330+ Icebreaker Questions to Try with your Team
Icebreaker questions can engage your team and get everyone in the right mood for your meeting.
That’s why we’ve curated a list of 330+ icebreaker questions. These prompts help build camaraderie and invite different and surprising viewpoints. It’s time to make your meetings more fun and inclusive.
📌 We have reviewed all of these icebreakers to ensure they are inclusive of diverse groups.
What are good icebreaker questions?
There’s a big difference between good and bad icebreakers. Whether it’s two truths and a lie or being asked to state “an interesting fact about yourself,” there are some icebreakers that make your team die a little inside. We don’t want that happening!
Here are four tips for asking good icebreaker questions:
- Choose icebreaker questions that allow for self-expression, don’t have a wrong answer, and anyone can answer. Good news! All icebreakers on this list do just that!
- Answer your own icebreaker question first to create a psychologically safe space.
- Keep it simple to keep the conversation moving along quickly.
- Make it fun and optional to participate so you can build better relationships and a stronger culture.
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Quickly jump to the best icebreaker questions here
All these questions are inclusive, reveal valuable insights about team members, and encourage self-expression. None of them have right or wrong answers or are likely to make anyone feel inadequate.
Favorite icebreakers
The questions below are our personal favorites and most popular among users of our online meeting tool, which has built-in icebreakers!
- What’s something new you’ve learned about yourself in the last three months?
- If you had to describe how you’re feeling right now as an amusement park ride, what ride are you on?
- How would you describe your communication style in three words?
- How do you recognize when you’re stressed?
- If you were coming out onto a stage, what would your entrance theme song be?
- If you could bring back a fashion trend, what would it be and why?
- If you could live in another historical period, would you? If so, which one?
- If you were reincarnated as an animal, what would you choose and why?
- What’s one thing you are unbeatable at?
- How would you spend your days if you had unlimited time and resources?
- How do you get motivated for difficult tasks?
- What’s something on your desk, a nearby wall, or out the window that cheers you up during the day?
- Do you have any mentors or people you look up to? Tell us about one of them.
- What fictional world or place would you like to visit?
- You’ve been teleported to the Middle Ages. How would you make a living there?
- Suppose you were going to be frozen tomorrow for a one-way 1,000-year interstellar voyage. What would you most want to communicate (and to whom) before you leave?
- If you could have an animal sidekick, what would it be? Why?
- What looks easy-peasy lemon squeezy but is actually difficult difficult lemon difficult?
- You’ve died, but instead of entering the afterlife, you’ve entered Earth 2.0. What are some things that make Earth 2.0 better?
- If you could go back in time 10,000 years ago and make a cave painting to confuse everyone in the future, what would you draw?
- A genie appears and grants you a wish for someone else in the world. Who and what do you make a wish for?
- If you had a magic button on your desk to bring you whatever you wanted, what would it summon?
- What’s the last thing you did for the first time?
- What smell, image, or sound triggers nostalgia for you?
- What’s one thing your parents or guardians constantly nagged you about?
- Tell us about a stranger you still remember. What made them memorable?
- What ice cream flavor sums up your personality today?
- You’ve been granted a one-way ticket to another country of your choice. Where are you going?
- What’s something you’ve drawn inspiration from recently?
- It’s your first day on the job as an evil villain. What’s the first piece of mischief you commit?
- If buying groceries were a game, what would one of the loading screen tips be?
Easy and fun icebreaker questions
Fun is guaranteed with the answers to these icebreaker questions. These icebreaker questions are great for new teams who need to break the ice and build more psychological safety with each other. If you feel you’re ready for something more advanced, check out the deep icebreaker questions below!
- What animal best represents you today and why?
- If you could have one superpower today, what would it be, and what would you use it for?
- What thing from nature, excluding animals, best describes you today?
- If you had to sing karaoke right now, which song would you pick?
- What is the most used emoji on your phone right now?
- What was the first thing you thought about when you woke up today?
- Which do you prefer, oceans or mountains? Why?
- What’s one of your favorite recent memories?
- What’s the best phrase or piece of slang people in your hometown use?
- What’s your guilty pleasure right now?
- What book would you like to live in?
- If you could be famous for one thing, what would it be?
- What’s a word or phrase in another language (or your own) that you really like?
- What’s the best topping for ice cream?
- If you’re at trivia night, what would category would you know most about?
- What’s an album you recommend that has no bad songs?
- What’s the worst haircut you ever had?
- What’s your most successful dance move? Do you dare show it?
- What’s an obscure TV show or movie that everyone should watch?
Funny icebreaker questions
These are the funniest icebreakers that make you laugh out loud just from reading them. Prepare for some hilarious answers, too!
- What’s the weirdest thing in your fridge right now?
- If you were setting off to Mars and could take only one luxury item with you, what would it be?
- If you could become a supernatural creature at night, what would it be, and why?
- Which fictional character would you want by your side during a zombie apocalypse?
- If you were a cocktail, which one would you be?
- If your home was packed full of golf balls, how would you remove them?
- Would you rather talk like Yoda or breathe like Darth Vader?
- Would you rather speak all languages or be able to talk with animals?
- What would you do if you came home and found a penguin in your freezer?
- What takeaway food represents you today and why?
- If you could invent a holiday, what would it be, and what would you call it?
- If your car had vanity plates, what would they say?
- What is the best bird?
- Do you have a favorite dinosaur?
- You’ve been chosen to represent your country in a global competition. What sport or activity are you doing?
Icebreaker questions for work
The questions in this section will help you bond more closely with your team-mates, colleagues, or new people who have hopped on board! Consider using them in your weekly 1:1s or as part of team meetings to build psychological safety and trust.
Icebreakers for meetings
These icebreakers are perfect for kicking off any meeting at work.
- If you had to describe how you’re feeling right now as a weather pattern, what’s your forecast?
- What’s an under-rated skill everyone can benefit from?
- What’s something you’re worried about (professionally)?
- What’s got your attention today and why?
- What was your favorite recent book or article, and what did it inspire?
- Heard any good tips lately?
- What color best describes your personality today?
- What’s one project you could stop doing to give yourself more focus?
- What are you excited about this week?
- Do you have any routines you use to improve your energy and focus?
- What’s one thing you wish could be automated in your job?
- What’s one thing you’ve been procrastinating on and can’t finish?
- What’s the last thing you completed that you’re proud of?
- Have you learned any useful productivity hacks recently?
- What’s one productivity tool you couldn’t live without, and what makes it indispensable?
- What’s one recent thing or experience that exceeded your expectations?
- What are you grateful for today?
- What’s something that made you smile recently?
- What fruit or vegetable represents your mood today?
- What small thing would improve your day today?
- What’s something that puts you in a state of flow?
- What’s one possession or tool that enhances your daily life?
- What’s a simple life hack that everyone can benefit from?
- What’s one of the best ideas our company has come up with?
- What’s something you want to get better at?
- What’s your favorite song or soundtrack for doing focused work?
Icebreaker questions for virtual meetings and remote work
These questions will make any virtual meeting a little less, hmm, zoomy?
- Show us something in your space that you really like.
- What’s one skill that helps you successfully work remotely?
- Do you have a favorite mug? Let us see it and explain why you love it.
- Look around and assess how satisfied you are with your physical workspace. What’s one thing you love about it?
- What boundaries have you set to ensure that you unplug from work?
- What’s normal where you live but might seem weird to the rest of the world?
- How do you like to sit in a chair? Let us see it.
- What’s the strangest thing that could unexpectedly appear on screen with you during this meeting?
- How do you avoid or recover from Zoom fatigue?
- What’s the strangest thing that has ever happened to you during a virtual meeting?
- What’s your favorite place for doing virtual meetings?
- What’s the most interesting place you’ve ever done a virtual meeting from?
Team building questions
If you want your team to get to know each other and bond, these are the icebreakers to get the job done.
- What’s something about the next teammate you appreciate?
- What help could you most use that you haven’t asked for?
- When was the last time you felt unbounded optimism?
- Is there any topic lately that you would like to be mentored on?
- Are there any aspects of your personality that hold you back? How do you adapt?
- When you’re feeling stressed, how do you deal with it?
- What criteria help you decide whether to say “no” to something or commit to it?
- Who has made a positive difference in your life recently?
- What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
- What’s something you’re looking forward to and why?
- You’re cooking for the whole team. What is your signature dish?
- Do you work better with or without music? What are you listening to while you work?
- What was your first-ever job?
- What’s a strategy you’ve found helpful in your recent work?
- What’s one of the biggest risks you’ve taken in your career? How do you feel about having taken it?
- Would you rather receive a shoutout from the CEO at a company all-hands meeting or a private word of thanks from them?
- Would you rather someone took a boring task off your to-do list or invited you to participate in a project of great interest to you?
- What’s a time when someone did something you appreciated (at work or in another context), but you didn’t let them know? What held you back?
- Do you have a non-work goal you’re working toward right now? What is it?
- What’s an organization or private company you admire and why?
- What’s something our team is good at?
- Who on the team would you like to swap jobs with for a day?
- Who’s an ex-colleague from this job or another that you still think about?
- What’s one thing that brings you energy and joy?
- What’s something you admire about the people on our team?
- What’s a signal you look for that indicates good company culture?
- What makes you feel safe?
- What is a red flag from an employer that you might not immediately recognize as one?
Informal and funny icebreaker questions for work
Here’s a collection of icebreaker questions that are fun and suitable for work.
- What emoji represents you today and why?
- If you could be one other person, who would that person be and why?
- If you could safely eat any inedible object, what would it be?
- If you could pick up a new skill in an instant, what would it be?
- What’s something people don’t know about you?
- What’s the most useful item you’ve purchased this year?
- What’s the worst piece of advice you’ve ever been given? And why was it so bad?
- If you could teleport anywhere, where would you go right now?
- What’s the last book you quit reading and why?
- If you could be fluent in another language instantly, which would you choose and why?
- Name a TV show you think is underrated. Describe it in a sentence.
- What’s the next item on your bucket list?
- What’s your guilty pleasure when you have free time during the week?
- What’s your favorite thing about the place where you live?
- What’s a hobby or side project you’ve been meaning to take up?
- What do your family or other loved ones think you do for work?
- When you’re packing for a trip, what’s one thing (other than clothes) you always bring?
- If you had to put together a PowerPoint presentation about anything, what would it be about?
- What profession did you have in a previous life?
- What flavor of tea represents you today?
- What would you do if you had a fully paid year-long break from work?
- What’s the worst job you ever had?
Get to know you questions
These questions let you break the ice and get to know each other a little better, too. They’re perfect for one-on-one calls or individual coaching sessions.
- What’s something new or interesting you’ve learned recently?
- What was your favorite recent meal and why?
- What’s your favorite self-care activity?
- What was the last thing you fell in love with?
- Who was the last person you felt inspired by?
- What simple thing still blows your mind?
- Have you been pleasantly surprised by anything recently?
- What are you reading right now?
- What’s one country you would love to visit and why?
- If you had to give a lecture on one thing, what would it be?
- What’s something you couldn’t live without?
- What season would you be? Winter, spring, summer, or autumn?
- What’s the best book you’ve ever read? Why?
- Which bucket list item do you most want to check off this year?
- What’s an unusual family or national tradition you have?
- What was your favorite subject in school? Why?
- If you could keep only one part of your morning routine, what would it be?
- Have you ever experienced a culture shock? Where was it, and what happened?
- What’s an adventurous thing you’ve done?
- What’s a TV show you recommend to everyone?
- Where did you grow up, and what was it like?
- What’s the most useful thing you own?
- Would you rather spend a three-week trip visiting multiple interesting destinations or just one?
- Make a choice: Never hear music again or lose the ability to read?
- What’s something from your childhood that you still love today?
- What’s a favorite movie you always recommend to people? Why do you love it?
- What do you value most in a friendship?
- What’s something that you’ve never learned to do?
- Where do you feel most at home?
- What’s one characteristic you admire in others?
- What’s the best concert you ever attended?
- What was the first concert or gig you ever attended?
- What’s something you do to relieve anger or stress?
- What’s a thing you do that seems strange to others?
- What’s your favorite self-care activity?
- What’s one of your pet peeves?
- What’s one of your earliest memories?
- What item do you never travel without?
- What’s a common word or phrase that you don’t like/won’t use?
- What’s in your ideal sandwich?
- What is your favorite book from childhood?
- What’s a song or album that triggers nostalgia for you?
- What’s the most memorable live music or theatre event you’ve been to?
- What is a popular movie that you just can’t stand?
- What’s something that improved your quality of life so much, you wish you had done it sooner?
- What’s one thing you’ve changed your mind about lately?
- What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
- What musical instrument would you play in a band?
Funny get to know you questions
Having a good laugh brings every team closer together. Here are some strange or funny get to know you questions.
- If you did not have to sleep, how would you spend the extra eight hours?
- What fictional world would you most like to live in?
- If you could live with any fictional character, who would you choose?
- What is your favorite smell and why?
- If you could describe your life as a movie, what genre would it be?
- Name a healthy food you enjoy and an unhealthy one you find hard to resist.
- What age do you wish you could be permanently?
- If you were forced to watch reruns of a favorite show, which would you choose?
- Would you rather take a cold shower every day or always sleep an hour less than you need?
- What drink best describes you today?
- If you had to eat only one dish for the rest of time, what would it be?
- What current fact about your life would most impress your five-year-old self?
- What’s something you are craving right now?
- What healthy food tastes just as good to you as unhealthy food?
- What’s an unusual skill you’d love to master?
- You’re on a desert island and can bring one luxury with you – what is it?
- What’s something you like to do whenever you travel to a new country?
- How would your best friend describe you?
- What is something you will never eat, no matter how hungry you get?
- If you were on a reality show, what would be your catchphrase?
- What’s the title of a podcast you would never listen to?
- If you were an action figure, what two accessories would you come with?
- What question would you ask a psychic?
- What’s the best present someone could bring to your housewarming party?
- You can be reincarnated for a day as any living or historical famous person. Who do you choose and why?
- What’s something that always gives you child-like joy?
- What’s your culture’s most underrated food?
- If people came with a warning tag, what would yours be?
- If you were a kitchen utensil, which one would you be and why?
- What would the title of your autobiography be?
Have you ever questions
“Have you ever…” is a surefire starter for anecdotes, tips, and bonding. Here are some variations to consider as icebreakers. Don’t forget the why, what, or where addition to avoid yes or no answers, a characteristic of bad icebreakers.
- Have you ever done something extremely scary? What or why (not)?
- Have you ever successfully conquered a fear?
- Have you ever stayed up for an entire night without sleep? When or why not?
- Have you ever been away from home for longer than a month? Why (not)?
- Have you ever disconnected from phones and the internet for longer than 24 hours? How did it feel?
- Have you ever gone way out of your comfort zone? Tell us about it!
Holiday icebreaker questions
There’s nothing like a festive or seasonal icebreaker to bring the mood of the room up. Here are some of our best icebreakers for connecting at Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Diwali, and the Lunar New Year!
Christmas icebreaker questions
- What’s an unusual Christmas tradition you or your family have?
- What’s the best Christmas gift you’ve ever received? Why?
- If you could get anything for Christmas, what would it be?
- What are your plans for this Christmas?
- Do you celebrate Christmas? Why (not)?
- What’s the most annoying Christmas song ever?
- You’re singing Christmas karaoke! What song do you pick?
- Which Christmas song would you pick if you had to listen to it for the rest of your life?
- If you were a Christmas gift, what would you be and for whom?
- If there’s one thing you could change about Christmas, what would it be?
Halloween icebreaker questions
- What’s your scariest Halloween experience or one that you have heard about?
- How will you dress up this Halloween? If you’re not dressing up, why not?
- Do you celebrate Halloween and why (not)?
- What would you be or make if you could dress up as anything this Halloween (regardless of the required cost or effort)?
- What’s your favorite Halloween movie?
- What’s the best treat you’ve ever received at Halloween?
- If there’s one thing you could change about Halloween, what would it be?
- What will kids receive who show up at your door this Halloween?
- If you could change Halloween’s symbolic pumpkin to another fruit or vegetable, what would it be and why?
- What’s an urban legend or ghost story local to the place you live or grew up?
Thanksgiving icebreaker questions
- What’s an unusual Thanksgiving tradition you or your family have?
- Do you celebrate Thanksgiving and why (not)?
- If there’s one thing you could change about Thanksgiving, what would it be?
- What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dish and why?
- What’s one thing you are thankful for this year?
Diwali icebreaker questions
- What’s your favorite part of Diwali celebrations?
- How will you celebrate Diwali this year?
- Does your family have any unusual Diwali traditions?
Lunar New Year icebreaker questions
- Do you celebrate Lunar New Year and why (not)?
- What’s your favorite Lunar New Year dish and why?
- If there’s one thing you could change about Lunar New Year, what would it be?
- What’s your most embarrassing Lunar New Year moment ever?
- What’s your most best Lunar New Year memory?
- What is the farthest or longest you’ve ever traveled to get back home for Lunar New Year?
Deep icebreaker questions
When you’ve developed psychological safety with your team, it’s nice to go a bit deeper. These questions are designed to help you take relationships with others to the next level.
- What’s something you’ve recently learned about yourself?
- What’s a new habit or practice you’re trying to cultivate?
- What’s the most important thing to remember every day that you haven’t been able to?
- What sparked your curiosity in whatever you’re most curious about now?
- If you could know the absolute and total truth to one question, what question would you ask?
- Which question can you ask to find out the most about a person?
- If you could do something that you don’t because it’s bad for you, but you could do it without repercussions – what would you do?
- What’s one small thing or practice that has vastly improved your quality of life?
- How do you approach learning something new?
- What’s your favorite word and why?
- What’s something you find soothing?
- If you had a time machine, would you go back in time to meet your ancestors or forward to meet your descendants?
- What’s one thing many people hate but you love?
- What’s something you would change if you ran the world?
- If you could rid the world of one thing, what would it be?
- What is your favorite habit?
- What do you enjoy most about what you spend your time on?
- If you could go back in time and make a minor change in your childhood, what is one thing you’d learn, so you could be an expert at it today?
- What does friendship mean to you?
- What’s a book, video, or poem that means a lot to you?
- What are you doing when you feel most alive?
- What does it feel like to be you right now?
- How have you changed in the last year?
- What’s the quality you cherish most about one of your closest friends?
- What’s something that’s considered socially acceptable now but won’t be in 100 years?
- Who is one person who changed your life but doesn’t know it?
- If you were handed a megaphone and could blast out one message for the entire world to hear, what would you say?
- If you walked into a room with everyone you’ve ever met in it, who would you look for?
- What’s something you learned the hard way over the past year?
Icebreakers for small groups
Just can’t get enough of icebreaker questions? We’ve got you covered. Here are many more for small groups, adults, and a list of random questions for when you’re indecisive.
Icebreaker questions for small groups
- What’s your one piece of advice to everyone here?
- What question do you wish people would ask you?
- What is one thing we would never guess about you?
- What’s one thing you want to do in life but don’t know where to start?
- What’s a cause or purpose you deeply believe in?
- What’s a book that affected you so profoundly (emotionally or intellectually) that you still regularly think about it?
- What’s something that doesn’t deserve the hate it gets?
- What’s a piece of advice that has stuck with you?
- What’s something you wish you understood better?
- What is one thing your parents or guardians did right? And what’s one thing you wish they’d done differently?
Icebreaker questions for adults
These icebreaker questions are great for when you want to learn about your colleagues’ or team-mates’ past lives. Look back together on growing up, adolescence, or prior experiences.
- What was your least favorite food as a child? Why did you dislike it?
- As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
- What was your favorite breakfast as a kid?
- What’s something you rebelled against as a kid?
- What were some of your favorite activities as a kid?
- What’s a landmark, popular destination, or local hangout spot that you either frequented or avoided when growing up?
- What are you nostalgic about recently?
- What’s something you were really into as a kid?
- What is a small act of kindness you were once shown that you’ll never forget?
- What’s something you wish you’d learned earlier in life?
- What was the last thing you did that gave you child-like joy?
- What’s one activity that grants you pure escapism?
- What cartoon would you get up early to watch when you were young?
- What’s a food that always reminds you of childhood?
- What is one thing you wish you’d been taught in school?
- What’s an adult problem nobody prepared you for?
- What is a lesson you feel you learned too late in life?
- What’s a personal side project you’re working on or want to work on?
- How would teenage you describe your job?
- What factor of your childhood impacted you the most as a person?
- Who was your favorite teacher as a kid and why?
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