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 Click To TweetA 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.
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