It might sound silly, but when I plan dinner parties, I don’t just think about what food I’m going to serve; I also think about what kind of conversation we’re going to have. Now that’s not always a big dilemma to have to contend with, especially if we’re having over good friends who we really connect with and know really well. The conversation just naturally flows.
But then there are times we invite guests who we don’t know so well. Or maybe some of them are not exactly natural conversationalists or they’re a bit shy. In these situations, I try to have conversation topics in mind, to try to stimulate talking. One way to do that is with a wonderful product I found called TableTopics Question Cards.
This product consists of a four-inch clear acrylic cube, which holds 135 cards. Each card has a conversation-stimulating question on it, such as: Which piece of land would you wish to have preserved forever? Is intelligence or common sense more important? If you could name the street you live on what would you call it? If you could be an ambassador, which country would you choose? Who’s your favorite celebrity right now and why? What’s your favorite quotation? What song evokes the strongest memories for you?
At dinner get-togethers, you can sit a card at each person’s place setting, or just pass the cube around and ask your guests to take turns drawing a card. Or during a party, set the TableTopics cube out on your coffee table for coasters. It never fails—as soon as one person answers a question, it gets other people asking him or her to elaborate, as well as share their own perspectives.
There are many editions of TableTopics cubes, besides the original, including dinner party, family, college student, teen, couples, gals’ night out, and “What would you do?” editions. Each has 135 question cards, and costs about $25 for each set of cards. You can buy this product at specialty stores, as well as Amazon.com. It’s an easy and fun way to get a conversation going!
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