meetings

50 Questions to Get to Know Someone

By on June 2, 2010 in How-To Humor

Want to get to know me better (or anyone really)?  Just ask one of the below “get to know you” questions… they’re meant to be fun, interesting questions that can help you learn more about the person you are talking to.  These questions can be great for team-building, learning more about your fellow co-workers, and for spicing up your standard introductions.

A quick caveat: there are thousands of interesting questions to get to know someone, but I’ve found that the below questions (pulled from games like “Table Topics“, shows like Inside the Actor’s Studio, and from my own brain) are unique or interesting enough to force a person to think.  If they’ve been asked the same question a thousand times before, it’s not as effective in engaging the person in your conversation.  And these are just a starting point; take these team-building questions and modify them to meet your needs and situation.

Favorites Questions
Asking someone about their favorite blank is a great way to get know them better and learn about their preferences and opinions. These questions are good for when you are first meeting someone and are easy to incorporate as part of introductions in a larger group, such as asking each person to say their name, role, and favorite food as a child.

  1. What was your favorite food when you were a child?
  2. What’s the #1 most played song on your iPod?
  3. What is one of your favorite quotes?
  4. What’s your favorite indoor/outdoor activity?
  5. What chore do you absolutely hate doing?
  6. What is your favorite form of exercise?
  7. What is your favorite time of day/day of the week/month of the year?
  8. What’s your least favorite mode of transportation?
  9. What is your favorite body part?
  10. What sound do you love?

If… Questions
Hypothetical questions help you learn more about another person’s personality, as well as their ideal state of the world. Since many of these questions might evoke longer responses, they are better suited for one-on-one conversations or smaller group discussions.

  1. If you could throw any kind of party, what would it be like and what would it be for?
  2. If you could paint a picture of any scenery you’ve seen before, what would you paint?
  3. If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, what age would it be?
  4. If you knew the world was ending in 2012, what would you do differently?
  5. If you could choose anyone, who would you pick as your mentor?
  6. If you could witness any event past, present or future, what would it be?
  7. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?
  8. If you had to work on only one project for the next year, what would it be?
  9. If you were immortal for a day, what would you do?
  10. If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to?
  11. If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would you meet?
  12. If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do?
  13. If you were reincarnated as an animal/drink/ice cream flavor, what would it be?
  14. If you could know the answer to any question, besides “What is the meaning of life?”, what would it be?
  15. If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose?

Personal Questions
Asking personal questions gets right to the purpose of getting to know someone and can be used in smaller groups with elaborate answers or larger groups with quick responses.

  1. Which celebrity do you get mistaken for?
  2. What do you want to be when you grow up?
  3. When you have 30 minutes of free-time, how do you pass the time?
  4. What would you name the autobiography of your life?
  5. What songs are included on the soundtrack to your life?

Personal History Questions
Questions involving people’s past help give you insight into their character and background by revealing memorable moments from the person’s life. These are great for one-on-one interactions or for smaller, more intimate groups. These questions help build trust as they are more personal than some of the other types of questions.

  1. Have you ever had something happen to you that you thought was bad but it turned out to be for the best?
  2. What was one of the best parties you’ve ever been to?
  3. What was the last movie, TV show or book that made you cry or tear up?
  4. What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done?
  5. What was the last experience that made you a stronger person?
  6. What did you do growing up that got you into trouble?
  7. When was the last time you had an amazing meal?
  8. What’s the best/worst gift you’ve ever given/received?
  9. What do you miss most about being a kid?
  10. What is your first memory of being really excited?
  11. What was the first thing you bought with your own money?
  12. When was the last time you were nervous?
  13. What is something you learned in the last week?
  14. What story does your family always tell about you?
  15. At what age did you become an adult?

Random Questions
Random questions can be a great way to add some quirkiness to introductions or a conversation. These are best used when each person gets a different question because they intentionally break people’s expectations with an abstract question in the midst of a variety of other questions.

  1. Is a picture worth a thousand words? Elaborate.
  2. Where’s Waldo?
  3. The best part of waking up is?
  4. How now brown cow?
  5. Whasssssuuuupppppp?

What’s your favorite question to get to know someone?  Share it with the rest of us in the comments.  Also check out how to use these questions to create a better survey.

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5 Reasons You Should Always Carry a Pen

By on January 21, 2010 in Learn with Humor

photo by brokenarts

One of the things that has always stuck with me from the stand-up comedy world was always having something to write with. You never know when inspiration will strike, and when your job relies heavily on creativity, you want to capture every idea you can.

Even though I now do most of writing and note-taking on my phone, I still always carry a pen with me, and here are 5 reasons you should do the same:

1. To Capture that Great Idea

I already gave this one away, but the number one reason to always carry a pen is to be able to take note of anything at a moment’s notice. And don’t think that this doesn’t apply to you if you aren’t a comedian–the solution to the budget crisis at work could come to you while standing in line at the grocery store, and you’ll want to make sure you’re able to remember it.

It also helps to have a notepad with you, but it’s much easier to find something to write on (such as a receipt, napkin or your forearm) than it is to find something to write with.

2. To Speed Things Along

While having a pen isn’t always required, there are instances it can speed things up. How many times have you been at a diner paying for your grilled cheese and chocolate milk only to have to wait 10 minutes as the cashier searches for a pen that works? When you have one in your pocket, there’s no wait.

This may not happen every day, but when you consider all the things that require your handwriting (credit card receipts, deposit slips, autographs for adoring fans), carrying a pen is easily justified.

3. To Highlight the Important Stuff

A recent revelation I had was that I could just as easily highlight key passages in a book or magazine using a pen as I could using a highlighter. Now instead of needing an additional utencil in my bag or at my desk, I’ve always got one in my pocket to take note of that life lesson from Watchmen.

4. To Improve Motor Skills

Before the days of iPhones and other gizmos, you had to find more creative ways to stay awake in class or meetings. With a pen, you can not only entertain yourself but also improve your motor skills and impress the one girl in your computer engineering class with your pen-flipping skills.

OK, so maybe flipping a pen won’t attract the opposite sex, but it can help prevent Alzheimers.

5. To Open a Letter

With the gradual decline of snail mail, a full-fledged letter opener seems a bit overkill. But when the mail fairy does bring you that special handwritten letter from a friend or loved one, you’ll want to be able to open it without destroying the letter inside. With a pen, it’s easy to do. Using the pen cap and a little finesse, you’ll have yourself a pen /letter opener in no time.

Got a utencil you love or a unique use for a pen? Share it in the comments.

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How to Host a Speed Networking Event

By on August 11, 2009 in How-To Humor
photo by Henkster

photo by Henkster

Networking and community-building don’t have to be hard, especially when you create an environment where it is expected. Speed Networking can be a great way to meet a number of people and build your office’s community.

How to Host a Speed Networking Event

Hosting a speed networking event is easy–all you need is 30 minutes, an open space, and people. To get started, have all the participants fill up the space you are using. Everyone then has 5 minutes to talk to someone they’ve never met, learn about what they do, and share a little bit about themselves. After 5 minutes, a bell rings, and people find someone else they’ve never met and repeat the process.

This goes on for 6 rotations (or how many ever you decide) and at the end of the event, everyone in the room has 6 new contacts.

Tips and Tricks to Effective Networking

The whole event should be relatively relaxed, but there are a couple of tips to make the most of the speed networking event:

  • Tell participants to bring business cards. Encourage everyone to write one thing about the person they met on the business card given.
  • Recommend some interesting questions. 5-minutes is a short period of time to get to know someone. Asking good questions is the key to really getting to know someone.
  • Keep things relaxed. Remind people that the purpose of the event is to just establish initial contact and open the door for future water-cooler discussions or 1on1 meetings. (see 5 Tips for Better One-on-One Meetings)

As an added bonus, you can end the session with volunteers telling the group an interesting fact about one of the new people they met. This can be a great way to get a sense of what type of connections were made and serve as a brief introduction of a few people to the entire group.

The great thing about Speed Networking is that it’s quick, easy, and low pressure.

Got your own tips for networking and building a work community? Share them in the comments.

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5 Tips for Better One-on-One Meetings

By on February 3, 2009 in Learn with Humor

Regardless of your feelings towards networking, it is a crucial part of being successful in any business–corporate, comedy, or otherwise.  And the key to great networks is individual relationships, often built through “One-on-Ones” or “join-ups.”

Building a Network

One of the smartest things I ever did when I was an intern at a Fortune 50 company in college was meet with as many people as possible while I was there.  Not only did I meet with people in my group, but I also met with people from marketing, sales, people at different sites, and as many people from upper management as I could.

Through those join-ups, I met a number of interesting people, and I’m still connected to many of them today.  Since my internship, I’ve continued to try to join-up with new people, both those related to my job and otherwise.  While scheduling these meetings, many of which take place over lunch, is half the battle, not all lunch join-ups are created equal.

Just as a comedian has to connect with his audience, a successful one on one meeting starts with connecting with the other person.  Here are some tips for having a more impactful lunch join-up:

5 Tips for Better One-on-One Meetings

1. Get out of the office.

One of the reasons I have join-ups during lunch is that it helps remove the “business” element of the interaction.  While the person you meet up with may end helping you complete a business project, getting out of the office for your initial interactions grounds your relationship in your actual relationship, not in work.

2. Ask good questions.

While you don’t want the lunch to turn into an interview, be ready with some good questions to ask.  You can certainly include some of the more mundane questions like “What’s your job description?” and ”What do you do?” (two similar, but different, questions), but make sure you keep it interesting.  Some of my favorites include:

  • What’s one interesting thing that I wouldn’t know about you?
  • What are you passionate about?
  • How did you get to where you are now?

3. Talk about your passions.

Similar to asking the other person about what they’re passionate about, share with them what makes you tick.  This is what makes your interactions interesting, and what will connect you on a more personal level to the other person.  You can believe that everyone I join-up with eventually hears about my love for all things comedy.

4. Get recommendations.

Probably the single greatest question that I asked while an intern was “Do you have any recommendations on who else I should join-up with?”  This question lead me to so many interesting people that I never would’ve met otherwise.  Ask this one at the end and the other person can consider everything he’s just learned about you before giving a recommendation.

5. Follow-up.

The most important step to the one-on-one actually occurs after the join-up.  Follow-up on the conversation you had.  If you mentioned an article that you thought would be of interest to the other person, make sure you send a link to the article for them to read.  This would also be the appropriate time to say thank you = ).

    It’s important to realize that the lunch join-up should just be the start of your relationship with this person.  Connecting with them periodically is a must if you want to strengthen the relationship.

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    Have More Productive Meetings in 4 Steps

    January 27, 2009

    In any given week, I average being in between 15 to 20 meetings.  That’s an average of 3 meetings per day, and that’s the low end for most employees–I know many people in upper management whose entire 9-5 job is meetings. Given that we spend so much time in meetings, it amazes me how few [...]

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