We're hosting a party in a couple of weeks. It's billed as a No-Good-Reason party, a celebration to help break up the long winter season. We're inviting friends from various areas of our lives here, and it should be an interesting mix of people.
Now I'm sure most of the guests are perfectly skilled conversationalists in their own right, and even if they don't know anyone else here they will manage just fine. But I'm conscious that I often find party small talk hard work, especially with people I know only slightly, if at all. With that in mind, I'm thinking of giving our guests the option of reaching for a random talking point, perhaps offering a dish of them alongside the snacks and dips.
For example:
What has made you laugh this week?
In your opinion, what book should everyone read?
If you were going to wake up fluent in another language, which language would you want it to be, and why?
If you could nominate a secular saint, who would you choose (must be a dead person)?
If "the elephant in the room" was an actual elephant, what exactly would you do with it?
If you can offer more suggestions that'd be great. Or answers for that matter. Or if you think this whole idea is pretty dodgy, that would also be useful to know.
I think that's a marvellous idea. Perhaps each person could be given their talking point as they arrive and choose to use it or not, and then swap it when exhausted.
ReplyDeleteMy suggestions are:
What are your desert island discs?
Which film have you enjoyed recently that doesn't have a 'U' certificate?
What fate should befall Vanessa Whitburn for her heartless dispatch of Nigel Pargetter? (No, I'm not over it yet.)
Sarah Palin for President-discuss
ReplyDelete(or is that subject taboo?]
How about:
ReplyDelete"Should Chelsea stick to a flat back four, or play Alex as a sweeper with Cole and Bosingwa pushing on?"
Topical and profound, and would instantly tell me if I had anything at all in common with my budding interlocutor.
You've got to hope for Vanessa Whitburn's sake that she doesn't do any guttering repairs in the near future, haven't you? (Or at least that she doublechecks for Insanely before she goes up there.)
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way, did you know that Lower Loxley must be 20 storeys high, apparently, judging by the length of the scream?
Lovely party idea, btw - a bit like the 'Find someone who ...' that I often used to do with new classes.
Twister?
ReplyDeleteNice suggestions folks, if a tad parochial in some cases.
ReplyDeleteMaths expert, you do realise half my friends are over sixty?