“Did you happen to bring any cash with you?”
I don’t have a bunch of pre-planned questions because I don’t want the whole thing to be like a job interview.
If the guy has a bunch of pre-planned questions to ask me, I try to get out of there ASAP.
[QUOTE=Bear_Nenno]
I’d have to disagree on this question. “What’s your favorite…” questions are terrible. You’ll probably get a dead-end “oh I dunno…” type answer. Like when you ask someone “What’s your favorite kind of music.” Then they say “I like to listen to everything.”
If you’re a reader, and you want to find a similar quality in your match, and you want to see what kind of tastes in novels they have, then rephrase your question to:
“Have you read any good books lately?” or
“I just finished reading Such n Such, and I loved it. Have you enjoyed any good stroy lately.”
Or something like that. Then, you can progress into the “Do you have a favorite author” question. Notice it’s not “Who is your favorite…”
I just think wording it like that makes the conversation more comfortable for the person. You dont want to ask a question that he/she doesn’t know the answer to. And a lot of people don’t know what their favorite is. They’ll say “ohh… I like all kinds”. Grrr I hate that response.
Just say “Do you have.” If they feel pationately about certain authors, then they’ll answer “Yes, I love yada yada yada.”
But if they dont have one, then they can just say “No, not really.” And they’ll still feel like they answered your question. Which they did. And you can ask another one. And keep it going.
This is the same with movies. Don’t ask someone what his or her favorite movie is. Ask them if they saw something they liked recently. That will keep the conversation moving. You can progress from there if you want to find out about their taste in moves. Like, if they say they saw X-Men yesterday and loved it, then you can say: “So you like action movies like that?” “Do you normally go for action movies?” Yea? Have you seen any comedies lately? I saw Whatever, and didn’t think it was funny…" Progress like that. Dont just dive right in.
The idea of date conversation isn’t just about finding out the person’s interests and life history. It’s about sharing a conversation. Dont try to learn EVERYTHING at one sitting. Have a comfortable pleasant conversation, and you’ll have more 2nd and 3rd, etc dates. And you can learn a little bit more each time.
Dont pass out a freakin survey over lunch. It’s lame. And a lot of people hate answering those types of questions – they find it difficult to think of their “FAVORITE”, if they like a whole lot.
Your train of thought might be “Oh, if she has many favorites, then I will get her talking all night with that ONE question!!” But that’s almost never the case. You ask someone “What’s your favorite” and they think “ughhhh. ummmmm. Oh, I dunno.”
… lame
Anyway, it’s just all IMO, of course.
[/QUOTE]
Great tips! Usually when I’m around new people (regardless if I’m in a date setting or not) I’m usually too nervous to think of my favorite so-and-sos. Even if I do happen to locate my favorites, I’m not sure if I want to share them before they share theirs. Being judged inevitable, but the sooner the worse. Also, being somewhat evasive in the beginning, is a good way to be a little mysterious…which is a turn-on for some people.
And please, no crazy hypothetical questions such as “If you had to be an animal, which one would you pick?” :dubious:
[QUOTE=Diamonds02]
And please, no crazy hypothetical questions such as “If you had to be an animal, which one would you pick?” :dubious:
[/QUOTE]
Not even “what are you hoping to come back as in your next lifetime”? 
I always ask: If you could do anything you want, free from financial worry, what would you do?
[QUOTE=msmith537]
“Did you happen to bring any cash with you?”
[/QUOTE]
My favorite, “Do you take American Express?”
Well, it’s not something you can ask out of the blue. But I’m a nerd, so I’ve dated quite a fwe guys who could ask such things as “how much of a bonus to ‘scare opponent’ do you get if you have a dragon behind you?”
So, anything about hobbies.
Another nod in agreement to Bear_Nenno.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with having a (mental) list of conversation starters for dates, dinner parties, new cow-orkers, etc. But especially for blind dates or internet dates where you don’t already have something or someone in common, having a conversation starter in mind is essential. Sometimes even the best conversationalists and people who are getting along great stall out for a minute. If the whole date is nothing but a series of questions, then obviously it’s either not a good match or someone’s socials skills need some fine tuning.
After exhausting the obvious topics, I too am looking for some good ones to get the conversation rolling. I absolutely hate questions like “tell me something about yourself you don’t normally tell strangers” (sorry FilmGeek). If I don’t tell strangers, why would you think I would tell you? I don’t like being put on the spot for witty answers. I like witty questions that engender natural conversation, but it shouldn’t be a cleverness test.
[QUOTE=catsix]
I don’t have a bunch of pre-planned questions because I don’t want the whole thing to be like a job interview.
If the guy has a bunch of pre-planned questions to ask me, I try to get out of there ASAP.
[/QUOTE]
Ditto. I hate being put on the spot. Then again I don’t go on blind dates, so I always would have something to talk to my date about, even if we’re just making fun of mutual friends or remembering TV or something. I guess my conversations are pretty lame.
Conversation flows pretty naturally if the person is at all interesting. So my favorite questions are ones attuned to the specific person I’m talking to. I would hate to ask/answer blanket questions.
Of course there’s the obvious one:
“Did you bring any condoms?”
“Can I touch those, are they real?”
Ernie or Bert?
[QUOTE=Martiju]
It’s a question about a date, rather than a date question…
[/QUOTE]
Oh, I see, thanks
[QUOTE=Diamonds02]
And please, no crazy hypothetical questions such as “If you had to be an animal, which one would you pick?” :dubious:
[/QUOTE]
That is a shame, because I usually ask:
If you were a rock in the proterozoic era, what kind of rock would you be? 
“Is that infectious?”
“Did you find Jar-Jar as annoying as I did?”
“Is that your real hair?”
“Do you swallow?”*
“Why are you shouting at me?”
“Would you like to pet my monkey?”
“What’s the strangest thing you ever ate?”
“Leave here often?”
“What’s your grandmother’s brother’s wife’s third daughter’s sign?”
“Have you ever dated a sex maniac before?”
*shamelessly cribbed from Me, Myself and Irene.
This thread reminds me of something I read about Bill Gates a while back…
They said that Bill didn’t date much in college, but when he did, he always asked his date what SAT scores she got, just so he could mention what *his * (very high) scores were.
<<Miss Rhode Island, please describe your idea of a perfect date.
That’s a tough one. I would have to say April 25th. Because it’s not too hot, not too cold, all you need is a light jacket. >> /Miss Congeniality
Thanks for the tips, especially Bear_Nenno! 
As mentioned, it’s great to simply have an idea of a few fun questions to throw out there whenever the conversation lulls or hits a slow spot.
Of course, you don’t want to come off like you’re giving a job interview, but I love to have questions in mind that will help spark up conversation again without putting the person on the spot and/or uncomfortable.