Conversation Starters and Understanding Personality Types

Starting a conversation with someone can be as simple as asking them a question, but what sorts of questions can you ask? Below is a list of 25 questions to help you get the conversation started.

1) How you /how was your day /what are your plans for the weekend?

2) Where are you from/where did you grow up?

3) What is your favourite breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack or dessert meal?

4) Is there anywhere you have wanted to travel to? Why?

5) If you could trade places with anyone, who would it be and why?

6) If you were granted 3 wishes, what would they be?

7) If you could choose your own name, what would it be?

8) Describe yourself in 3 words.

9) What is your favourite movie/television show/book to read?

10) Who is your favourite actor or well-known person?

11) If you had a day off with unlimited resources, what would you do?

12) If your house was on fire, besides people, what are the 3 things that you would save?

13) What would your one and only superpower be if given the choice?

14) If you won $5 million, what would you do with it?

15) What is the earliest childhood memory that you have of yourself or your family?

16) What is the 1 thing that you would change about yourself?

17) If you could meet anyone, in the world, during any time period, who would it be and why?

18) What do you do to relax?

19) What is the scariest thing that has happened to you?

20) If you were given a second chance to redo anything, would you take that second chance and what would you change?

21) Are you religious, spiritual, or neither?

22) Do you believe in an afterlife? Or what do you believe happens to us when we die?

23) What is the best and/or worst thing that has ever happened to you?

24) What would be your last meal?

25) What would you do if you only had 1 week left to live?

Asking questions as a conversation starter is just the first step. What happens after they have answered? Should you just ask them another question? The above list only acts as a guide, an icebreaker, a way to get the conversation going, if you truly want to continue having a conversation with that person, then more effort beyond asking those questions need to be made.

There are two main things that you can do to continue the conversation, one, provide your answer to the question that you’ve asked them, or two, ask them follow up questions based on what they’ve told you. When asking following up questions, don’t forget the 5 W’s to help you out, Who, What, When, Where and Why, of course, How, is another big question starter that will definitely help.

Depending on the person that you’re speaking with, you may only need to even begin asking them something, and they’ll continue the conversation themselves, some people just like to talk a lot and crave the opportunity to do so, all you have to do is initiate it. However, for many individuals, you may find it very challenging to hold a conversation with them, so other methods of conversing must be considered, for example, understanding and recognizing the individual personality types that are involved in the conversation.

We all have different personalities and certain patterns of behaviour that most of us fall into. These behavioural patterns are called temperaments. David Keirsey has taken this idea and classified these temperaments into 4 main ones, Inquiring Green (Rational), Organized Gold (Guardian), Resourceful Orange (Artisan) and Authentic Blue (Idealist). An individual may show traits of all four temperaments, however, we tend to be more dominate in one temperament over another. Personality traits go much more in depth than what we will be discussing here, so to learn more about the different personality types and to find out which true color personality you are, click here.

By learning and understanding the types of personalities both you and the individual to whom you’re speaking with, you are able to communicate with one another much more effectively and in the end, are able to both initiate and continue a conversation, no matter who the person is. For a clearer understanding, read the general breakdown of the four personality temperaments below, which briefly differentiate between each personality type, how others view each type, and tips to effectively communicate with that personality type.

They Are: Logical, Rational, Objective, Factual, Informative, Sees the Bigger Picture, Curious, Not Emotional

How Others See Them: Intellectually Stuck-Up, Uncaring for Others, Unrealistic, Peculiar or Weird, Hesitant to Open Up, Critical, Unfair, Unappreciative, Arrogant

How To Communicate with Them: Avoid Small Talk, Don’t Be Redundant, Give Them Time to Think, Provide them with the Bigger Picture and Add Details After If Requested, Do Not Misconstrue them Asking for More Information as Interrogating

Famous Greens: Bill Gates, Thomas Jefferson, Steve Jobs, Charles Darwin, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein

They Are: Respectful, Purposeful, Supportive, Detail Orientated, Loyal, Organized, Efficient and Decisive, Realist, Firm

How Other See Them: Boring, Stubborn, Judgemental, Bossy, Predictable, Uptight, Controlling

How To Communicate with Them: Provide Details, Stay Focused & Consistent, Be Respectful, Do Not Interruptlib

Famous Golds: Colin Powell, Ed Sullivan, Barbara Walters, George Washington, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, George H.W. Bush, Mother Teresa

What They Are: Spontaneous, Capable, Practical, Multitaskers, Curious, Efficient at Handling Chaotic Situations, Playful, Straightforward, Active, Fast-Paced

How Other See Them: Irresponsible, Unreliable, Goofy, Disobedient, Manipulative, Indecisive, Unfocused, Untrustworthy

How To Communicate with Them: Be Flexible and Open, Speak Using Shorter Sentences, Adapt To Them If They Are Multitasking

Famous Oranges: Donald Trump, Winston Churchill, Clint Eastwood, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, Wolfgang Mozart

What They Are: Compassionate, Romantic, Spiritual, Idealistic, Unselfish, Empathetic, Sympathetic

How Other See Them: Overly Emotional, Naïve, Weak, Trusting, Too Nice, A Pushover

How To Communicate with Them: Show Appreciation and Acknowledgement, Be Patient, Ask Rather Than Demand

Famous Blues: Steve Allen, Emily Dickenson, Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Paine, Carl Rogers, Eleanor Roosevelt, Princess Diana

As mentioned earlier, understanding individual personality traits are much more in-depth and complex than what is discussed here. The true color personality test is just the beginning to understanding what type of personality you have. For further analysis, another great test to take is the Carl Jung and Isabel Briggs Myers personality test. This test goes much more in depth to determine your type of personality by determining which profile, out of 16, best suits you based on the answers you provide. The 16 profile combinations are based on 4 categories, Introversion-Extroversion (I/E), Sensing-Intuition (S/N), Thinking-Feeling (T/F), and Judging-Perceiving (J/P). After taking the test, you will be presented with your 4-letter personality type, which corresponds to the categories, and a description of what your personality type means. For example, an INTJ, stands for Introversion, Intuition, Thinking, and Judging. Click here to take the test.