Icebreaker Question Generator
“What's a superpower so minor it would only save you ten minutes a week?”
Why ask it
The usual superpower question gets the usual flying and invisibility. Shrinking it to ten minutes a week forces invention, like always picking the fastest checkout line.
Some of what is in the deck
Prefer to read than to shuffle? These are the opening cards of each deck, each with its note and the set it came from.
Everyone
What's a superpower so minor it would only save you ten minutes a week?
Why ask it
The usual superpower question gets the usual flying and invisibility. Shrinking it to ten minutes a week forces invention, like always picking the fastest checkout line.
Which of your everyday habits would make no sense to a visiting alien?
Why ask it
The alien is a device for noticing how odd normal life is: paying to run on a machine, keeping a drawer of cables. Good for groups that like to riff on each other's answers.
If you had a free hour today that couldn't go to work or chores, where would it go?
Why ask it
Closing off work and chores stops the dutiful answers. What is left is a small honest picture of what the person is short on: sleep, quiet, a walk, a friend.
What's a sound you find oddly satisfying?
Why ask it
Expect a keyboard, a can opening, snow underfoot. A sensory question has no wrong answers and no status attached, which is exactly what a nervous room needs first.
Which fictional team, crew or family does this group most resemble, and who is who?
Why ask it
Wait until a group has spent a few hours together and has some shared jokes. Let people cast themselves first, since being assigned the grumpy one can sting.
Who was the last person to talk you out of an opinion, and how did they do it?
Why ask it
Asking how they did it turns a confession into a lesson in persuasion. It also tells you whether the person in front of you can be argued with, which is worth knowing.
What do you think you'll care about in ten years that you neglect now?
Why ask it
People usually know the answer already, which is what makes it land. Treat the replies lightly. Nobody needs a lecture about calling their friends from a person they just met.
What snack would you never share, even with someone you love?
Why ask it
The exaggeration gives permission to be petty about something harmless. Watch for the person who names a snack someone else in the room was about to claim.
Who do you wish you got to see more often?
Why ask it
Short and open, so people can answer at whatever depth suits them: an old roommate, a sister overseas, someone harder to talk about. Let a pause sit after asking. It usually means someone is thinking.
What's something you've made peace with that used to bother you a lot?
Why ask it
Invites a story with the ending already attached, so it feels safe to tell. Do not push for detail. People will choose how much of the before they want to describe.
What would we call ourselves if this group were a trivia team?
Why ask it
Naming something together is a fast way to make a group feel like one. Take suggestions out loud, vote by applause, and use the winning name for the rest of the event.
If a pet you know could leave you a one-star review, what would it say?
Why ask it
Wording it as a pet you know includes people who do not have one. The reviews are mostly about dinner being late, delivered in a voice the person has clearly rehearsed.
For work
What's a question you've been meaning to ask but weren't sure who to ask?
Why ask it
New hires carry a backlog of small unknowns, like how to book a room or whether cameras are expected. Asking in the open answers it for the next newcomer as well.
What's the last non-work thing you did before joining this call?
Why ask it
Walked the dog, hung laundry, ate over the sink. It acknowledges that remote colleagues arrive from their lives and not from a corridor, and the answers are short by nature.
What's a mistake we made as a team that turned out to be worth what we learned?
Why ask it
Only works where mistakes are already discussable, and only if the most senior person answers honestly. Done well, it tells everyone that the team survives being wrong.
For kids
What song makes you want to get up and dance as soon as it starts?
Why ask it
Asking what a song does to their feet, not whether it is any good, spares kids from defending their taste in front of peers. Two children naming the same song have usually just made a friend, and a group that needs to move has just chosen its music.
What is something you love that you think nobody else in this room loves?
Why ask it
Invites each kid to stake out something of their own, then often proves them wrong when a second hand shoots up. Either outcome is good for the group.
What is the best thing you have ever ridden in or on, like a sled, a boat, a horse or a roller coaster?
Why ask it
The examples run from small to grand on purpose, so a sled or a ride on someone's shoulders counts as much as a roller coaster. Ride answers tend to come with a story attached: where they were going and who was sitting next to them.
Funny
What's the worst name you've ever given a pet, a car, a plant or a group chat?
Why ask it
Four options mean nearly everyone has an entry. The stories behind bad names tend to involve a younger self or a committee, and both are good material.
What would your walk-up music be for a very minor task, like taking out the trash?
Why ask it
Entrance music is a familiar question. Attaching it to a dull errand is what makes it funny, and it is kinder to people who would find a grand answer embarrassing.
What's the funniest misunderstanding you've had because of a text message?
Why ask it
Autocorrect and missing punctuation have given nearly everyone a story. Keep it for groups with a bit of time, since these need setup, and let people read the message aloud.
Get to know you
Where are you enough of a regular that they know your order or your name?
Why ask it
Being a regular is a quiet kind of loyalty, and people are fond of theirs: a diner, a barber, a library desk, a taco truck. Anyone who isn't a regular anywhere can say where they'd like to be one.
What's the bravest thing you did before you turned twelve?
Why ask it
Childhood bravery is small in scale and huge in feeling, like a high dive or standing up to a bigger kid. People tell these with real tenderness for their younger selves.
Which of your favorites has changed the most in the last ten years?
Why ask it
Taste is a record of who someone used to be. Asking what changed, from music to food to how they spend a Friday night, gets you a short autobiography.
Team building
Which three words would a past teammate use to describe working with you?
Why ask it
Borrowing a past teammate's voice makes it easier to say something good about yourself, and easier to slip in something honest like 'blunt' or 'last-minute'. Give people a minute to write the three words first. Never ask the current team to vote on whether they agree.
If we had a week with no deadlines, what should the team fix, build or learn?
Why ask it
Every team carries a list of things it would do if it ever had time, and hearing them together shows which are shared. If one item gets three mentions, consider giving it a real day. Decide before you ask whether that is on the table, and say so.
What was the first job you were ever paid for, and what did it teach you about working with other people?
Why ask it
Nobody's first job was impressive, so paper routes and dish pits put the director and the intern on the same footing. The lesson about other people is the part to wait for: who covered for whom, what a good shift lead did, how the rush got handled.
For teens
If you had a free afternoon and a ride to anywhere within an hour of here, where would you go?
Why ask it
The ride is included on purpose, so the answer does not depend on who has a car or a bus pass. Answers range from the mall to one particular rock by a river, and the particular ones deserve a second question.
What do you hope this class does at least once?
Why ask it
Collect the answers on index cards without names: a debate, a lab that goes wrong on purpose, class outside, a film day. Then grant one of them before the first month is out.
What question do you think is worth arguing about for a whole hour?
Why ask it
The answers are a planning document. You will hear what they want to talk about, from instant replay in sports to what happens after we die, and you can build a later session around the best one.
How to run an icebreaker
Deal a card before people arrive, not in front of them, and check it against the room: can everyone here answer it in a sentence without thinking for long? If yes, ask it. If not, deal another.
Answer first yourself, keep it short, and go round the room in an order people can see coming. An icebreaker is working when the answers start getting replies.
Ground rules for the room
- One question, one sentenceAsk a single question and ask for a short answer. The point is that everyone speaks once, early.
- Passing is allowedSay so at the start. Nobody should dread their turn.
- Nothing that ranks peopleIn a group that has just met, skip anything about money, looks or status.
Three formats
- Round the roomEveryone answers the same card in turn. Best for a small group.
- Pairs, then sharePeople answer in twos for a minute, then each person passes on their partner's answer. Best for big groups and shy ones.
- In the chatOn a video call, everyone types an answer and sends it on a count of three. Read a few aloud.
Which deck for which room
- EveryoneGeneral icebreakers for parties, classes, clubs and dinners: quick openers, funny ones, questions for whole groups and a few that go deeper.
- For workSafe for any workplace, with questions for the top of a meeting, established teams, video calls and new hires.
- For kidsFor a roomful of children from about five to twelve: silly questions, favorites, imagination and school.
- FunnyThe general icebreakers that were written to get a laugh before anything else.
- Get to know youFor people who will be seeing each other again: new coworkers, classmates, neighbors and teammates.
- Team buildingFor a team that already works together: how people like to work, what went well, what to keep and change. Slower than an icebreaker, so give it more than a minute.
- For teensFor a class, team or youth group of twelve to eighteen year olds who may not know each other: quick, never babyish, and nothing that singles anyone out.
The sets behind it
Nothing is written on the fly. Every card comes from one of these question sets, and each set has the whole list in an order that builds.