New challenge to brainstorm!

[aniinl]

OK. Here it is.

Say you meet a person for the first time and you have about 15-20min to talk with them.
It's their birthday tomorrow and you want to give them a present that will really mean something to them.
How are you going to find out what the perfect gift would be for them, without asking the obvious question "What would you like for your birthday?" What questions would you weave into this "casual conversation", in order not to raise any suspicion?

This is not a joke or a trick question. I'm serious. I'd like to find out the best questions that you could use to really "get to know" someone in a very short period of time, and to find out what's really important to them (at least at this moment in time) so you could make a difference with a little gift or gesture.

I'm curious...
Anja

[marksherwood]

So, tell me all about yourself, what floats your boat ?

[southnick]

What was the best gift you got last year?

Why was that?

[Dave11:11]

Ok....so let me make sure I understand.  I just met this person and we have chatted for 20 mins or so?

I dont think you are going to get to know somone well enough in that short amount of time with out someone introducing the two of you.  If its "Hey I want you to meet Bob, and he is a Football fan too" then we now have something in common to chat about.  Its unlikely that he is going to share the intimate details after only 20 mins.

Perhaps the best question to ask is "Hey, wanna grab coffee (or a beer, or what ever) sometime this week?  Its my treat since its your birthday!"  Now you know what to get the person and it creates a situation where you can now get to know that person.

[aniinl]

Hi Dave,

OK, pretend you have been introduced. Pretend you are having that coffee with that person for 20min. Use that conversation as your starting point. How do you find out what's important to them in such a short time frame?

I like the two questions that have been posted! Thanks guys!

Anja

[Jen Waller]

If I understand correctly you're after something that will potentially give you lots of information. In which case the following may help, strictly speaking more of a command rather then a question but it can work really well. Just as with questions its how you ask it that can make a difference.

See what happens when you start your enquiry with the following:

Tell me about ...
Explain ..... to me
Describe .... to me

For example, if you have just meet someone you could have something as general as
"Tell me about you"
or dependent on what info you wanted maybe
"Explain your job to me"
perhaps even
"Describe that some more to me."

You may then need to ask more specific questions to drill down to the information that you want or because this was so open the person you are talking to does not know where to start. It can however give you all sorts of information that you may never have thought to ask about and in an order that could be important to the person you're talking to. As this is a conversation you may want to through in some softeners - ie "That's interesting, describe that some more to me"

Questions are great to have in a toolbox and ultimately I'd say that being genuinely interested and curious in the person you are talking to will make it much easier to find out about them and what?s important to them.