Photo by Sergey Pesterev on Unsplash
What icebreaker never fails to entertain you?
What is your go-to prompt or question to bond your team together?
Finding commonalities with an entirely new group of people with fresh nametags stuck to their lapels can be a real challenge, which is why fun facts or icebreakers are the perfect ways to get people talking, laughing, and connecting.
Icebreaker questions are more than small talk. With the work world becoming increasingly virtual, a handful of icebreaker questions or a few virtual team-building activities can really make a difference.
The goal of icebreaker questions is to loosen up a group of people—so that they can get comfortable talking to each other. Since we are all about expanding our soft skill sets, like communication, we decided to put together a list of icebreaker questions—and we got a little carried away.
Delight your audience at your next meeting, networking event, or family gathering by preparing a few icebreaker questions to get conversations rolling!
Here are 150+ icebreaker questions. Let's get to bonding!
Table of Contents
- Virtual Icebreaker Questions
- Experience Icebreaker Questions
- Personality Icebreaker Questions
- Theoretical Icebreaker Questions
- Favorite Things Icebreaker Questions
- This or That Icebreaker Questions
Pro Tip: The right icebreaker questions can be great for interviews.
However, since there are many illegal interview questions, make sure that you are not crossing dangerous boundaries. Questions around age, gender, religion, or race are illegal.
Make sure your icebreaker questions are not inappropriate in an interview setting. If there is any doubt, stay away from icebreaker questions during an interview.
Virtual Icebreaker Questions
Whether you know every member of your team or you've never met in real life, virtual icebreaker questions allow your team to get that "water cooler" effect that you miss when you're working remotely or from home.
Try one of these icebreaker questions at the beginning of your next online meeting.
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What is your favorite part about working from home?
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If you could only keep one part of your daily routine, what would it be?
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If Zoom meetings had WWE-like wrestler entrance songs, what would your entrance theme song be?
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What is your favorite part of your morning routine?
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What is your go-to karaoke song?
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Who is your current celebrity crush?
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What is your favorite emoji?
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What is your biggest virtual pet peeve?
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What is the best team-building activity you've ever tried?
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Where is the weirdest place you've worked from home?
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What are you wearing on your feet right now?
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What's your favorite part about your home office space?
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Have you ever worked from bed?
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What's your best tip for keeping productive at work?
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Do you like to keep background noise on or do you work in silence?
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What do you miss about working in an office?
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What is the best professional development book you've ever read?
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Is there an online class you're looking to take?
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What's your favorite YouTube channel?
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If you could learn one skill today, what would it be?
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What's your favorite television show or movie about the workplace?
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If you could have any view from your desk, what would it be?
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Do you have a picture on your desktop? What is it?
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If you could build your dream house, what would your home office look like?
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Do you play any musical instruments? If not, what instrument do you wish you could play?
Experience Icebreaker Questions
First up are our experiential icebreaker questions.
Especially when you haven't been to a concert in years, it can be a nostalgic boost to look back on your first live show, the states you have visited (and, yes, we think airports count), or the scariest ride you've ever been on.
These are all pretty work-safe questions.
You can pose these questions at the beginning of a meeting, as icebreakers for new team members, or even as a part of your team's "about us" page.
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How many states have you been to?
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What is the name of the first album you owned?
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What was the name of your first pet?
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What’s the longest flight you’ve ever taken?
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Who is the smartest person you've ever met and why?
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What’s your favorite family tradition, past or present?
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What’s the longest distance you’ve ever walked/run?
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What is the best trip you ever took and why?
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What was the first record you ever bought?
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What color was your childhood bedroom?
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What’s the scariest ride you’ve ever been on?
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What is the scariest movie you've ever seen?
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Who was your role model as a kid and why?
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When did you first feel like an adult?
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What is the last natural body of water you swam in?
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What was the hardest class you ever took?
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What’s a fact about you that nobody would guess?
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What’s the worst misspelling of your name you’ve ever seen?
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What was the first concert you went to?
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What was the last concert you went to?
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Where is the strangest place you’ve ever fallen asleep?
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Do you have any strange or regional names for things where you come from?
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What model was your first smartphone?
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What fashion trend did you once love, but makes you cringe now?
Personality Icebreaker Questions
This next group of icebreaker questions brings it back to your childhood, your formative years, and what makes you who you are.
You might not even know the answers to some of these icebreaker questions.
Like, what celebrity shares your birthday? Have you ever thought about whether you love surprises or whether a surprise party would be your worst nightmare? Do you believe in aliens? Are you dying to know whether or not Ron from accounting has seen a UFO?
Use these icebreaker questions for your next Zoom meeting.
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If you had to create a slogan for your life, what would it be?
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What was your childhood nickname?
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What is the last show you binge-watched?
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What’s something that everyone else seems to love—that you don’t understand?
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If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?
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What three words describe you best?
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What always makes you laugh?
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What’s your first memory as a child?
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What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
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Do you collect anything?
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What celebrities share your birthday?
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When was the last time you turned your phone off or left it at home?
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What was the first thing you remember saving up money to buy on your own?
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What three words would your best friend use to describe you?
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When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
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What is the scariest fear you’ve ever conquered?
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What physical thing (hurricanes, bugs, heights) scares you the most?
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Would you rather have a small dinner party with your 5 closest friends or a giant party with everyone you know and love?
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Do you love or hate surprises?
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What’s the best gift you’ve ever given to someone?
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What quality about yourself would you like to pass on to your child?
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What would the title of your autobiography be?
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What would your Housewives tagline be?
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If you had a time machine where and when would you go?
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Do you have any hidden talents?
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Did you ever have an imaginary friend? What was their name?
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Tell me about the worst job you ever had.
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What food or vegetable do you hate?
Theoretical Icebreaker Questions
These theoretical icebreaker questions are great for really getting to know your team at work.
Unlike more surface icebreaker questions, these ones require deeper thought and consideration—and they might end up revealing some fun things about yourself and your coworkers.
Pro Tip: Write these out, put them in a jar, and open one at the top of a meeting.
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If you could invite three people to dinner—living, dead, fictional, or real—who would they be?
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If you had a paid year off work, how would you spend it?
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What does your perfect ice cream sundae look like?
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If you could spend a day as any historical figure, who would it be and why?
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If you could read one book over and over for the rest of your life, what would it be?
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If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
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If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
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If you could guest star on any television show, what would it be? Who would you play?
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If you could instantly learn any skill, what would it be?
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If you were an Olympic athlete, what would be your sport?
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If you could (safely) visit any planet, which would it be?
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If you could commission any artist (living or dead) to create art for you, who would you choose?
Favorite Things Questions
These icebreaker questions might seem easy, but they can be tough to answer—which is what we think makes them fun! It can be hard to narrow down your favorite television shows or your favorite cereal.
However, when you learn that both you and your boss are huge Dorinda Medley fans (bring her back!), you're going to be bonded forever. We do want to add one note of caution. The dog person versus cat person debate can get pretty heated, so keep it respectful :)
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What are your top three favorite songs ever?
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What’s your favorite movie and why?
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What is your favorite tv show and why?
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What is your favorite way to unwind?
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What is your favorite book that was read to you as a child?
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What is your favorite book you read in school?
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What is your favorite book as an adult?
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What is your favorite cuisine?
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Who is your favorite comedian?
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What’s your favorite sports team?
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What’s your favorite cereal?
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What was your favorite Halloween costume you ever wore?
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Who’s your most/least favorite Disney princess? We know you have one.
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What’s your favorite comfort food?
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Who is your favorite actor/actress?
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What is your favorite meal?
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What is your favorite holiday?
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What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
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What is your favorite reality tv show?
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What is your favorite dessert?
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Are you a dog person or a cat person?
This or That Questions
These icebreaker questions force you to choose one or the other.
The fun thing about "this or that" icebreakers questions is that you can tailor them to your workplace, as well.
For example, which client do you like dealing with the most? Which social media platform is your favorite? What's your favorite team lunch?
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Deep sea or outer space?
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Invisibility as a superpower or mindreading?
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Cartoon character: Bugs Bunny or Mickey Mouse?
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Bungee jumping or snorkeling?
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Ocean or mountain?
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Reality TV shows or Scripted dramas?
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The Beach Boys or The Beatles?
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Hogwarts or Middle Earth?
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Thunderstorms: scary or thrilling?
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Spring, summer, fall, or winter?
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Salty or sweet?
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Yoga or running?
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Coffee or tea?
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Cat or dog?
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Day or night?
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Morning person or late night person?
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Pancakes or waffles?
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Rain or snow?
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Train or plane?
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Ski, snowboard, or surf?
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Beach or mountain?
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Cook a meal or clean up after a meal?
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Hamburgers or hot dogs?
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Friends or Seinfeld?
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Steve Urkel or Kimmy Gibler?
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Chocolate or vanilla?
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Water or milk?
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Breakfast or dinner?
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Comedy or drama?
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Hot or cold?
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Halloween or the 4th of July?
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Winter Olympics or Summer Olympics?
Philosophical Questions
Prepare to go deep. These philosophical icebreaker questions are bound to stump and cause some real conversation. Due to their nature, these icebreaker questions are probably better suited for a workplace happy hour, a team retreat, or for a small group of coworkers that have the time to potentially dive into deep conversation.
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What would you like to be known for?
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What is the best piece of advice you've ever received?
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What do you think is the greatest invention in your lifetime?
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What is one life lesson you will never forget?
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What’s your personal heaven?
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What are your parents’ best qualities?
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What, in your opinion, is a fundamental characteristic of a good person?
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Do you believe in luck?
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What do you think dreams are?
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There are now 25 hours in a day—how do you spend the extra hour?
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What was the best part of your day today?
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What is typically your favorite part of a day off from work?
Do you have any great icebreaker questions you like to use? Let us know and we'll add them to the list!
