What are some fun, orginal "get to know you" questions?

have everyone pick a scar or mark and tell the story of it (keep it g-rated.) for instance, i have a scar on my chin from being pushed down the slide in preschool on my head!

Have everyone grab a coin out of their pocket and tell something that happened to them in the year listed in the coin.

Ask if they or their spouse/sig other met someone close to someone famous.

Ask them if they’re bringing sexy back.

Wh is your earliest childhood memory?

Any nicknames they have (or have had) and the story behind them.

ask them to say some fun facts about themselves, or some cool quirky thing about themselves or that has happened to them.

Als, to add onto Jill E’s, ask whether they are related to anyone famous. People like talking about famous people they’re related to.

Maybe before the ‘get to know you’ questions, you should find a way to figure out if your mate is a raging Republican? Could save some valuable time in the dating world.

disagree on the earliest memory question – this can be too sensitive and personal, and thus make the conversation uncomfortable for some people. kinda same thing goes with the scars. just speaking from experience.

these are good ideas, i’m looking forward to more.

what about asking for someone’s life story in 1 minute or less (they can choose what important or random things to include, highlights, etc). not too creative, i realize, but i’ve seen this done well.

it’d be good to come up with a creative way of learning about tastes and interests and experiences—not ‘what’s your favorite movie’ or ‘what’s the most exciting thing you’ve ever done’, but other ways of getting to this same kind of information

I also like the game “2 truths and a lie.” Everyone has to say 3 things about themselves, 2 of which are true and 1 of which is a lie, in no particular order. Everyone else has to guess which is the lie. Obviously this encourages people to share more outlandish/quirky things about themselves that are true, so as to make it more difficult to tell which is the lie.

Respectfully beg to differ w. all. I personally always feel cornered w. these types of questions or games. In an office, friendships develop in their own rhythm, and the one-minute summation seems at odds w. a work atmosphere. Stories triggered by the ideas mentioned above evolve and are told at an appropriate moment for both the teller and the listener, IMHO. If you’re at a party or on a date, things are completely different.