A simple trick for getting people to open up in those 'ask me anything' threads

I was running a community AMA last week and the first few questions were just crickets... so I posted my own question first, something specific like 'what's the most surprising thing you found in a wall during a reno?'. Suddenly, five people jumped in with their own stories. Has anyone else used a 'seed question' like this to get the ball rolling?

3 comments

3 Comments

tara7931mo ago

Totally did that with a book club chat. Asked about the worst book cover that hid a great story. Dead quiet before that. My question gave people a clear example to follow. It broke the ice because it was fun and easy to answer. Suddenly everyone had a hot take on ugly covers. Starting with something specific gives people permission to jump in.

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markt231mo ago

My old high school library had this one sci-fi book with a cover so bad it looked like clip art from 1997. @tara793, your book club trick would have saved us from just staring at it. I bet someone would have finally admitted they loved that story despite the awful art. Why do publishers even approve those covers?

clark.alex1mo ago

Specific questions are magic for group chats. Like asking which movie had the worst trailer but was actually good. People instantly picture that one film with the terrible previews. It's way easier than a vague "what movies do you like." You get real stories instead of one word answers.