Guidelines:
*Ideal for 6-8 women
*Requires monetary investment / modest gift
*Requires 1-2 rolls of wrapping paper & tape

Instructions:
Choose a small and universal gift that many women would enjoy (Example: a bag of Dove chocolates plus a $5 gift card to Dunkin Donuts)

Cut up several small pieces of paper. On each piece of paper write a question (be sure to have at least as many questions as people, plus a few more). 

 Examples of questions:
Pass this package to the person with the most siblings. 

Pass this package to the person who lives the farthest from where they were born.

Pass this package to the person who has worked for their current company the longest.

Note: Be sure to include this additional directive:
Pass this package to a person who has not unwrapped a layer yet. Have that person share something about herself. 

Gather all your questions, your gift, wrapping paper and tape. Wrap the gift once, tape a question/directive to the package. Wrap the gift again, and tape another question/directive to the package. Repeat until every question has been used.

To start the activity, hand the package to the person who satisfies the first question/directive. She opens the first layer, then passes it to the person who matches the second directive, and so on. The person to peel off the last layer gets to keep the contents/gift.

Guidelines:

*Ideal for 8-10 women
*Requires several designated rooms/spaces for a pair of women to talk without shouting and/or being overheard
*Requires an index card with 3-5 different questions per 1 woman participating

Instructions:
Setup 2 chairs in multiple different spaces/rooms (example: If you have 10 participants, you will need 5 designated/private spaces, 1 for each pair of women)

Place an index card with 3-5 questions on each chair 

Number the back of each chair: 1, 2, 3, and so on.

Have each woman take a seat in a chair and pick up the questions. For 5 minutes, one woman in each pair will answer the question(s) she desires. After 5 minutes, the other woman will answer the question(s) she desires. Note: No one is forced to answer any question. 

After 10 minutes, each woman will leave the questions on her respective chair, and move one chair forward (chair #1 moves to chair #2, and so on). Continue until every woman has shared 10 minutes with every other woman. 

For added context, you can read this article. Or for more ideas (or separate events), visit the Skip Small Talk website or Skip the Small Talk Meetup in Raleigh. 

Guidelines:
*Ideal for 6-8 women

Instructions:
Have each woman bring a book from her home (to give away) or pick one up from a local thrift store (usually $.50 – $1). Make it a book she has read before (and enjoyed!) so that she can provide a synopsis. 

When you gather, have each woman introduce the book she brought, explain what it’s about and why she liked it. After each has shared about her book, put all the books in a pile and have each woman pick a book to take. 

Note: It is helpful for the hostess or a few participants to bring 2 books, so that women who are picking last have more options to choose from. 

Want to swap books another way? Have women wrap their books and put descriptions on the front. For more guidance, search: “Blind Date with a Book” ideas.

Guidelines:
*Ideal for 6-8 women

Have each woman bring a quote she loves, a motto she lives by or a family saying that has stuck with her. Have each woman take a few minutes explaining the motto/saying/quote, where it came from, and how it’s impacted the way she lives her life.

Guidelines:
*Ideal for 6-8 women

Have each woman bring a physical item that has significance to her and give each woman a few minutes to explain its value to her. If the item is a person or too impractical to bring, have her bring a photo (hard copy if she has one) of the item to pass around. 

Version 1:
Have each woman share a favorite tradition in their family (example: at the dinner table, each person sharing the “high” and the “low” of the day/week), or favorite holiday tradition

Version 2:
Have every woman bring a favorite food to share with the group. It can be an appetizer she made, or a go-to premade product from a local store

Version 3:
*Ideal for 8-10 women
*Requires a $14-$20 investment by each woman who attends (this will be the advanced purchase of 2 items/gifts)

Instructions: Every woman who attends will bring (2 identical items of) 1 favorite product/thing. The item should be a product that the woman has personally used and enjoys and would buy again. The item should be purchased and not made. The cost should be between $7 and $10. She should bring the items unwrapped. It can be a wide range of things, including a kitchen utensil, a cosmetic product or a consumable. Example of an item: brow tamer. 

Prepare numbers to draw out of a hat/bowl (as many numbers as you have participants). 

At the event, the hostess will direct guests to place 1 item in two separate spaces. Thus, there will be 2 separate and identical piles of favorite items. 

Each woman will take a minute and explain the product she brought and why she likes it. After each woman has described her item, the women draw numbers. #1 picks first, and so on, until every woman has 1 item. There is no stealing, etc. Then, the hostess places the next/duplicate pile back on the table. The highest number now picks first, and then back down to #1.