A collection of questions that will liven up conversations with friends. Talk themes to deepen your bond.
Looking for conversation starters that naturally liven up chats with friends? With social media everywhere, there should be plenty of shared topics.
Still, it’s not always easy to think of them, and figuring out how to ask the first question can be tricky.
So this time, we’re introducing a set of classic questions that can help deepen your conversations with friends or even spark them in the first place.
These are all questions that can reveal new sides of the other person, help you share values, and bring you closer.
Give them a try in your next conversation!
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Classic topics that always liven things up among friends (31–40)
Who’s your favorite YouTuber or TikToker?
YouTube and TikTok are watched by many people in their daily lives, like during commutes or while cooking.
Because of that, topics about YouTubers and TikTokers tend to feel familiar and are easy to get excited about.
If you start with something like, “Do you have any YouTube channels you always watch?” the other person might be eager to join in.
It’s also a great idea to share a favorite video by saying, “You’ve got to check out this YouTuber’s video!” and discuss it while watching together.
You’ll get to learn about the other person’s preferences, too!
What subscription do you recommend?
I think many people use subscriptions for things like video and music.
How about having a discussion where everyone talks about the subscriptions they use and what they recommend? Even the standard music and video services come in several varieties, each with slightly different features, so through the conversation you might find one that suits you.
There are also a wide range of lifestyle subscriptions out there—like cosmetics or food—so it could be a chance to discover something new.
It might also be fun to look into unusual options, like housing subscriptions or puzzle/mystery subscriptions, and use those as conversation starters.
What’s your favorite convenience store food?
In everyday life, convenience stores are places everyone uses.
Some people go all the time, others only occasionally; how we interact with them varies, but they’re always close to our daily lives.
If the discussion topic is recommended items from convenience stores, many people can relate, and it’s likely to liven up the conversation.
By each person introducing their favorite convenience store foods, it can lead to learning about new products and paying attention to things you’ve never tried before.
As you get to know people’s food preferences and tendencies, you may deepen your understanding of them and become closer.
Any fun facts about your hometown?
This is an easy-to-use conversation topic when your friends are from various places.
You can deepen your understanding of each person’s hometown or the place they grew up, while also learning about regional differences—that’s the appeal.
Highlight your hometown from various angles, such as cultural differences by region, the history of the place, or famous people from the same area.
Narrowing down the theme and debating whose hometown is superior could make for a heated and lively discussion.
It’s a conversation topic that tests how much love you have for your hometown and how well you understand it.
A collection of deep questions to build closer relationships (1–10)
If you could time-slip, when would it be?
Time slips are a classic staple of science fiction that frequently appear in manga and anime, and surely everyone has imagined them at some point.
Let’s build a conversation around where we’d go if time travel were possible.
Some people might choose an era unrelated to themselves—one they simply want to see—while others might pick a time tied to their own past or future.
If we also ask why, we can learn which periods they’re interested in and perhaps even steer the discussion toward past events they wish they could change.
What would you like to say to your past self?
Haven’t you often seen scenes where, when something incredibly exciting happens, people say, “I wish I could tell my past self!”? On the flip side, there are those near-black-history regrets like, “If only I’d done this back then…” How about making that your talk theme: What would you want to say to your past self—whether it’s sharing something that made you happy or warning them, “You really shouldn’t do that”? Some people might sum it up in one line, while others might give their past self detailed advice.
You might even learn things about your friends’ pasts that you never knew!
Is there anything you’re actually not good at?
Even though everyone has things they’re not good at, we don’t usually have chances to talk about them—especially when they’re small.
How about inviting people to share those little everyday weaknesses? You might discover that something you thought was just your own struggle is actually common, which could deepen your bonds.
The smaller the weakness, the harder it is to recall, so it can help to start from others’ examples and let them spark your own memories.
Talking about what you’re not good at might also reveal differences in the cultures you grew up in and make the conversation more lively.
What’s your dark past?
How about talking with each other about those embarrassing memories—the cringey “dark history”—you wish you could erase from your life? It’s a topic that comes with embarrassment and a pang in the heart, but if sharing your own dark history livens up the moment, maybe your past self will be redeemed a little.
If someone else has a similar dark history, you might bond over the shared pattern, though it’s tricky because empathy can sometimes amplify the embarrassment.
Still, by candidly opening up about our memories—especially the parts that still sting—it might become a chance to build a closer, more intimate relationship.
What’s your ideal type?
A popular topic that gets friends excited is asking, “What’s your ideal type?” Just by hearing this, you can tell what someone values most, and listening to others’ ideals can often give you ideas for yourself.
If you happen to share the same ideal type, it might even bring you closer than before.
Since it doesn’t pry into someone’s privacy, it’s also an easy topic to discuss.
Give it a try—talk about your ideal type.
Which country do you want to go to?
Have you ever found yourself daydreaming alone, thinking, “I’d love to travel to that country someday”? How about talking with friends about countries you’ve seen on travel shows or beautiful places you’ve come across on social media—places you’d like to visit if you had the time and money.
If you also mix in stories about different cultures—like, “I saw on TV that in that country, it’s normal to do XX,” which is different from what’s common in Japan—even friends who weren’t interested before might start wanting to go.
Who knows, you might even end up traveling together in the future!