If the thought of talking to a complete stranger stops your heart, other than a quick “hi, how are you?” to the grocery store cashier, then this is the post for you – holiday conversation starters for any party!

I made an entire career out of talking to strangers: chatting to guests before + after interviews, cold calling people to ask them on the show, approaching complete strangers on the street to ask them for their opinion on a story… I’ve learned a lot along the way.

So, if you’re about to walk into a holiday gathering, here are some ideas to get you through the holiday season of speaking!

Your partner’s work party where you really don’t know anybody:

– This restaurant/venue is awesome! Have you been here before?

– How have your holidays been?

– What are your plans for the holidays?

– What do you do for work? / How long have you worked at X?

– What do you like to do outside of work?

– Watched anything good lately? Listened to any good podcasts? Anything you’d recommend?

Your work party when you’ve been working remotely + you don’t know your co-workers that well:

– What’s new with you?

– How is the family?

– Getting away this winter? Followed by: where would you love to travel to? Where’s your favourite place you’ve been?

– Do you have a favourite holiday memory or tradition?

– What’s your favourite dish/dessert to make or eat during the holidays?

Your family gathering:

– Remember when…?

– What’s the weirdest gift you’ve been given? Why?

– What’s the best gift you’ve ever received? Why?

– How was this year for you? What was the highlight?

– What are you really looking forward to in the new year?

Some bonus tips:

– Stay off your phone (no matter how tempting it might be) it’ll seem rude + it’ll actually keep you from conversing, which is what you’re there to do!

– Fall back on the weather! Seriously, everyone has something to say about the weather.

– If you feel like you need to bail from a conversation, do the old, “I’m going to get a drink. It was nice chatting with you.”

Do you have any tried + true ones? Leave them in the comments + I’ll add them to the list of our holiday conversation starters for any party!

–Kahla