The World’s Best Conversation Starter
The greatest ‘first meeting’ ice breaker? Tell everyone the story of how you got your name
Anytime a newcomer met our University of Michigan team, 27 staffers went through a boring ritual of everyone saying their name and job title.
We went through that drill a lot, and it got kind of monotonous. Then the great Lynn Perry Wooten, an expert on positive organizational behavior, transformed the entire ritual from boring to amazing with one new question:
“Instead of just telling me your name and what you do, what if you tell everyone your name and the story of how you got your name?’’ Wooten said.
Eyes lit up. For years, people who worked together suddenly got to know moving personal stories revealing the core of their identity and family history.
We all had heard and recited the same “introductory remarks” for years — to the point where we could finish each other’s lines. It was like reciting “name, rank, serial number” to every visitor. The “what you do” asides never really told people much of what we did anyway.
Now we were being asked “who are you” rather than what you do. Suddenly, we were learning each other’s “secret origin stories.” Sometimes we’d hear how parents met (including one funny…
