As many of you will have experienced recently, tutorials have just started back up. And with the return of tuts comes one of university’s most painful traditions: the dreaded ice breaker.
It always starts the same way. “Tell us your name, where you’re from, and what you did over the break.”
Suddenly, every interesting thing you’ve ever done disappears from your brain, and you’re left mumbling something like “I have a dog” or “I went overseas”. What's even worse is that the whole time you’re going around in that circle, you can’t listen to anyone else. Instead, you’re utterly consumed by trying to come up with something to say. Everyone’s left feeling anxious, cursing themselves for having the EQ of a plant and still not having any idea as to what anyone's name is.
As both a student and a tutor, I get both sides of the coin. It’s hard to take that first leap and start talking to someone that you have nothing in common with other than the paper that you’re both taking. But when it comes to breaking the ice, I’m the fucking Titanic (if it was built for purpose). I pride myself on both my social skills and my interviewing capabilities, and that’s why I feel equipped to offer some conversational lube to get the kōrero flowing.
Here’s 40 Qs to ask when actually trying to converse with people at parties, tuts, dates and hangouts.
- If you could find out one statistic about your own life what would it be?
- How many pairs of shoes do you own but never wear?
- What is the most interesting piece of information you have learnt during your degree?
- In what order do you put your socks and shoes on?
- If you had to get a hashtag tattooed on you, what would it be?
- Where is your favourite viewpoint in Dunedin?
- What is on your anti-bucketlist?
- If you had to spend $10,000 in one day, what would you buy?
- What are you the best in the world at?
- Who is your biggest ‘hear me out’?
- Do you have a song that you use to get another song out of your head?
- How many individual objects do you think are in your room?
- Do you often think about how others perceive you?
- What is the most niche thing you have an encyclopedic knowledge of?
- Do you like coriander?
- What order do you wash your body in the shower?
- What made you choose to study your degree?
- Describe your perfect fork.
- What is your most used word that isn't common?
- If you could be anywhere but here right now, where would you go?
- Is it about the journey or the destination?
- Which young adult dystopian movie would you have thrived in most?
- What is your favourite inanimate object you own?
- Do you think a higher power exists? If so, tell me more.
- Would you rather go on Survivor, Love Island, or The Chase?
- What do you think is the most unexpected thing about you?
- What was the first concert you ever went to?
- Who was your favourite music artist in high school?
- How would you describe your ‘perfect day’?
- Are you an emoji person? If so, what's your favourite?
- Does Lightning McQueen have car insurance, or life insurance?
- If you were to be eaten, what meal would you want to be?
- What movie are you most ashamed to admit you haven’t seen?
- Do you think less of people that only drink coffee with whipped cream on it?
- Which of your parents do you feel that you are closest with?
- What’s the longest amount of time that you think you could live in Dunedin?
- What’s your drink of choice on a night out?
- Would you rather be stuck in a dark closet with ten, big, fuckoff spiders, a rat, or a mutant Castle Street seagull?
- Have you ever had a recurring dream/nightmare?
- What’s something that’s illegal that you wish was legal?
Next time the conversation starts dying at a party, don't panic and resort to “So… what papers are you taking?”
Pull out a question that gets people thinking, possibly sparks a debate, or leads to you discovering that your mates are deeper than their Instagram stories suggest.
