Funny Conversation Starters

Funny conversation starters can be a risky business, but they can also add interest and sparkle to your conversations. People like, listen to and trust people who make them laugh. Get your conversation off to a great start by making people laugh straight away.

Humor is personal, though, so if you can, get an idea of the
sense of humor of the person you're talking to first. Does
he or she tell jokes? Do they add a funny angle to their
stories?

Adding humor to your conversations is easier if you
understand what makes something funny. The two main aspects
to this are:

1. Surprise
2. Relationships

Basically, that means keeping a punchline hidden until the
very end of the joke, or bringing some unexpected element
into your story, and building a relationship with your
listener. To make other people laugh, you need to be relaxed
or else your audience will not feel relaxed enough to laugh.
They'll feel uptight. So stay true to your own sense of
humor. Plenty of people will like it.

1. "Excuse me, but I do think it's time we met" will put a
smile on most people's faces without sounding too much like
a come-on.

2. Share something funny that happened to you, especially if
it was the same day. You will sound modest and that's quite
an attractive quality.

3. "What kind of old person do you want to be?" intrigues
people. Everyone hopes to get old and so they'll have an
opinion. Also, though, it will make people smile because
you're taking old age as something positive - an unusual
twist on any everyday topic will make people interested.

4. You could share a fun story about your children. They're
a rich harvest for fun stories - and cute too! You could
then ask something like 'what's the weirdest thing you
brought home when you were a child?" Take a little trip down
memory lane with the person you're talking to.

5. How about asking - 'what's the best question in the world?'
You're going for the element of surprise and this one has the
added benefit that it sounds like you're interested in
getting to know the other person.

6. If you're at a party, try bringing a funny card for the
host and get everyone to sign it. What to write and what
others have written will give you a wealth of funny
conversation openers.

7.Ask someone about their worst holiday to introduce talking
about one of your recent vacation mishaps. These can be really
funny conversation starters, get people laughing and will not
cause tension. In addition to this, everyone will start
providing their worst holiday stories and everyone will be
laughing over the other's unfortunate holiday.

8. This one might work best for the younger generation - to
whom all things gross seem hilarious - but try asking about
the worst conversation the person has ever eaten or seen
someone eat. It always seems to get people talking and makes
them laugh. You'll also bring in most women who are pregnant
or who have ever been pregnant and had cravings. Perhaps
don't do this one over dinner, though!

9. Ask people about their pet peeves. People are always happy
to talk about these. Done in the right way with a touch of
humor, you won't come across as a moaner, but as someone with
a keen sense of humor.

10. The tenth? ...The tenth is up to you! I told you the
element of surprise was important in humor. Seriously, you've
learned a few things here about how to use humor in your
conversations.

You don't have to be the funniest person on the planet to
open a conversation with humor. Just keep in mind your aim,
which it to make people relax and get them talking. Funny
conversation starters are really about giving the other person
a relaxed way in to the conversation.

 free conversation skills report