Second Cup: Find your first question

Before Breakfast

iHeartPodcasts

Self-improvement, Education

4.6 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 6 December 2025

⏱️ 6 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Bypass the small talk and form quick connections

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.
0:07.3	Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of IHeart Radio.
0:12.8	Good morning. This is Laura.
0:17.0	Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
0:20.5	Today's tip is to find a go-to question that helps you connect meaningfully with people you know well and those you have just met.
0:30.9	We all want to connect, but sometimes our usual chit-chat doesn't do it.
0:37.5	And a default, thoughtful first question can help.
0:43.2	So I was recently introduced to the new podcast, Your Mama's Kitchen, with host Michelle Norris.
0:50.7	On each episode of Your Mama's Kitchen, Norris interviews a person about the role of food and family in their early life, and its lasting impact on who they are today.
1:03.4	Norris begins each podcast simply by saying to her guest, tell me about your mama's kitchen.
1:10.9	That's a question that's bound to bring up something one way or another, and so the material gets good fast.
1:18.6	In a similar vein, on the podcast On Being, host Krista Tippett starts each interview by inviting her guest to tell her about what she calls the spiritual or religious background of their childhood.
1:32.4	Both questions elicit early memories about a particular aspect of life.
1:37.3	You get to know the person quickly as they talk about these foundational and specific to them, but also close to universal experiences. Of course, you
1:47.5	don't have to be a professional interviewer to ask questions that lead to deep conversation,
1:52.4	though it might not always be appropriate to ask random people about their childhood spirituality.
1:59.1	You do have to use your judgment.
2:07.7	But even so, a little thought and a little trial and error can help you generate a great first question.
2:09.9	If you are interested in the role of work and purpose in people's lives, when people
2:15.1	refer to their jobs or volunteer commitments, you might ask, what drew you to your
2:20.4	work? Or you could ask, what was your first job or even, what did you learn at your first job that is still
2:27.7	helpful now? Whatever the context, it can be fun to ask people what surprised them about an experience
	...

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