{"id":18562,"date":"2019-11-06T09:00:52","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T17:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=18562"},"modified":"2019-11-04T13:21:47","modified_gmt":"2019-11-04T21:21:47","slug":"social-survival-101-how-to-ask-better-icebreaker-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2019\/11\/06\/social-survival-101-how-to-ask-better-icebreaker-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Survival 101<\/em>: How to ask better icebreaker questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Learning to effectively break the ice when meeting new people is integral to productive networking. But in the heat of the moment, it\u2019s easy to get stuck regurgitating the same dusty old questions that have become less meaningful over time.<\/p>\n

Rather than remain chained to these stale habits of inquisition, let\u2019s take a moment to consider some refreshing alternatives to three common icebreaker questions.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Social Survival 101<\/em> is a column exploring issues relating to social interaction (illustration provided).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1. \u201cWhat do you do?\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

While this question might make a good title for a board book introducing toddlers to existentialism, the vague phrasing can sometimes leave adults scratching their heads about what is actually being asked of them. Since what you\u2019re really trying to do here is tally up a person\u2019s potential value to you, it\u2019s much more prudent to bring their very essence into focus with something more along the lines of \u201cWhat is your purpose in life?\u201d or, even better, \u201cWhy are you alive and why should I care?\u201d<\/p>\n

2. \u201cWhat do you do for work?\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Instead of attempting to humanize other people by asking them about their lives, it\u2019s often more efficient and useful to reduce them to a business card or branded name tag in order to assess their societal value. And by \u201csocietal value,\u201d I, of course, mean their ability to perform functions and generate money. To extract a more lucrative and concise response from your target, try asking, \u201cWhat kind of machine are you and which company owns you?\u201d<\/p>\n

3. \u201cWhat do you do in your spare time?\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

When you encounter people who are either unemployed or unenthusiastic about describing their job, you\u2019ll likely want to interrogate them about what sorts of frivolous activities they get up to in the absence of being productive. Unless they\u2019re in school, working toward a degree that will guarantee a lifetime of prosperity as a name-tagged machine, this is also a golden opportunity to help wayward souls get back on track in the world. But rather than perpetuate the made-up concept of \u201cspare time,\u201d try to get straight to the heart of the matter by asking, \u201cHow do you waste your life when you aren\u2019t doing the important things?\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re at a party, in a bar, or on a blind date, these questions are sure to elicit a treasure trove of valuable responses that will help you screen the extras from the supporting characters in the epic sitcom that is your life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Learning to effectively break the ice when meeting new people is integral to productive networking. But in the heat of the moment, it\u2019s easy to get stuck regurgitating the same dusty old questions that have become less meaningful over time. Rather than remain chained to these stale habits of inquisition, let\u2019s take a moment to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,243],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-november-6-2019"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18562"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18563,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18562\/revisions\/18563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}