Meeting a lot of new people at once is daunting for anyone, even social butterflies. Luckily, there exist a number of ways to make meeting new people fun, interesting, and most importantly, natural. Often termed icebreakers, these strategies present fun and organic ways to connect with people, making socializing accessible and manageable for everyone.

Breaking the Ice

As summer warms up and people get prepared for their vacations, whether it’s a trip to the beach or heading to a big festival, it’s a time of new friendships and new beginnings. While meeting new people in different places can be fun and exciting, it can also be a bit awkward at the very start. 

Everyone has been in a similar situation where they find themselves feeling terribly anxious being around lots of new people. Even when trying to make conversation, often people struggle to keep it going.

Typically, the main struggle is not knowing what to say. When people know a little bit about the others around them, conversations flow much easier. That’s where icebreakers come into play. Presenting a game for everyone to participate in motivates people to also engage socially.

Below are a few great icebreaking strategies to get people talking. 

Card Games

With a deck of cards, anything is possible. For large groups, it’s best to choose a fast-paced game to keep everyone’s attention. Blackjack works quite well in groups and is relatively simple to learn. Of course, not everyone will know the rules, but that’s not the point. Those who regularly play blackjack, in its many available variants, will know all the ins and outs, and thus will likely be happy to lend themselves to explaining the rules. Some people worry that this step takes away from the teambuilding fun, but actually, this is one of the most important parts of it! Party guests will learn that some people enjoy playing card games, whether for fun or for mental exercise, which says a lot about a person. Besides learning little facts about people, talking about how to play the game also lets people get to know each other in an organic way, so when it comes time to play, everyone has already warmed up a bit. 

Conversation Games

While card games are super accessible because someone usually has a deck lying around, what’s even more-so, and just as fun, is playing conversation games. There are loads of different conversation games out there, but Would You Rather or Never Have I Ever are some classics. All players need is their voices, experiences, and a group of people willing to play. As people go around the room, they present the group with a certain premise or experience. Everyone has to give their opinion on the matter, so for example: when playing Would You Rather, someone gives the group a choice like if they would rather eat breakfast or dessert for the rest of their life, then explain why. Little details like this say a lot about someone, which gives others ideas for how to talk to that person. Similarly, with Never Have I Ever, people have to tell anecdotes of things they’ve done, and if someone else in the room has done them, then those two can bond over whatever it is. 

Fishbowl

Similar to charades, where people mime and others guess what is being communicated, Fishbowl keeps people on their toes with its dynamic structure. All players need for Fishbowl is a pen, paper, and ideally a little bowl to place strips of paper. On these pieces of paper, each person write’s the name of a certain person, place, or thing, depending on whether the group decides to center around a topic, or do it freestyle. Then, people divide into smaller groups, and each has one minute to guess as many papers as possible before their time runs out, which makes for a lot of fun. 

Usually, the game is played in rounds, but for each round, the game changes a little bit. One might be traditional charades, whereas in the next one, people have to describe what’s written on the paper, sort of like the game Taboo. The last round tends to be the fastest, as players simply say one word or sound to describe what’s written on the paper. It’s definitely fast-paced once everyone gets the hang of it, and great for helping people laugh and relax.

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