ever seen in any contest? Follow-up: When did you know how it would end?
  • What sport have you tried once and would try again? Follow-up: What was the hardest part to pick up?
  • Which big sporting event do you make a point of watching? Follow-up: Where do you like to watch it?
  • Which card game do you know the rules of by heart? Follow-up: Who dealt your first hand?
  • Which game would you teach a newcomer first? Follow-up: How long before they can beat you?
  • Which sport would you like to be good at? Follow-up: Who do you know that makes it look easy?
  • Which sports do you follow, if any? Follow-up: How did you become a fan?
  • Which team, club or league were you part of growing up? Follow-up: Which position suited you?
  • Who taught you the rules of the first sport you loved? Follow-up: Which rule took the longest to sink in?

How it works

Each of these polite conversation topics has 12 open questions that anyone can answer without giving away anything private. None asks about a job, a marriage or children.

Read the full guide

Safe topics of conversation for people you just met

The place you are in needs no introduction: What have you tried from the table so far? Weather and seasons works on anyone: Which season do you look forward to most? Once names are swapped, Food and cooking, Travel and places and Hobbies and free time draw longer answers.

Safe topics for social conversation with in-laws and neighbors

Ask about what they know best. Hometowns and neighborhoods: What is your hometown known for? Pets and animals: What pets have you had over the years? For a relative who follows a team or always has a book going, Sports and games and Books, films and music are topics of their own.

  • The classic advice, says the Emily Post Institute, is never to discuss politics or religion. This deck also skips money, health and age.

Questions and answers

What are polite conversation topics?

Subjects almost anyone has something to say about: the weather and seasons, food, travel, hobbies, pets, sports, books, films and music, hometowns, the week so far and the place you are in. Each is a topic here.

What are daily topics for polite conversation?

The small news of ordinary life: how the week has gone, plans for the weekend, a good cup of coffee. The day and the week has a dozen, such as What good news have you heard lately? They suit a neighbor you see often.

How do you start a polite conversation with someone you just met?

Start with a basic question about something in front of you both: the room, the food, the weather. Listen to the answer and it will hand you the next question. If it does not, every card here carries a follow-up.

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