Liven up your drinking party! Fail-safe conversation topics and talk themes
For anyone who struggles to find topics at drinking parties and ends up with conversations that fizzle out quickly, we’ve picked out some perfect conversation starters for those occasions! Liking anime or music can make for lively discussions with the right crowd, but if someone isn’t interested, the conversation can stall.
So in this article, we’re sharing conversation topics that are easy for anyone to join and likely to spark interest.
Some may seem commonplace, but you might be surprised how rarely you’ve really talked them through.
We hope this serves as a helpful reference—and as a catalyst to liven up your next drinking party!
- [Talk] Interesting! Hilarious! A Collection of Silly Questions
- [Talk Theme] Liven up the drinking party! A roundup of funny questions
- [Conversation Skills] Get the Crowd Going! A Collection of Talk Theme Ideas
- A collection of questions that will liven up conversations with friends. Talk themes to deepen your bond.
- A collection of hilarious questions that will liven up the conversation and might help you learn more about the other person
- A collection of questions to liven up phone calls with someone you like or are interested in
- A roundup of recommended personality quizzes to liven up group dating parties
- A collection of fun questions with the theme “What if 〇〇?”
- How to Spice Up Your Year-End Party: Entertaining Ideas and Activities [2026]
- [Simple Impressions] Fun Classic Bits Even Beginners Can Do [2026]
- [Perfect for parties and group dates] Love, compatibility, and personality psychology tests
- Punishment games that liven up drinking parties and banquets
- For Couples: Fun and Exciting Punishment Game Ideas
Liven up the drinking party! Go-to conversation topics and surefire talk themes (11–20)
romantic talk
The days when school trips meant staying up all night gossiping about romance are a thing of the past; apparently, most school trips now use private rooms.
Whether married or single, everyone has one or two bittersweet love stories, so romance talk is a surefire way to liven things up.
It’s a topic that gets everyone going regardless of gender, so it works great in big groups, too! If it’s a gathering of classmates, things like “I had a crush on so-and-so in elementary school” or “I liked Mr./Ms.
so-and-so in junior high” are mostly stories that have long passed their statute of limitations, so they’re good for a laugh.
Surprisingly, the better-looking someone is, the fewer love experiences they might have!?
current events topic
It’s only natural that current events come up in conversation.
Topics like the Baseball World Cup, the World Athletics Championships, tax hikes, or the Korean boom—stories that dominate the front page—are easy, casual material to chat about.
Entertainment news is fun to talk about too: a famous actress dating a popular singer, a hit band’s new single, the Monday 9 p.m.
drama—broadly speaking, there’s no end to current topics.
Politics and religion, however, can easily stir things up, so it’s better not to dig too deep into them.
Interesting videos or YouTube channels I’ve seen recently
In the past, when someone asked “Did you see that TV show?”, TV was the only source of funny videos.
Since smartphones became widespread and social media took off, funny videos have become much more accessible on platforms like X and TikTok.
If you’re not great at small talk, why not break the ice by asking, “Did you see that funny video?” and showing it to everyone on your phone? I’m sure everyone has their own favorite clips, so you’ll probably kick off an all-out ‘funny video show-and-tell.’ It’s a great idea to use digital tools as a spark to get the conversation going!
Drinking mishaps
When alcohol is involved, emotions can sometimes swing more wildly, and many people have probably had experiences where that led to mistakes.
How about sharing those alcohol-related mishaps as talk topics, openly revealing the embarrassing parts to build a strong sense of togetherness in the moment? If it’s a story where your memory went blank, you can pair it with the account of someone who was there and saw what happened—contrasting those perspectives will likely make the conversation even livelier.
For those who haven’t had any major slip-ups yet, reflecting on these stories can also be a great way to think about how to approach drinking more thoughtfully.
Hometowns and where you’re from
At a university or company drinking party, talking about your hometown can be a great idea.
If someone is from the same region or from nearby, you’ll instantly feel closer.
You might even find your local dialect slipping out naturally, like, “I had no idea you were from Hakata, bai.” At a gathering of people from the same area, reminiscing is a guaranteed hit.
You’ll probably get excited talking about shared spots—how you used to go to the candy shop down a back alley, or how the ramen place by the station was delicious.
It might even turn into an unexpected exchange of updates, like, “That diner closed down,” or “They built a supermarket on the empty lot behind the station!”
About the future
Many people wish to walk toward a happy future, but the ideal image of that future varies from person to person.
The theme here is to talk about the vision each of us considers ideal and to share dream-like visions of the future.
Since everyone has their own strengths and areas of expertise, by sharing worries and ideals, you might also receive advice on how to move toward them.
Perspectives will likely differ depending on whether it’s about the near future or a lifelong ultimate goal, too.
Get the party going! Surefire conversation topics and talk themes for drinking gatherings (21–30)
Frequently used apps
Even though smartphones are convenient, how people use them varies: the apps you use depend on what you value and what you want.
This discussion topic is about sharing how useful the apps we use every day really are.
Even with well-known, standard apps, some people might have deeper, more advanced ways of using them.
Learning about features you didn’t know existed and discovering apps that make everyday life easier could make for an exciting conversation.