Why date one person at a time when you can have twenty dates over the course of a single night? That’s the premise behind speed dating, the activity where couples spend about five minutes chatting with each other before moving on to another person. At the end of the night, each participant rates how each date went, and couples who were equally enthused about their interaction are provided with their partner’s contact information.
But what sort of conversation topics will allow you to really get to know another person over such a short period of time? Answer: there are no such topics. But the following twenty questions will help you break the ice and see how well your fellow speed dater responds under pressure. Helpful hint: feel free to use these outside of the speed dating context, too (although not to complete strangers-- they will think you are insane).
1. If you could visit any foreign country, where would you visit and why?
2. What qualities do you look for in a mate?
3. What is your favorite holiday?
4. Do you floss before or after you brush your teeth? (I stole this one from Vh1’s “The Pick-Up Artist,” but it seemed to work for them)
5. If you could meet any person, living or dead, who would it be?
6. Do you consider yourself an optimist or a pessimist?
7. What is your arguing style?
8. If all jobs paid the same salary, what would you do for a living?
9. If they made a movie about your life, which celebrity would play you?
10. What social issue, if any, do you care most about?
11. If you were a kitchen utensil, what would you be and why? (this is my signature question, although I will loan it to you for special occasions)
12. How long did your most recent relationship last?
13. Tell me about your first childhood pet.
14. What role, if any, does religion play in your life?
15. Do you think that the man should always be the breadwinner in a relationship?
16. What is your favorite type of food?
17. If you had a million dollars, how would you spend it?
18. What sort of music do you listen to?
19. What was the last book you read?
20. If you had three wishes, what would they be?
