The School of Life Table-Talk Placecards

40 Placecards with 80 Questions for Sparking Meaningful and Revealing Conversations Around the Table

A meal with friends is only ever as good as the questions we ask one another. Too often, we fall back on polite but not so inspired staples: 'Have you got anything special planned for the weekend?' 'What do you do?', and so on.

But there are better kinds of questions - questions that work like magic keys that open up our hearts, draw out our memories and prompt our latent reserves of generosity, fun and interest. 

This pack collects 80 of these sorts of questions to ensure a meal together can be at once meaningful, entertaining and touching. Laid out on placecards, the questions gently and charmingly pull our fellow diners towards the sort of topics that matter most to our deeper selves - and help us get the most out of one another.

Instructions

Method 1:

1. Use 1 card per place setting. 
2. Fold each card in half and add your guest's name (use a pencil so you can reuse the cards again). Now you can select who sits next to whom.
3. Each card has 2 questions. Prompt your guests to use them over the meal as a way to get to know their neighbours and have more interesting and meaningful conversations.

Method 2: (Good for small groups)

1. Set the deck of cards in the middle of the table. 
2. Each guest takes a turn to draw a card from the deck and provides a response to the group.
3. Return used card to the bottom of the deck and repeat steps above.
   

Questions Include: 

• What do other people not understand about you?
• What do you worry about in the middle of the night?
• Which three adjectives capture important things about you?
• When you feel upset, how - ideally - would you like to be comforted?
• What's the best way to break up a relationship? 
• If you were braver, what would you be doing with your life?
• In what ways is your family especially odd?
• What have your learnt about yourself in the past year?
• What do you look for in a very close friend? 
• What kind of character trait that you don't possess do you find attractive in others?

Browse other titles from The School of Life Press here.