1. When you get together with your friends in your country, what do you usually talk about?
2. Do you think humans need to communicate? Why or why not?
3. What are all the different ways we can communicate? (i.e. in person, text, calls, videos, body language, tone of voice, hand gestures, facial expressions, sign language, fashion, the colors we wear)
4. Which ways of communication do you use?
5. Which ways of communication do women use more often than men? And the opposite?
6. Look at this list and tell me what each one could be communicating:
(a) smiling
(b) being silent
(c) hugging
(d) kissing
(e) laughing
(f) eye contact or lack thereof
(g) crying
(h) biting fingernails
(i) music
(j) drama
(k) screaming or yelling
(l) dancing
(m) jiggling keys
(n) tapping your foot
(o) sighing
(p) staring at your phone
7. Do you like to hear secrets or tell secrets?
8. Are you good at keeping secrets?
9. What do you know about vows of silence?
10. What do you think the purpose of a vow of silence is?
11. Have you or would you ever take a vow of silence? Why?
12. Do you think that God communicates or has communicated with us? Why?
13. Do you think that animals communicate or have communicated with us? Why?
14. Do you think that aliens communicate or have communicated with us? Why?
15. Do you think that nature communicate or have communicated with us? Why?
16. Do you think that spirits communicate or have communicated with us? Why?
17. What are some characteristics of a good communicator?
18. When do we need good communication?
19. Why do we need good communication?
20. What are the biggest challenges to effective communication?
21. How do you go about finding the right channel for communicating something? (i.e. in person, in email, on a call, on social media, etc.)
22. Who has more responsibility for understanding in communication, the speaker or the listener?
23. What are some characteristics of a good listener?
24. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate yourself as a communicator? Why do you give yourself that rating?
25. How would you like to grow and improve yourself in communication?
26. What advice would you give to someone seeking to improve themselves in communication?
27. What are some options available in your area for people who want to grow in communication? (i.e. courses, Toastmasters or other clubs, etc.)
28. Name a famous person who you think is a good communicator. What makes them so?
29. Do you think that businessmen need to be good communicators in order to be successful? Why? In what ways?
30. Do you think that politicians need to be good communicators in order to be successful? Why? In what ways?
31. Do you think that leaders need to be good communicators in order to be successful? Why? In what ways?
32. Do you think that husbands and wives need to be good communicators in order for the marriage to be successful? Why? In what ways?
33. In what ways can we measure or assess effective communication?
34. How do you feel about sarcasm? In what ways does it help communication? In what ways does it hurt?
35. If you had a relationship where communication is not going well, how would you go about asking for better communication?
36. Most people want to be heard more than they want to hear. Tell me about how you feel around someone like this.
37. Most people want to be heard more than they want to hear. Tell me about a person who is really good at wanting to hear instead of waiting for a chance to talk about themselves.
38. What effect can your economic class have on your communication skills?
39. What effect can your education have on your communication skills?
40. What effect can your gender have on your communication skills?
41. What effect can your age have on your communication skills?
42. What effect can your culture or nationality have on your communication skills?
43. Have you ever taken a speech class or course? How was it? What things that you learned there do you still use in everyday life?
44. How has social media and the internet changed the way we communicate? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this?
45. What things bother you in communication with others? (i.e. a certain way of signing off emails, verbal fillers, etc.)
46. In what kinds of situations does misunderstanding happen most?
47. What are some of the things that you do to prevent misunderstanding?
48. How do questions improve communication?
49. How do you tend to react if someone shares an opposite opinion to one of yours that you are strongly convinced of?
50. Do you enjoy debating and arguing? If so, why? If not, do you go to lengths to avoid it? If so, why?