Are you still bothered by team bonding and feeling embarrassed on your onboarding day at the company? Well, getting to know a few icebreaker questions may save you from these dilemmas. Instead of awkward silences, you can leave a good impression on others with the aid of good icebreaker questions. If you are a manager or leader of the team, asking icebreaker questions is also a wonderful way to improve team communication and motivation.
What are good icebreaker questions?
Good icebreaker questions are those that can stimulate conversation by encouraging participants to share personal information about themselves. Here are some qualities that make icebreaker questions effective:
Open-ended: Questions that require more than a simple “yes” or “no” provide opportunities for participants to share more about themselves.
Fun: Interesting questions that encourage entertaining answers can help break the ice and make participants feel more comfortable.
Safe: Icebreaker questions should not be too personal or controversial, since you are not that familiar with each other. Questions that are safe and mild may put participants at ease and encourage them to participate.
Relevant to the group: Icebreaker questions that are strongly related to the group are more likely to be effective.
100 icebreaker questions to get the conversation started
Below is a list of icebreakers in 10 categories. Read and learn how to ask effective and interesting icebreaker question!
Food icebreakers
Food is a beloved topic and can be very telling about others’ personality. Pick a food-related question or two to quickly get to know your new members.
- What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
- What’s the most exotic food you’ve ever eaten?
- What’s your favorite food-related memory?
- What’s your go-to comfort food?
- What’s the last homemade meal you cooked?
- What’s the best restaurant you’ve ever eaten at?
- What’s your favorite type of dessert?
- What’s the spiciest food you’ve ever eaten?
- What’s your favorite spicy food?
- What’s your favorite condiment?
Travel icebreakers
During a journey, you can meet quite a lot of interesting things, and sharing them with your new teammates will be an easier way to present yourself to them. If you guys have been to the same place coincidentally, maybe you can be friends more quickly.
- Where is your favorite place to travel?
- What’s the longest trip you’ve ever taken?
- What’s the most adventurous trip you’ve ever taken?
- What’s your favorite thing to do when you travel?
- What’s the best trip you’ve ever taken?
- What’s the most beautiful place you’ve ever visited?
- What’s your favorite landmark from your travel?
- What’s the worst travel experience you’ve had?
- What’s the most underrated destination you’ve visitied?
- What’s the next country you want to visit?
Have you ever?
Have-you-ever icebreakers are all about your past experiences. By asking these questions, you may find someone in common.
- Have you ever been out of the country?
- Have you ever ridden on a motorcycle?
- Have you ever lived in another state?
- Have you ever met a celebrity?
- Have you ever been misunderstood?
- Have you ever mistaken a stranger as your friend?
- Have you ever forgotten an important meeting?
- Have you ever won a contest?
- Have you ever planted a garden?
- Have you ever done any extreme sports?
Christmas icebreakers
Everyone must has his or her own unique memory and ideas about Christmas. With the aid of these icebreakers, you can certainly cheer the room up and get familiar with each other.
- Do you celebrate Christmas? Why or why not?
- What’s your favorite Christmas song?
- What’s the most unforgettable gift you’ve ever received on Christmas?
- Do you have any unusual Christmas tradition in your family?
- What are your plans for this Christmas?
- Who is the one that you want spend Christmas with?
- If you could change one thing about Christmas, what would it be?
- If you would watch a movie on Christmas, what movie would you choose?
- What’s the most annoying Christmas song ever?
- Do you believe in Santa Claus?
Funny and creative icebreakers
Laughter brings people together. Below are 10 funny and creative icebreakers for you to choose from.
- How would you describe your laugh?
- What’s is your favorite April Fool’s Day joke?
- Do you believe in aliens?
- Are you more likely to pick truth or dare?
- What superpower would you choose?
- What band or singer are you embarrassed to admit that you love?
- Did you have a rebellious teenage stage?
- Have you ever eaten a bug?
- Describe the most embarrassing situation you’ve ever experienced.
- What would you do with a billion dollars?
Personal icebreakers
Personal icebreakers are also a good choice to know your colleagues better by asking them something about themselves.
- What animal represents you?
- What’s your favorite hobby?
- What’s your favorite thing about your job?
- What’s something interesting about your family history?
- What’s your secret talent?
- What’s your biggest fear?
- What’s your favorite memory?
- Which do you like better, cat or dog?
- What’s your favorite song?
- Which city do you like best?
Entertainment icebreakers
By adopting entertainment icebreakers, you can get to know what your colleagues like out of the office.
- What's the last movie you watched?
- Who's your favorite actor/actress?
- What's your favorite TV show?
- What's the best live performance you've ever attended?
- What's the last book you finished reading?
- What's your favorite video game?
- Who's your favorite musician/band?
- What's your favorite form of entertainment?
- What's the funniest thing you've ever seen?
- What's your favorite leisure activity?
Family icebreakers
When ice-breaking gets deeper, it’s fine to try some questions such as family icebreakers. These questions may help you form a stronger bond with new colleagues.
- How many siblings do you have?
- What’s your favorite family tradition?
- Who was your favorite relative growing up?
- What’s your biggest family secret?
- What’s your favorite family vacation?
- Who’s the most interesting person in your family and why?
- What’s one thing your parents taught you that you’ll always remember?
- What’s your favorite family holiday?
- What’s the best gift you’ve ever received from a family member?
- What’s your favorite thing to do with your family?
Would-you-rather icebreakers
Would-you-rather icebreakers give 2 choices for your colleagues, which helps find out their preferences.
- Would you rather always be 10 minutes late or always be 20 minutes early?
- Would you rather be able to fly or become invisible?
- Would you rather be stranded on a desert island alone or with someone you don’t like?
- Would you rather have unlimited money or unlimited free time?
- Would you rather be a famous musician or a famous actor?
- Would you rather read a book or watch a movie?
- Would you rather have a pet dog or cat?
- Would you rather live in a big city or a small town?
- Would you rather go on a road trip or fly to your destination?
- Would you rather have super strength or the ability to teleport?
If-you-could icebreakers
It will be fun imagining yourself in a virtual environment. If-you-could icebreakers give you a chance to picture impossible situations, by which you can also get to know more about others.
- If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
- If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
- If you could go back in time and witness any event, what would it be?
- If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?
- If you could only eat one type of cuisine for the rest of your life, what would it be?
- If you could meet any historical figure, who would it be?
- If you could have any animal as a pet, what would it be?
- If you could have any fictional character as a best friend, who would it be?
- If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?
- If you could be any age forever, what age would you choose?
Elevate your icebreakers with PDF Agile
Tired of the mundane, paper-based icebreakers? PDF Agile offers a fresh, digital approach that's both engaging and efficient.
With PDF Agile, you can easily customize and create your own icebreaker templates. Start with our pre-designed templates like "About Me" or "2 Truths and a Lie," and personalize them to fit your specific needs. Add your own questions, prompts, or images to make the activity more relevant and engaging.
The intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to design visually appealing templates. No need for complex design software or coding skills. Simply drag and drop elements, adjust fonts, and choose colors to create professional-looking icebreaker materials.
Once you've created your templates, share them with your team or participants. PDF Agile ensures that your icebreakers are accessible and easy to use, regardless of technical expertise.
By using PDF Agile, you can streamline your icebreaker process, save time, and create more engaging and memorable experiences.