Icebreaker questions
Good icebreaker questions are quick to answer, a little bit funny and safe for everyone in the room, like "What's the most useless talent you have?" Below are 120 icebreaker questions in six groups, from work safe ones for a team meeting to light questions for adults at a party, plus 8 icebreaker games with the rules in one line.
What did you have for breakfast, and would you have it again?
Running a work meeting? Leave only Work safe and Quick and easy switched on. All 120 questions are also listed below.
Tap the card to draw a random question, and switch off the groups that don't fit your crowd. It works on a phone passed around the table or on a shared screen in a meeting.
- Questions
- 120
- Groups
- 6
- Time per round
- 5 to 15 min
120 icebreaker questions
Start with Quick and easy when people don't know each other yet. Funny and Would you rather get a room laughing fast. For adults is for a party crowd, and Work safe is written for team meetings and video calls.
Quick and easy icebreaker questions
20- What did you have for breakfast, and would you have it again?
- What's the last thing you took a photo of?
- Which app do you open first in the morning?
- What's a small thing that made your week better?
- What's your go-to order at a coffee shop?
- What's the best thing you've eaten this month?
- Window seat or aisle seat, and why?
- What song has been stuck in your head lately?
- What's a hobby you picked up and dropped within a month?
- What is your hometown famous for, even if only locally?
- What was your very first job?
- Which season matches your personality best?
- What's the most used emoji on your phone?
- What's one thing you always pack, even for a single night away?
- Early bird or night owl? Honest answer.
- What's the best show you've watched this year?
- What's a food you hated as a kid and love now?
- What's a small skill you're quietly proud of?
- Which fictional place would you move to tomorrow?
- What's the last thing you bought that you really didn't need?
Funny and silly icebreaker questions
20- What's the most useless talent you have?
- If you were a kitchen appliance, which one would you be?
- What would the title of your autobiography be?
- Which animal would be the rudest if it could talk?
- What's the weirdest thing you believed as a kid?
- If your pet could talk for one minute, what would it complain about?
- What's the worst thing a pilot could say over the speaker mid flight?
- Which celebrity would you trust to babysit, and which one never?
- What's the strangest thing you've eaten on purpose?
- If you had to swap your hands for any object, what would you pick?
- What's a word you always mispronounce?
- If you went viral tomorrow, what would it be for?
- What's the dumbest way you've ever hurt yourself?
- If you could start one harmless rumor about yourself, what would it be?
- What's your most irrational fear?
- If you entered every room to a walk-on song, which song would it be?
- Which chore would you pay almost anything to never do again?
- If you were a ghost, who would you haunt and how?
- What's the worst haircut you've ever had?
- If your week had a laugh track, which moment would get the biggest laugh?
Icebreaker questions for a party or a new group
20- How do you know the host, and what's the real story?
- What's the best party you've ever been to, and what made it work?
- Which song gets you on the dance floor every single time?
- Are you the dancer, the DJ, the kitchen talker or the one who leaves early?
- What's the best costume you've ever worn?
- Based only on first impressions, who here would you get along with best?
- Which game do you always suggest at parties?
- What's your go-to karaoke song?
- What was the last concert you went to?
- What's the story you've told at every party this year?
- What's the best thing about your city that tourists never find?
- If tonight had a theme, what should it be?
- What's the best party snack, and who always gets it wrong?
- What's the most spontaneous thing you've ever done?
- What's a family tradition of yours that other people find strange?
- Which three people, alive or dead, would make the best party guests?
- What's the best compliment a stranger has ever given you?
- What's something everyone should try at least once?
- What's the furthest you've traveled for a party or a wedding?
- What time do you usually turn into a pumpkin at a party?
Icebreaker questions for adults
20Light 18+ questions for a party crowd. Nothing too personal, and anyone can pass.
- What's the worst date you've ever been on?
- What was your worst job, and how long did you last?
- What did you do this year that made you feel old?
- What's a red flag you ignored and regretted?
- What's the most embarrassing thing in your search history you'd admit to?
- What's the worst hangover cure you've ever tried?
- What's the most expensive mistake you've made?
- What's your most unpopular opinion about dating apps?
- Which bill are you still annoyed about?
- What's the pettiest thing you've ever done?
- What's a lie you told your parents that they still believe?
- If you had to thank one ex for something, what would it be for?
- What's the strangest thing you've done to impress a crush?
- What's the most chaotic group chat you're in, and what happened there?
- At what age did you feel like an actual adult, if ever?
- What's the worst advice you've ever followed?
- What's the boldest thing you've ever said to a boss?
- Where's the strangest place you've ever woken up?
- What are you still secretly bad at as a grown up?
- What's your most dramatic exit from a party, a job or a relationship?
Would you rather warm ups
20- Would you rather always be 10 minutes early or 20 minutes late?
- Would you rather have a rewind button or a pause button for your life?
- Would you rather only be able to whisper or only be able to shout?
- Would you rather give up music or give up movies?
- Would you rather go without your phone for a month or without coffee for a year?
- Would you rather be famous for something embarrassing or never be famous at all?
- Would you rather speak every language or play every instrument?
- Would you rather have a personal chef or a personal driver?
- Would you rather live in your dream city with no friends or your hometown with all of them?
- Would you rather sing instead of speaking or dance everywhere you walk?
- Would you rather talk to animals or understand babies?
- Would you rather relive your best day or skip your worst one?
- Would you rather read minds or be invisible for one hour a day?
- Would you rather have unlimited flights or unlimited takeout?
- Would you rather be the funniest person in the room or the smartest?
- Would you rather lose your keys every day or your phone once a month?
- Would you rather never sit in traffic again or never wait in a line again?
- Would you rather be stuck in an elevator with your boss or with your ex?
- Would you rather visit 100 years into the past or 100 years into the future?
- Would you rather eat only breakfast food or only dinner food forever?
Work safe icebreaker questions for team meetings
20- What's one thing on your desk that says a lot about you?
- What did you want to be when you were ten?
- What's the best piece of work advice you've ever received?
- What's the most unusual job you've ever had?
- Which tab is always open in your browser?
- What's one small win from this week?
- If our team was a band, what would it be called?
- What's your best trick for beating the afternoon slump?
- What's a skill you have that nobody at work knows about?
- What would you do with one extra hour every workday?
- Where is the best lunch near the office, or in your own kitchen?
- Which meeting habit would you ban forever?
- What's a book, podcast or video that changed how you work?
- What would your dream out of office message say?
- What's the first thing you'd change if you ran the company for a day?
- What's something you learned recently, at work or not?
- What's the most memorable team event you've been part of?
- Coffee, tea or something else to start the day?
- What's your favorite way to switch off after work?
- Which emoji sums up your week so far?
How to use icebreaker questions without the awkward silence
An icebreaker fails for one of two reasons: the question is too personal for the room, or it goes on too long. Keep it light, keep it short and stop while people are still laughing.
- Pick the right groupColleagues and strangers get Quick and easy or Work safe. A party crowd can take Funny, Party and For adults.
- Go first yourselfAnswer the first question before anyone else. A slightly embarrassing answer from the host makes everyone else relax.
- Keep answers to 30 secondsOne question per person, a short answer, then pass it on. In a meeting with more than eight people, use one question for everyone.
- Allow one follow upThe group may ask one follow up question. That is where the good stories come out.
- Stop at the high pointFive to ten minutes is plenty for a meeting. At a party, switch to a game once the room is talking on its own.
| Best groups | Skip | Game to try | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team meeting or video call | Work safe, Quick and easy | For adults | One word check in |
| First week at uni or a new club | Quick and easy, Would you rather | For adults | Human bingo |
| Wedding or birthday dinner | Party, Funny, Would you rather | Work safe | Desert island |
| House party | Party, Funny | Work safe | The Bomb |
| Adults who just met | For adults, Funny, Party | Work safe | Two truths and a lie |
8 icebreaker games for adults, teams and parties
When a list of questions is not enough, turn it into a game. These work with any group size and need nothing but people and maybe one phone.
- Two truths and a lie. Everyone says three facts about themselves, one of them false. The group votes on the lie. Works in person and on video calls.
- This or That line. Read two options and point at one wall for each. People see in a second who they have something in common with. 150 ready questions are on our This or That page.
- Human bingo. Hand out a grid with facts like "has been to Japan" or "plays an instrument". Mingle until you find a person for each square.
- Desert island. Everyone names the three things they would bring to a desert island. The group picks the most useful and the most ridiculous list.
- One word check in. For teams: everyone describes their week in one word, then gets one sentence to explain. Done in five minutes.
- Most likely to. Read "Who here is most likely to..." and everyone points at once. Great for groups who know each other a little. Play it in Most Likely To.
- The Bomb. A category appears, you say an answer and pass the phone before the hidden fuse goes off. Loud, fast and impossible to be shy in. Play it in The Bomb.
- Imposter. Everyone but one gets the same secret word. Each person gives one clue, then the group votes on who is bluffing. A favorite for new groups. Play it in Imposter.
Let the whole room vote at once
In Dronk's Would You Rather, the app shows the question and everyone picks a side. Play on one phone, or LIVE, where up to 16 people vote from their own phones with a 4 digit pin code and see the results together.
Get Dronk free on iPhone
How to write your own icebreaker questions
A good icebreaker question takes ten seconds to answer and leaves room for a story. Three rules make the difference:
- Ask about things, not feelings. "What's the last thing you bought that you didn't need?" is easier to answer than "What makes you happy?"
- Make it specific. "What's your go-to karaoke song?" beats "Do you like music?", because the answer is a fact you can react to.
- Give an easy way out. A question with a funny answer and a serious answer lets people choose how much they share.
Questions people ask
What are good icebreaker questions?
Good icebreaker questions are quick, light and have no wrong answer, for example "What's the most useless talent you have?" or "Which app do you open first in the morning?" This page has 120 of them in six groups.
What are fun icebreaker questions for work?
Use questions about habits and small preferences, not private life: "Which meeting habit would you ban forever?", "Which tab is always open in your browser?" or "If our team was a band, what would it be called?" The Work safe group has 20 of them.
What are good icebreaker questions for adults?
Adults who just met at a party can handle a little more: "What's the worst date you've ever been on?" or "What's the pettiest thing you've ever done?" Keep it light and let anyone pass.
Which icebreaker questions work at a wedding or birthday dinner?
Pick questions that mix the two sides of the table: "How did you meet the couple?", "What's the most useless talent you have?" or a round of Would you rather. The Party and Funny groups work best, and nobody should have to share more than they want.
How many icebreaker questions should you use in a meeting?
One question for everyone, answered in about 30 seconds each, is enough for most team meetings. With more than 12 people, split into breakout groups or ask for one word answers.
What is a good icebreaker game for adults?
Two truths and a lie works for any group and needs nothing. For a livelier party, play Imposter or The Bomb, where everyone has to talk within the first minute.
Keep the night going
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