Hit or Miss: Your Best Icebreaker

[LSN80]

If you read the "Worst Icebreaker" thread, you understand what Im getting at here. However, Id like to put a more positive spin on the "Hit" aspect of the Icebreaker series, especially for those(like me), who consider themselves to be poor when it comes to breaking the ice with others when they first meet them. I think it's always healthy to find yourself in a place where you're able to find a time where you're successful in situations that you generally perceive yourself to be poor at.For me, it's breaking the ice with other people. I'm generally good with people once Ive gotten to know them, but that initial meeting has been bad for me, as a rule.

Just as a rule, icebreakers have nothing to do with chemistry upon first meeting someone, it's rather on how you come off when you first meet someone. There are a variety of strategies and tricks you can learn about how to specifically break the ice with others, as I alluded to in the other thread surrounding this subject, and they can work well on an informal as well as a formal level. It can also be a phrase or subject manner that people use on a regular basis when it comes to meeting new people. As stated before, I tend to observe people before I meet them, if the time is a possibility. If time isn't there, well, that's when I generally struggle.

The best IceBreaker I ever experienced was by sheer luck, and it came as a job interview. I had recently left an old job where I was simply overworked and did too many things for one job. I did outpatient therapy, where I saw people at an office. I did in-home therapy, where I saw clients in the home. I did Behavioral Consulting, where I went into schools to observe classrooms, and I did trainings and supervisions, all for the same company. I loved the work, but I hated the hours and how many responsibilities I had. Unable to get my hours or responsibilities cut, I began interviewing for new jobs.

The one job I got called to interview for was about 2 hours away, but there were really interested in pursuing me, so I agreed to hear them out. The woman I interviewed with was only a few years older then I, and the more she found out about the company I worked for, the more she was curious. She continued to press and ask me about the company I worked for, specifically the bad aspects about it. Ive never been a fan of bad-mouthing former employers, or in this case, my current employer, but she made it esy just for me to vent about my frustrations. She revealed to me an hour in that she used to work for the same company, just for a different office, and what was supposed to be a 2 hour interview turned into 4 as we wound up swapping stories about the place, which lead to her hiring me on the spot. By pure luck,I had interviewed for a job with someone who used to work for the same company that I did, and we both had the same complaints and frustrations, which lead to me getting the job. The three years I spent there were invalubale work experience, and was also the place I met my wife, so I'd say it was a pretty successful icebreaker. Just being able to discuss a prior job and its frustration was liberating, with the added bonuses of getting the job, the experience to run my own company, and meet my wife as well. Not bad for a job I was simply giving consideration to.

What's been the best icebreaker you've experienced?

How has it benefitted your life? Does it still do so until this day?

 

[Mustang Sally]

Almost two months ago, our newspaper was putting together the magazine supplement to commemorate 9/11. About 50 of us were in the boardroom, feeling lousy and dispirited because of the subject matter at hand. We had hundreds of horrible photographs in front of us and all wished we were somewhere else. The managing editor made matters worse by addressing us a moment earlier; either he was down because of the subject matter, or was just in a bad mood for some other reason. In either case, when he turned the meeting over to me to start distributing individual assignments, people were looking down at the floor and the tension in the room was terrible.

I got up in front of the group without a clue how to break the mood, all the while wondering if I should even try. After all, my job was to assign tasks, not make them happy.

As they sat, watching me apathetically, I started to address them......in sign language. They all know I'm deaf, but they're used to me communicating by speech. Instead, I started signing while soundlessly mouthing the words. As I did it, I'm emoting as if they all knew what I was "talking" about. One moment, I'm laughing at what I'm "saying," one moment I'm gesticulating wildly while signing, as if excited by my own words, one moment I'm looking as if I'm about to cry.

Everyone is watching me with their mouths hanging open, unaccustomed to a meeting in which the speaker is addressing them passionately, but without making a sound, all the while acting as if they're supposed to be understanding what I'm telling them.

Finally, I stopped "talking" and stood, watching them expectantly, as if I was looking for something from them. The room was in total silence (I presume) for several moments.

A guy raises his hand and says: "Sally, are you out of your fuckin' mind?"

The tension in the room instantly broke as everyone busted out laughing. It made the rest of the day easier.....and it was my best icebreaker.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The best types of ice breakers for me are random silly things that happen to make you laugh. A couple of specific moments stick out.

One time I was at the store shopping and a box randomly fell from the shelf while another guy and I were walking through the aisle in different directions. It made us both laugh, which led into small talk such as our majors and what we like to do. We are still friends today.

Another was when I was waiting on a job interview. A girl from HR was on the computer and she started complaining about how the computer wouldn't work. I jokingly told her she could always threaten to break the monitor with a sledgehammer if it doesn't work. Oddly enough that worked and we laughed about that. She ended up being the one who interviewed me and it was easier to be confident after the ice had been broken. That interview was for my current job and I nailed it.

I find that random silly things that you can laugh about are always the best ice breakers because it shows the sense of humor early on. If someone can laugh at the same things as you, it's easier to talk to them.

 

[LilacFray]

My best Icebreaker was an accident. I'm sure I'll never forget it. It took place back home, the summer before last. My family and I were heading home with my Uncle, Aunt and their daughter. We're both the same age and are childhood friends. Best friends. xD Because of silly family problems, we hadn't gotten the chance to talk to each other for a few years. So when we got together that day, things were awkward. I wanted to talk to her badly but I just found it hard to take off from how things were before. The whole day had been filled with awkward smiles but to be honest, I find it comfortable to stay quiet around some people, especially ones I know. It's just that when I'm expected to be talking, I get all nervous and fidgety. So anyway, we were quietly walking side by side, to her house while our parents and siblings were following behind. It was getting dark and suddenly, I found myself falling, as though I had jumped down two steps. Everyone behind me were crowding around and trying to see what had happened. I knew that despite the cold slippery feeling underneath my feet, (I was wearing flip-flips and they had come off) my leg was scratched and slightly bleeding. I had walked into a drain. Funny is that the drain had been covered with cement and then there had been one place where there was an opening, square in shape, so my right leg had fallen in - scratching against the cement. It was getting dark but there was enough light for everyone to see me posing like a ninja, right leg knee deep in the drain while the other leg was on the road. They all burst out laughing and we all went to my cousin's house, laughing and chattering away with my cousin about incidents like what happened sometime back. That day, I scrubbed my leg extra hard.