I used to dread the first five minutes of any party. Not the party itself—just that stretch where you’re holding a drink, smiling at a stranger, and your brain hands you a big fat nothing.
Sound familiar?
Here’s the thing about small talk: it gets a bad rap, but it’s the front door to almost every friendship I’ve ever had. Nobody opens with their biggest dreams and deepest fears. You start with the weather, a weird coffee order or a so-so pizza topping, and you see where it goes.
So I put together the list I wish I’d carried around back then. It’s 101 small talk topics for making friends, sorted by category so you can grab one fast. Skim it once, and you’ll rarely go blank again.
How This Article Was Put Together
We put this list together by researching small-talk topics people commonly use when getting to know someone — everyday life, interests, work, travel, food, and local happenings — then grouping them by situation, so you can find a natural opener quickly. Each topic was checked for clarity and for appropriateness, so it stays friendly and low-pressure. Duplicates were removed and overlapping topics were merged. Written by the 101Thing team and reviewed for clarity and safety.
So What Actually Makes a Topic Good?
A good small talk topic is easy to answer, safe to share and open enough to grow. It invites a short story instead of a yes or no, and it gives the other person room to be a little funny. Think weekend plans and coffee orders, not salaries and politics.
The topic matters less than what you do next. Harvard researchers who studied real conversations found that people who ask more questions—follow-up questions especially—tend to be liked more by their conversation partners (see the study). And psychologists Gillian Sandstrom and Elizabeth Dunn have shown that quick chats with acquaintances and strangers can lift your mood more than you’d expect (read the research).
So treat every topic below as a doorway, not a script.
101 Small Talk Topics, Sorted So You Can Grab One Fast
Here are 101 small talk topics for making friends, grouped into eleven categories: everyday life, food, work, hobbies, entertainment, travel, tech, health, pets and nature, hypotheticals, and personal background. Nervous? Start at the top. Move toward the later categories as the chat warms up.
Start With Everyday Life (It’s Right in Front of You)
These are the safest openers there are. Everybody has a day, a commute and an opinion about the weather.
- How has your day or week been going? Follow-up: What was the best part of it?
- Do you have any plans for the weekend? Follow-up: Is that a regular thing for you, or a one-off?
- Have you had any wild weather stories lately? Follow-up: What is the worst weather you have been caught in?
- How was your commute getting here? Follow-up: Do you use that time to listen to anything, or just zone out?
- Do your best hours happen before noon or after dark? Follow-up: What does your best morning — or best late night — look like?
- What is your favorite spot in the neighborhood? Follow-up: What makes that place special for you?
- Are there any local events coming up that you are looking forward to? Follow-up: Have you been to one like that before?
- How do you unwind after a long day? Follow-up: Is that something you have always done, or a newer habit?
- Which season feels most like you? Follow-up: What do you love doing most in that season?
- What does a typical day look like for you? Follow-up: What is the part of your day you enjoy most?
Food and Drink: Everyone Has Opinions About Pizza Toppings
Food is the great equalizer. Nobody feels judged over a snack habit, and the stories get fun fast.
- What is your favorite local restaurant? Follow-up: What do you order there that you would recommend?
- What is your usual coffee or tea order? Follow-up: How did that become your go-to?
- What is the best meal you have ever had? Follow-up: Where were you, and who were you with?
- What is a dish you can cook really well? Follow-up: Who taught you to make it?
- What is your guilty-pleasure snack? Follow-up: When do you usually reach for it?
- Is there a food you could eat every day? Follow-up: What is it about that one that never gets old?
- What are your non-negotiable pizza toppings? Follow-up: What topping would you ban forever?
- What is your favorite cuisine? Follow-up: What is the best version of it you have ever had?
- What is the weirdest thing you have ever eaten? Follow-up: Would you eat it again?
- Are you more of a brunch person or a dinner person? Follow-up: What is your ideal version of that meal?
Work and School Without the Résumé Vibes
Ask what they do, then ask what they actually like about it. That second question is where people light up.
- What do you do for work? Follow-up: What is the most interesting part of it?
- How did you get into your field? Follow-up: Was that the plan, or did you fall into it?
- What’s the part of your workday you actually look forward to? Follow-up: What does a great day at work look like for you?
- What was your dream job as a kid? Follow-up: Do any parts of that dream still appeal to you?
- What did you study? Follow-up: Do you use any of it now, or did you end up somewhere totally different?
- Do you have any side projects going on? Follow-up: What made you start that one?
- What was your best — or worst — job? Follow-up: What made it that way?
- Do you prefer remote or in-office work? Follow-up: What do you miss most about the other one?
- What would you do if money didn’t matter? Follow-up: Would you start that tomorrow if you could?
- What is something you are learning right now? Follow-up: What got you interested in it?
What People Do When Nobody’s Making Them
Hobbies show you who someone is off the clock. Plenty of friendships start with “wait, you climb too?”
- What do you do for fun? Follow-up: How did you get into that?
- Is there a hobby you want to start? Follow-up: What is stopping you — time, money, or someone to do it with?
- Are you more likely to be on the field or on the sofa on game day? Follow-up: How did you get into that one?
- Do you have a favorite team? Follow-up: What got you rooting for them?
- Do you have a workout routine you like? Follow-up: What keeps you going back?
- Do you play any instruments or make music? Follow-up: What made you pick that one up?
- Do you play video games or board games? Follow-up: What is your current favorite?
- Do you do any crafts or DIY projects? Follow-up: What is the last thing you made?
- Do you do any gardening? Follow-up: What grows best for you?
- Are you into photography or art? Follow-up: What do you love shooting or making?
Binge-Watching, Playlists and Other Shared Obsessions
Shows, music and books hand you instant common ground, and disagreeing here is harmless. (Okay, mostly harmless. Don’t trash anyone’s favorite band.)
- What are you binge-watching right now? Follow-up: What hooked you about it?
- What is your favorite movie? Follow-up: What makes that one your favorite?
- What is an underrated movie or show you love? Follow-up: Who would you recommend it to?
- What was the last great book you read? Follow-up: What stuck with you about it?
- Do you have a favorite podcast? Follow-up: What episode would you tell a new listener to start with?
- Who is your favorite artist or band? Follow-up: What is the best song of theirs to start with?
- What is the best concert you have been to? Follow-up: What made that night special?
- What are your road-trip playlist must-haves? Follow-up: What is the one song that always makes the cut?
- Who are your favorite comedians? Follow-up: Have you seen any of them live?
- Is there a documentary that stuck with you? Follow-up: What did it change your mind about?
- What YouTube rabbit holes do you fall into? Follow-up: What is the strangest one lately?
- What is one show you would recommend to everyone? Follow-up: What would you say to convince someone to watch the first episode?
Where They’ve Been, and Where They Got Hopelessly Lost
Travel stories practically tell themselves. Ask for the disaster version; it’s always better.
- What is your dream vacation? Follow-up: What would you do on day one?
- What trip do you still tell stories about? Follow-up: What made that trip the best one?
- Where is your hometown? Follow-up: What do you miss most about it?
- What places have you lived in? Follow-up: Which one felt most like home?
- Do you have a next trip on the calendar? Follow-up: What are you most looking forward to about it?
- Beach or mountains? Follow-up: What is your ideal day in that place?
- What is your favorite road trip? Follow-up: Who were you with, and what went wrong in a funny way?
- What are the hidden gems in your city? Follow-up: What would you show a first-time visitor?
- Do you have a travel disaster story? Follow-up: How did you get out of it?
- What is on your bucket list for a destination? Follow-up: Why is that one at the top?
Phones, Apps and the Gadget They’d Rescue From a Fire
Tech talk works across ages, and it’s a surprisingly good way to compare habits without getting personal.
- What are your favorite apps? Follow-up: Which one do you open first in the morning?
- What gadget could you not live without? Follow-up: What did you use before it?
- How do you use AI tools? Follow-up: What is the most useful thing they do for you?
- Do you have any smart home setups? Follow-up: What was worth the money, and what was not?
- What are your social media habits like? Follow-up: Is there one app you wish you used less?
- What tech from your childhood do you remember fondly? Follow-up: Do you still have any of it?
Sleep, Sweat and the Perfect Lazy Sunday
Keep this one light and friendly. Swap routines, not medical histories.
- What is your fitness routine like? Follow-up: What part of it do you actually enjoy?
- What are your sleep habits like? Follow-up: Are you happy with them, or trying to change something?
- What is your favorite way to relax? Follow-up: When did you last get to do that properly?
- Do you do any meal prepping? Follow-up: What is your easiest go-to meal?
- What are your favorite hiking trails? Follow-up: What makes that trail worth repeating?
- Do you run, or do any races? Follow-up: What is the race or run you are proudest of?
- What habits are you trying to build? Follow-up: What is working so far?
- What does your ideal lazy Sunday look like? Follow-up: What would you eat, watch, and skip?
Pets, Plants and the Great Outdoors
Ask about the pet and watch the phone come out. You’ll have photos within seconds.
- Do you have any pets? Follow-up: Can I see a photo — what is their name and their funniest habit?
- Settle it once and for all: team dog or team cat? Follow-up: What tipped you to that side?
- Which animal always makes you smile at the zoo? Follow-up: Have you ever seen one up close?
- Do you have any camping stories? Follow-up: What was the best night and the worst night?
- Do you have a favorite outdoor spot for stargazing or quiet time? Follow-up: When did you last go there?
- Do you have any houseplants? Follow-up: Which one is thriving, and which one is barely surviving?
Silly Questions That Skip the Awkward Stage
Hypotheticals are my secret weapon at parties. They’re low-stakes, they’re funny, and they show personality in about thirty seconds.
- If you could pick a superpower, what would it be? Follow-up: What is the first thing you would do with it?
- If you could visit one era with a friend — past or future — which way would you go? Follow-up: Where exactly would you go first?
- If you could invite three people to a dinner party, who would they be? Follow-up: What would you cook for them?
- You get three things on a desert island — what are you packing? Follow-up: Why those three?
- What would you do if you won the lottery? Follow-up: What is the first fun thing you would do?
- What is your zombie apocalypse plan? Follow-up: Who would you want on your team?
- What is your most useless talent? Follow-up: Can you show me, or is it a story-only talent?
- Which celebrity would you want to meet? Follow-up: What would you ask them?
- Want a quick would-you-rather: fly or be invisible? Follow-up: What would you do first with that power?
- What fictional world would you live in? Follow-up: What would your life there look like?
Slightly Deeper Waters, Once the Mood’s Right
Save these for when the chat is already warm. They’re the bridge from “nice to meet you” to “we should hang out again.”
- Where’s home base for you — where did you grow up? Follow-up: What was the best thing about growing up there?
- What is a childhood memory that always comes up with old friends? Follow-up: Who else was there?
- Do you have any family traditions? Follow-up: Which one would you keep going no matter what?
- Which holiday would you happily celebrate twice a year? Follow-up: What makes that one your favorite?
- What is the funniest thing that happened to you recently? Follow-up: How did you keep a straight face?
- What is something you are looking forward to? Follow-up: What makes that one exciting?
- What is something new you learned lately? Follow-up: How did you come across it?
- Whose advice has actually stuck with you all these years? Follow-up: Who gave it to you, and have you used it?
- How do you know the host — or what brought you to this event? Follow-up: How are you enjoying it so far?
How to Use These Without Sounding Like a Job Interview
Ask one open-ended question, such as “What got you into that?”, then listen and follow whatever they say instead of marching down the list. Share a bit about yourself too. Small talk turns into friendship when it goes both ways.
Open-ended just means it can’t be answered with yes or no. “Do you like hiking?” gets a nod. “What’s the best trail you’ve ever done?” gets a story.
And if something clicks, stay there.
I once spent twenty minutes at a wedding talking to a stranger about nothing but sourdough starters, and we still swap bread photos. The list didn’t make that happen. The follow-up question did.
Try a simple give-and-take rule: ask a question, answer it yourself in a sentence or two, then hand it back. Honestly, it’s fine to say “I’m terrible at this part”—people relax the second you do. Totally normal to blank on the name of that show, too.
Not every chat will click, though. Some people are tired, distracted or just not feeling social, and it isn’t a verdict on you. Smile, say it was nice to meet them, and move on.
Want more help after the first hello? Our guide on how to make friends as an adult covers what comes next, and these icebreaker questions for adults are handy for groups.
Which Topics Work Where? A Quick Cheat Sheet
Match the topic to the setting. At work events, lean on career and hobby questions; at parties, try food, shows and hypotheticals; with neighbors, stick to the area and daily life. Online, short and playful questions beat long personal ones every time.
| Situation | Topics to try | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Work event | What they do for work (#21), how they got into their field (#22), remote vs. in-office (#28) | Shared context, almost no risk |
| Party or wedding | How they know the host (#101), what they’re binge-watching (#41), pizza toppings (#17) | Quick, light, easy to joke about |
| Gym, class or club | What they do for fun (#31), fitness routines (#69), something they’re learning (#30) | You already share an interest |
| Neighbors | Favorite neighborhood spots (#6), local events (#7), houseplants (#82) | Built-in common ground |
| Online or text | Would-you-rather (#91), underrated movie or show (#43), favorite apps (#63) | Short, fun, easy to answer |
| Second hangout | Dream vacation (#53), favorite childhood memory (#94), best advice (#100) | Trust is growing, so you can go deeper |
What Should You Skip on a First Chat?
Skip money, politics, religion, health problems, relationship drama and gossip about people you both know. These topics can split a room quickly, and trust hasn’t had time to build yet. If the other person raises one, listen kindly and follow their lead.
They aren’t bad topics. They just need a few good conversations first.
Pick Three and Go Say Hi
You don’t need all 101. Pick three that sound like you, say them out loud once so they stop feeling strange, and use them at your next event. The first hello is the hardest part, and once you’ve said it, it’s behind you.
Small Talk Questions People Keep Asking
What are good small talk topics for making friends?
Good small talk topics are light, easy to answer and open enough to grow: weekend plans, food, work, hobbies, travel, shows, pets and fun hypotheticals. Pick something around you or something they just said, ask an open question, and follow their answer instead of rushing to the next topic.
How do I open a chat with someone I just met at a party or class?
Comment on something you both share, like the event, the room or the food, then ask a simple open question. “How do you know the host?” works almost anywhere. Keep your tone relaxed and give them a moment to answer before adding your own story.
What should you avoid talking about when meeting someone new?
Skip money, politics, religion, health issues, relationship drama and gossip on a first chat. They can divide people quickly before any trust exists. If the other person brings one up, listen kindly, don’t argue, and steer toward something lighter when it feels natural.
How do you keep a conversation going when it stalls?
Circle back to something they said earlier and ask for more detail, or try a fresh question from a different category, such as travel or food. A short pause isn’t failure; a calm breath and a smile usually read as relaxed, not awkward.
How do you turn small talk into a real friendship?
Follow up. Remember one detail they shared and ask about it next time, suggest a low-pressure plan like coffee or a walk, and share a bit about yourself so it feels two-way. Friendships grow from repeated, friendly contact more than from one great conversation.
What if I’m shy or get anxious making small talk?
Start small: aim for one short chat, not a perfect one. Keep two or three go-to questions ready, like weekend plans or a favorite show. Asking questions takes pressure off you, since the other person does much of the talking. If anxiety feels overwhelming, a counselor can help.
How many questions should I ask before sharing about myself?
There’s no magic number. Ask one question, listen, then answer it briefly yourself. Aim for a back-and-forth that feels roughly even. If you only ask, it feels like an interview; if you only share, it feels like a monologue.
Can I use these small talk topics online or by text?
Yes. Most of them work well in messages, especially food, shows, travel and hobbies. Keep texts short, ask one question at a time, and refer back to something they’ve already said. Would-you-rather questions are great for group chats and new online communities.
About This Article: Start with a topic you genuinely care about — it is easier to keep the conversation going when you are interested too.
Sources & Further Reading
Want to go deeper? These reputable sources cover this topic in more detail.
- Psychology Today — There Is No Small Talk — How to move small talk from surface-level chat toward more meaningful conversation.
- Psychology Today — 10 Tips to Talk About Anything With Anyone — Ten tips for talking with anyone, including listening first and reading nonverbal cues.
101Thing publishes practical guides and lists that help readers try new ideas, start conversations, and make everyday life a little better. Articles are researched, written, and reviewed for accuracy and usefulness before publication. Questions or corrections can be sent via the Contact page.
Amna Qamar