Get to know you questions (easy)
- Where is a place you could visit again and again?
- What does your perfect weekend morning look like?
- What is a small thing you are looking forward to this month?
- What did you want to be when you were ten?
- What is the best meal you have eaten this year?
- What are you currently reading, watching or listening to?
- Which season suits you best, and why?
- What is the last thing that made you laugh out loud?
- What is something you are surprisingly good at?
- What is your favourite way to spend an evening alone?
Get to know you questions (a bit deeper)
- What is a belief you held strongly a few years ago that has changed?
- Who has influenced you the most, and how?
- What is a risk you are glad you took?
- What does a good day at work look like for you?
- What do people often get wrong about you?
- What are you proud of that you don’t often get to talk about?
- What is something you are trying to get better at?
- What kind of person do you find easy to be around?
- What is a lesson you learned the hard way?
- What would you like to be known for?
Get to know you questions for groups and classes
- What is one fun fact about you that would surprise this group?
- If you had a free hour today, how would you spend it?
- What is your go-to karaoke song, or the one you would never pick?
- What is the most interesting place you have lived or visited?
- Which emoji sums up your week so far?
- What skill could you teach this group in five minutes?
- What is a small thing that always cheers you up?
- Which fictional character do you relate to most?
- What is your favourite local spot that more people should know about?
- What is something on your bucket list?
How do you use get to know you questions well?
Most people ask the same three questions when they meet someone: what do you do, where are you from, and where do you live. They get the same three answers. The questions on this page ask about the same territory from a more interesting angle. “What does a good day at work look like for you?” tells you far more than a job title, and it shows you are actually curious.
Start with the easy list. Those questions work with anyone, from a new neighbour to a colleague to a date. Move on to the deeper list when there is time and the other person seems relaxed. The group list is built for classes, clubs, workshops and new teams, where everyone answers the same question in a sentence or two.
Why does going deeper gradually work?
Psychologists who study closeness describe it as building through gradual, mutual self-disclosure. Each person shares a little, the other responds and shares at the same level, and over time both go deeper. The best-known example is the 1997 study by Arthur Aron and colleagues that produced the 36 questions to fall in love. Its questions get steadily more personal across three sets, and both people answer every one. Pairs who went through them felt closer than pairs who made small talk.
You can borrow the same idea in everyday life. Don’t jump to your deepest question in the first five minutes, and don’t stay on small talk forever. Answer your own questions too, so the sharing goes both ways.
Tips for groups, classes and teams
In a group, go round in order and keep answers short so everyone gets a turn. Answer first yourself to show how long an answer should be. Let people pass. For a workplace, our work icebreakers keep things professional. For classes and new friend groups, two truths and a lie is a classic. Our examples help people get started.
Want more? Try first date questions, questions to ask friends and deep questions to ask.