5 Meaningful Conversation Starters to Foster Hospitality
Do you want to be the kind of person with whom others feel safe sharing their hearts? If so, it can be helpful to have a handful of meaningful conversation starters ready and waiting!
I’ve been mentoring younger women for many years. Some of these women open up easily, and I don’t have to use my memorized conversation starters.
At other times, these five categories for starting conversations are invaluable.
I pray they bless you today, too.
5 Categories of Meaningful Conversation Starters
The following five categories for asking deeper questions are etched in my mind, and when I meet to talk with a new friend or to directly mentor a younger woman, I often draw from these five categories.
My hope is that they will help you carry deeper conversations as well:
1. Questions about Daily Calling:
Depending on whether your friend has a career, is a full-time student, or serves her family as a homemaker, this is a good place to start.
You’re just trying to figure out what daily life looks like for your guest and what she does with the majority of her time.
What is her schedule like? Once you know what her daily life looks like, dig deeper by asking questions about fulfillment, future vision, struggles, and day-to-day joy.
2. Questions about Family life:
Depending on the age of your friend, this might include a spouse and children, or it might include parents and siblings.
Asking what others in the house do for a living, what they do for fun, and how family dynamics function is a good way to dig deeper.
When mentoring teens, the question, “How are you getting along with your parents?” generally opens a door for some deep conversation.
When mentoring a newly married twenty-something, we often talk about her marriage.
Moms enjoy talking about their kids. These questions offer insight into a person’s struggles and joys at home.
3. Questions about Social Life:
This category will vary depending on the life stage of your friend.
She might want to talk about recreation with friends, restaurants, movies, and places to go.
To go deeper, ask about relationship dynamics among friends, struggles, and satisfaction in general in terms of social life. When mentoring a teen, I often ask how she’s getting along with her friends.
Moms get questions about getting out of the house.
4. Questions about Hobbies and Passions:
Similar to questions about social life, these questions tap into what your friend enjoys for fun. Does she have a pet, enjoy a sport, or pursue an artistic talent? This is often an area that gets people fired up.
Embrace the enthusiasm and learn more about your friend by asking for details.
5. Questions about Spiritual Things:
This can be a touchy subject; however, if you share the same faith background, ask how your friend is doing in areas of faith and spiritual practice.
Ask about church involvement, activities, and spiritual disciplines. Ask if your friend’s walk of faith is what she hopes and if it is meeting her expectations. This is also a good time to ask about struggles, life lessons, and challenges she is facing.
How to Remember These Meaningful Conversation Starters:
If you struggle to remember these five categories, remember them with the simple acronym: CFFFF (Calling, Family, Friends, Fun, Faith).
More often than not, once someone sees that you want to listen to what they have to say, they will open up with greater ease. This kind of listening fosters hospitality that truly creates space for others to show up and be the truest form of themselves.
More often than not, once someone sees that you want to listen to what they have to say, they will open up with greater ease. #conversationstarters #hospitality #listening Share on XA Free Toolkit Filled With Meaningful Conversation Starters, Recipes, Activities, and More:
For more resources on hospitality, 20 easy ideas, recipes, sample questions in these five categories, games, and more, click here to download your free toolkit for Hospitality without Perfection.
Calling all moms and daughters—and parents of boys!
As the parent of two sons and a daughter, I have a heart for helping parents develop deeper relationships with their children and with God. Our kids, ages 6, 11, and 14, share this vision. They have helped me write three family devotionals for parents or grandparents to read with the children they care about.
God’s Warrior: Devotions for Boys Who Want to Grow in Courage and Strength is for boys ages 5-13. Now, more than ever, our world needs men who are willing to courageously carry God’s love into the world. Written with input from our two young sons, Aiden and Caleb, ages six and eleven, this book will help the boys you care about find courage and strength in God. Find this life-changing devotional book here.
Devotionals for Girls
Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section for moms and daughters after each devotion. I wrote this book with the help of our daughter, Bekah, when she was eleven. Find this one-of-a-kind shared devotional here.
Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20. It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing. This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, sexuality, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start. Bekah and I will help you right here.
All three books are available in print and eBook form here on Amazon. They are also free on the Kindle Unlimited plan, which you can enjoy with a free three-month trial! These books make great gifts, and you don’t need to be the parent of young children to read them. Share them with your grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or the young ones you love.
Learn Why Willpower Doesn’t Work and Experience God’s Deliverance and Healing
God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you’ve been unable to do through willpower alone. Lean Into Grace: Let God’s Grace Heal Your Heart, Refresh Your Soul, and Set You Free shares practical ways to experience God’s freedom, healing, power, and presence in your life. Find this life-changing book as a free eBook on Kindle Unlimited or for 12.99 in print right here. (If you do not have Kindle Unlimited, you can try it out with a free three-month trial!) This book will transform your life and revitalize your relationship with the Lord!
