In the heat of the pandemic, we suddenly found ourselves in numerous unprecedented situations. Socially, one of the biggest adjustments people around the world had to make was learning how to use video calls for interaction. “FaceTime dates” became a common activity as people connected with friends, family, and even coworkers from the comfort of their own homes.
But as many of us realized pretty quickly, the conversation doesn’t quite flow the same on a video call as it does in real life.
Since the slow return to normal, some pandemic practices have stuck around for better or worse. One of those seems to be FaceTime calls becoming more prevalent, particularly with the unreliability of travel and the expenses we all face the moment we leave our homes. So if you’re stuck with FaceTime dates but you want to avoid the awkward silences, here are a few things to talk about on FaceTime that can keep the conversation flowing and make your small-screen dates a little more enjoyable.
1. Describe Your Ideal Non-Facetime Date
A perfect way to get the conversation flowing is to ask, “if we weren’t doing this on FaceTime right now, what would be our itinerary?” This doesn’t have to be a question solely for romantic dates (though it’s a perfect ice breaker) but can work for any conversation, no matter who you’re talking with. It gets your imagination working as you each describe how you might like to spend time with that person in real life. What you’d plan for an afternoon or evening with another person shows a lot about your interests and personality, and if it’s a date, it can help you better understand whether or not the two of you would enjoy time together.
If you’re on the call with a friend or family member, imagining what you’d be doing in person is a great thing to talk about on FaceTime, especially if you feel yourself missing their presence. It’s nothing compared to the real thing, but it allows you to imagine, just for a bit, that you’re actually there together.
2. How Have You Changed Since The Pandemic Began?
Though we’ve all talked plenty about the pandemic over the past couple of years, we don’t often talk about ourselves in the pandemic. This question can be what you make of it, and that can lead to some pretty thought-provoking conversations or some more lighthearted ones. You may share some qualities you’ve noticed in yourself, maybe that your social preferences and the way you interact with others have changed, or you may share more lighthearted things, like new interests and hobbies you’ve picked up.
3. Your Lists Of Favorites
Whether you’re in person or looking for things to talk about on FaceTime, you can rarely go wrong with a “what are your top three (fill in the blank)?” prompt. These are fun. You can ask about favorite movies of all time, top places you’d like to visit, favorite cuisines – the list goes on, and you can practically never run out. You could have an entire FaceTime call just prompting each other with your lists of favorites. Not only is it fun and entertaining, but you can also find things you have in common and possibly even make plans for the future, when your interactions leave FaceTime and enter the real world. Maybe next time you see each other in person you’ll visit one of those favorite restaurants or watch one of those favorite movies. Who knows!
4. What’s Your Go-To Dish In The Kitchen?
It doesn’t matter if you’re talking to your grandma, a long-distance friend, or a potential suitor, this question always leads to further conversation about food and cooking, and oftentimes even culture, family, and tradition. And, in my opinion, the best case scenario with this topic is when it leads to stories of success and failure in the kitchen. The failures and stories are a great thing to talk about on FaceTime as they can often bring out a good laugh.
5. Activity: Play A Game Together
If you’re talking to someone with a slightly shorter attention span (young family members, perhaps) or with someone who simply requires an activity, a fun thing to do on FaceTime is playing a game together. This could be a classic word game, like 20 questions, and it could be a card game like go fish… or you could take it up a notch. New apps for video calls allow you to play numerous traditionally in-person games (or other activities) virtually by utilizing motion-tracking tools that make it interactive. These activities are particularly great for FaceTiming with kids; you can play sports, like baseball, and even pitch and hit the ball together, or you can play matching games or drawing games. It keeps everybody engaged and doubles as a great learning tool for children. It’s a win-win!
6. What’s Your Dream Destination?
Another imaginative prompt that gets you (mentally) out of the house and into the world is asking where someone would go if they could go anywhere. This question, of course, is less for children (like many of the rest of these prompts) than the activities on this list, but with anyone else, you may find that the topic of travel can really get people talking. Many of people’s most memorable life experiences are from travel, so by prompting them with where they’d most like to go, you’ll typically find yourself learning a lot more about them than just where they want to take their next vacation.
7. Bake Or Cook Together
This is another activity that can be for children or adults, depending on the way you do it. If you’re on a FaceTime date or connecting with a friend or adult family member, cooking or baking together is a great way to bond. It’ll keep you busy and fill some silences, but it also offers some silences for you to fill, too. Plan ahead of time and cook the same thing, or simply make dinner at the same time on the call. And if you’re on a call with a child, baking virtually is a great activity for FaceTime. Once again, new apps and programs offer virtual baking opportunities that allow the child to do most of the “work” with a bluetooth tool. If there’s one thing people love, it’s bonding over food.
8. What’s A Song That Means A Lot To You?
Back to the adult-to-adult conversation prompts, this question is one way to really learn about someone, even if you feel you know them already. From lyrics to style of music to the story behind it all, a song can say a lot about a person. It can serve as a window into someone’s past as they explain the importance of one song, it may connect to past relationships or experiences, or it might be something lighter like a song that reminds them of the best vacation they’ve ever been on. Either way, you’ll get some stories.
9. What’s The Best Book You’ve Ever Read?
Have you ever talked to someone who loves to read, or even just likes to read? If so, or if you’re one of those people yourself, you probably know that you can talk about a good book forever. Book recommendations seem to snowball, and you could find yourself in a 20-minute conversation about just books before you know it. But reading is a different experience than movies, and that’s why it makes it a great conversation topic. It’s a highly personal experience and it takes focus, time, and even a little determination to finish a book. Unlike with a movie, you spend days with it, maybe weeks, maybe longer. So when you find one you enjoy, it means a lot, and you may find that after all the time you’ve spent with that book, talking about it comes pretty easily.
Conclusion
FaceTime isn’t easy, but it’s definitely here to stay. And in some cases, it’s great. It’s great for connecting with your grandparents who live across the country, and it’s great for getting to know your nieces and nephews if your siblings don’t live nearby. It’s even great for connecting grandparents to grandchildren, thanks to the new programs and apps that allow for games and learning activities. So don’t fear the FaceTime call. Instead, consult this list of conversation topics and activities, and remind yourself, the face on the screen is the same face you’d be talking to in person. Spark some passion and let the conversation flow from there.
