7 Kinds Of Conversations That Always Stimulate Activity

If your community is going quiet, try stimulating it with conversations that members find difficult to resist.

Every community I’ve been involved with has been different, but all have responded to these very similar discussions.

1. What is your average day like? People love to talk about themselves. Everyone has a unique average day. Try this conversation, the response will be huge. 
2. What was your best/worst experience ….? Everyone wants to share their best/worst moments with everyone. Make it related to your topic.
3. What/who is your favorite/worst ….? Similar to the above, but more focused on an issue/equipment rather than an experience. Try it, everyone will participate.
4. What ‘…’ do you use? Nearly every community is based upon a topic, a topic that needs specialist gear. Community of musicians, ski-iers, parents, bloggers,  all require special gear to enjoy the topic.
5. What is your life ambition/goal? Members are surprisingly keen to tell each other about their life goals/ambitions. Give them the opportunity to do.
6. Rank these 5 things in order of like/hate. Name 5 celebrities in your community’s field, ask people to rank them in order of liking.
7. Nominate a member for ‘member of the month’. Call for nominations for member of the month. You have to give a reason.

The big art of a community is getting members to express themselves. The more expression, the more activity.

The theme here, you’ve rightly guessed, is open expression. Every question is designed to get members to express themselves honestly. This expression drives people to revisit the conversation and become better acquainted with other members.

Comments

[Patricia Ooi]

You mentioned some very good conversation starters, especially 1-4. I have seen them being used in a couple of communities with huge success. The community I manage also enjoyed good response with these topics.

If I may, I would like to add one more. Popular forum games like True or False, Word Association, Keep One Drop One and many more can generate a lot of activities too. For some members, these forum games is where they post their very first comment in a community.

[Stuart Foster]

Great conversation starters. Especially because they can be driven/customized for every community. They also can build on one another and will really take off once a certain amount of prime movers take part.

[Luc Despres]

Great information, I will be trying to implement these tips asap.

Thanks

Luc Despres