Icebreakers induce laughter that makes for a genuinely relaxed meeting environment. Employees who are laughing together are comfortable interacting. Their laughter keeps the meeting lively and interactive – exactly what fun ice breaker questions should do.
If you winced at the word, “ice breaker,” I don’t blame you. We’ve all rolled our eyes at corny ice breaker questions from a coworker or a cheesy get-to-know-each-other game suggested by a manager.
However reluctantly, you do realise that you need ice breaker question at work. Maybe a new employee just joined your team, and you want to make sure they feel welcome and relaxed.
Asking ice breaker questions can make that boring meeting better by loosening everybody up and getting them into the right mindset. They can also be used at team event days, or the start of a social hour.
Even better, if you manage a remote team, you can use these sorts of questions in your regular team chat, as a way for distant employees get to know one another more personally, and further strengthen the culture in your remote team.
After all, it’s always hard to work well with folks you don’t have a rapport with (not to mention, it’s no fun).
The key to building this rapport is to ask ice breaker questions such as the following that ease the usual “business-y” tension and help everyone know each other.
To help you with your next event, here are 100 ice breaker questions, broken down by seven categories.
Weird ice breaker questions
- If you could hang out with any cartoon character, who would you choose and why?
- If you could add a word to the dictionary what would you add and what would it mean?
- What clothing item would make you walk out on a date if someone wore it?
- The zombie apocalypse is coming, who are three people you want on your team?
- If you could choose your age forever, what age would you choose and why?
- If you were to change your name, what name would you change to and why?
- If you could meet any living person for dinner, who would you pick and why?
- What is your most used emoji?
- Would you rather have invisibility or flight?
- Would you rather live where it only snows or the temperature never falls below 100 degrees?
- Cats or dogs?
- Teleportation or flying?
- Would you rather be invisible or be able to read minds?
- If you could be an animal, what animal would you be and why?
- If you could bring back any fashion trend what would it be?
- What’s your best scary story?
- If you had 25 hours a day, how would you use your extra time?
- If you could commit any crime and get away with it what would you choose and why?
- How would you spend a million dollars? How about a billion?
- If you could be any supernatural creature, what would you be and why?
- If you could change places with anyone in the world, who would it be and why?
- If you could kill any fashion trend forever what would it be?
- If you had to delete all but three apps from your smartphone, which ones would you keep?
- What skill do you think everyone should have?
Food & Drink ice breaker questions
- If you were a vegetable, what vegetable would you be and why?
- If you had to eat one meal every day for the rest of your life what would it be?
- Coffee or tea?
- What’s the weirdest food you’ve ever eaten?
- How do you like your eggs?
- What are your three favourite foods?
- What are your three favourite drinks?
- What is your favourite meal to cook and why?
- What’s your favourite breakfast cereal?
Entertainment ice breaker questions
- If you could be in any movie, what would it be and what character would you play?
- Which actor would you want to play you in the movie about your life?
- If you were a wrestler what would be your entrance theme song?
- If you were a superhero what would your name be?
- If you were a superhero what would your superpower be and why?
- You have to sing karaoke, what song do you pick?
- If you could broadcast a show, what would it be about?
- What fictional world or place would you like to visit?
- What is your favorite TV show?
- What are you reading right now?
- What book did you read that changed your life the most?
- What movie have you seen recently that you would recommend and why?
- What is your favourite sport to watch and why?
- If you could see one movie again for the first time, what would it be and why?
- If you had to play one album forever which one would it be?
- Which song can you listen to all day long?
Fame ice breaker questions
- Have you ever been told you look like someone famous, who was it?
- You have your own late night talk show, who do you invite as your first guest?
- What would the title of your autobiography be?
- If you were famous what would you be famous for?
- What would you do with your “15 minutes of fame”?
- If you could be on a reality TV show, which one would you choose and why?
- If you could be any sports personality who would it be and why?
Image: Stock Snap
Personal ice breaker questions
- What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
- If you could change one thing about yourself what would you choose?
- If you had to teach a class on one thing, what would you teach?
- If you could eliminate one thing from your daily routine, what would it be and why?
- If you could be guaranteed one thing in life (besides money), what would it be?
- Would you rather lose all of your money or all of your pictures?
- Would you rather be the funniest or smartest person in the room?
- If you could pick up a new skill in an instant what would it be?
- What’s the best advice you’ve ever heard?
- What is your absolute dream job?
- If you were independently wealthy and didn’t have to work, what would you do with your time?
- Are you a good dancer?
- How would your friends describe you?
- What would you like to be known/remembered for?
- What would your dream house be like?
- What sport would you compete in if you were in the Olympics?
- What languages do you know how to speak?
- Do you collect anything?
- What would you like to do when you retire?
- What is the best perk you have ever enjoyed at a job?
- If you could magically become fluent in any language, what would it be?
- If you could instantly become an expert in something, what would it be?
- What’s your favourite colour and how does that colour make you feel?
- What is your favourite time of the day and why?
Travel ice breaker questions
- If you could live anywhere on this planet, where would you choose to live?
- If extraterrestrials landed on earth and offered to take you with them, would you go?
- If you could go to Mars, would you? Why or why not?
- If you could have the power of teleportation right now, where would you go and why?
- Would you rather live in the ocean or on the moon?
- If you were stranded on a desert island, what three items would you want to have with you?
- What’s your favourite place you’ve ever visited?
- What is your favourite season of the year and why?
- What is your favourite holiday and why?
- What’s your favourite place of all the places you’ve travelled?
History ice breaker questions
- If you could meet any historical figure, who would you choose and why?
- What is the meaning of your name?
- As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
- If you had a time machine, would go back in time or into the future?
- What was the first thing you bought with your own money?
- What’s your favourite family tradition?
- Who had the most influence on you growing up?
- What’s your earliest memory?
- If you had to lose all your memories which one would want to lose last?
- What was the worst job you ever had?
- If you could choose any historical figure to be your imaginary friend, who would it be and why?
In Summary
Awkward silences, tense meetings, busy work days. These are all situations that can benefit from some relaxed and fun icebreaker questions.
Ice breaker questions don’t need to be as scary or boring – when properly executed, they can help diffuse anxiety and ease employees or groups into team bonding.
