Ask Lemmy

Two options: 1) (If you're looking to make friends) What's the biggest animal you think you could take in a fight? 2) (If you're looking for a relationship) What's your favorite type of flower? You'd be surprised how many men would respond to 2

I don't feel like I can give you literal conversation starters that aren't super boring or generic (like chats about the weather), without way more context than is possible to obtain at this stage.

But, one thing that did help me strike conversations and eventually friendships with people, was just hanging around campus doing stuff that piqued other people's interest.

A couple of times it was me playing on my Nintendo 3DS between lectures, and once someone even came up to me to compliment my Sony Discman.

Other times it might be something as simple as there not being any empty tables in the cafeteria, so you ask to sit with someone. If they're not clearly busy or studying, you might start by asking what course they do, how they're finding it, etc. These are all fairly passive approaches though, and that's possibly related to my extreme introversion.

A slightly more active suggestion – take advantage of group assignments! (As much as I hate them.) Make plans to meet up. Get a few hours of work done together then hang out with a few beers or a soda or whatever. Win-win.

Hey! I am new here, and I would like to get my fellow students. My name is u/pineapple lover, who are you?

By the way, the English language needs a word for fellow student. In german that's Kommilitone. It's a good word.

“Hey, I'm kinda lost [and you look a bit lost too]. Do you mind if we band together until we figure things out?”

I've got something for you guys...

reach into coat pocket

hold up thumb with a sight tremour

... a good time!

grimace while trying to smile

charlie kirk is right.

women shouldn't have a choice.

voting should be restricted to men and property owners.

you didn't say what you wanted the outcome of the conversations to be, nor the volume they should be had at.

I can guarantee you will have a reaction to the above.

Here's your cliché small talk starter: the weather.

• Nice weather out today, huh? (Sprinkle sarcasm or adjust to match actual weather conditions)

UK version:

• Gloomy weather as usual, innit?

Do you want or actually need to talk? I know that places like the US love their smalltalk, but a lot of the world is perfectly content to sit in silence.

If you need or want to for some reason, it seems like you got some good info in other comments. Do read the room for receptiveness, I guess. Realize that, as with any skill, it takes practice and building.

Our climate is getting so bad it's becoming a very good conversation starters. Hehe, a bit dark but it's actually true. Don't know how to start a conversation? Just ask about yesterday's weather and comment about how hot or cold yesterday was. Or maybe ask about how it's getting hotter or getting colder each year.

Im terrible with small talk. I recently just got a customer facing job, which I had been trying to avoid, and it has honestly helped me a lot. I think like some others have said, conversation is a skill. The more you do it, the better you get. Here is an actual tip though - if you just let people yap about themselves, they will love you for it. I get tons of compliments on my customer service because people love talking about themselves and I don't interrupt.

The one thing that people like to talk about, more than any other thing, is themselves. Ask the right questions and ask follow-up questions. You'll find that if you do that and and you're polite about it, people warm up to you pretty quickly without you having to say a whole lot.

Stuff like the most (and/or least) interesting things they did this summer are good places to start.

I'm not much for small talk. Instead of following a formula, I try to find a way to be genuinely interested in the other person, then ask questions without making them uncomfortable. For me this has been the best way to get to know people I get along with.

Some classics™ include

• do you have a moment to talk about Jesus Christ?
• do you wanna get paid to see the world? Just sign here!

But as someone who went to high school and, until the final year, did not know the names of all classmates, it’s fair to say that I didn’t really care about that at all. Maybe I’m just autistic lol

Just talk about the subject you’re getting a Bachelor‘s degree in and go on from there.

What that bussy do?

have you ever killed a man?

"Did you see that guy on a horse go by? Yeah, it was just a guy riding by on a horse."

Ask them if they knew that g is roughly pi^2, and ask them if they knew it's not a coincidence

Show them your white crystal

Hey, what major are you interested in?

FORD Method is usually pretty good