Convo Starters

{The Mill Gourmet Coffee}

As school begins and college students are moving into dorms, there are probably tons of things going through your minds: What classes will I like? Which friends will be rushing with me? How is my schedule looking between classes and practice?

In hindsight, I wish I would have had focused more on my networking skills during college... networking with my colleagues and networking with professionals within my field of interest! Not just networking in general (click here for a thorough post on networking)... but quick and easy conversation starters would have been extremely useful. This can also be referred to as your elevator pitch... but for the sake of this post, I'll call them CONVO STARTERS.

Some of you may be keen to starting up conversations with questions such as, "How are you?" or "What do you do?" or "What's your major?" or even, "Where are you from?" These are all great for opening up dialogue, but there are other questions that can grasp attention in other ways that might just be unexpected from the person you are networking with! Here are a few of my favorites:

// What's the last book you read?
This may give you some insight as to what type of personality this person may have. If you find any commonalities with this person, you might just be interested in things he/she may be studying.

// Where do you see yourself in 4-5 years from now?
This question can open up an entire world of dreams and insights with the other person you speak to. They may walk you through their "masterplan" of how school or work is helping them get to where they ultimately want to be in life. You never know... your paths may cross again in 4-5 years from today!

// Are you a coffee-drinker or a tea-drinker?
May seem like a random question, but you'd be surprised as to how people open up with their love of hot drinks! You can also use their response to this question later down the road when you ask them if they would be interested in grabbing some coffee or team some time... where you can chat even further about school/work interests.

// Who do you look up to?
This response always surprises me... from hearing relatives... to hearing famous people. While sharing the person he/she looks up to, it's always even more interesting to hear the story behind it all!

As you embrace the new semester, try asking some of your peeps these questions and reflect on how they respond!

What are some convo starters you like to ask new peeps?