PART 3: So we've discussed talking to people that we have met before; now, what should we do with people that we haven't met before? We should get to know them, shouldn’t we? We should ask some good open-ended questions to get them talking.

11. How did you get into X?

Often we want to ask people, "How did you get your job? How did you end up working here?" That's not so polite. So this phrase is a really good alternative. 'To get into something' in this context is to become involved with. Then, they can tell you their life story.

Example:

How did you get into marketing?

Meaning:

How did you become involved with marketing?

12. What do you do for fun?

Another nice way of getting to know someone is to ask them what they do for fun. And in American English especially, this is a very common question. I would say it's not so common in the UK, but we do see it in movies, and TV shows a lot. I just noticed this question was asked a lot to me when I visited to US, and I thought it was really nice. It was a really good way of making conversation that isn’t about work.

Example:

So, what do you do for fun?

13. What do you do outside of work? / What do you do when you're not working?

In British English, we might say something more like these two phrases. It’s maybe a bit nicer than asking someone what they do for fun because I know when someone asks me what I do for fun, I think, “Oh my word, I’m not that fun a person. I like running. Is running fun enough to answer this question? Do they think that running is fun enough?” So these alternatives are pretty safe.

14. What makes you tick?

Another good thing to talk about is motivation, and we want to know what motivates people. But instead of just simply saying, "what motivates you?" You could say, "what makes you tick?" And this is sort of asking, “what are you passionate about?” or "what keeps you going?"

Example:

Helping my students gain confidence really makes me tick.

15. What gets you out of bed in the morning?

This is another similar one that basically asks, "what do you get up for?" Or a really fun and cheeky one is, “what floats your boat?” That means, “what brings you joy?” This comes from the phrase, “whatever floats your boat.” Whatever you like. And this is something that we say when somebody says they like something that we think is a bit strange. So, for example, if someone says they like running marathons every weekend, I might say, "whatever floats your boat; not my thing, but good for you." The question, “what floats your boat?” is a variation of that.