The winter brings a lot to look forward to: snow days, hot chocolate and  championship football. However, few events are more anticipated than the holidays. With all the joy and happiness the holidays bring, there are also some shortcomings. One downfall that ranks at the top of many peoples’ list is awkward conversations with family. However, these awkward conversations can be easily avoided with simple conversation starters.

“It’s pretty awkward [talking to distant family] because I don’t know them. Yes, I do need a conversation starter because if I don’t [have one] it will just keep being awkward unless someone starts a conversation,” freshmen Hugo Soller said.

 A great way to ease the awkwardness and kick off a conversation is by saying, “have you seen any good movies lately?” By saying this, people will get the idea that you value their opinion, and because of this they will be more inclined to start a conversation with you. Also, who doesn’t want to talk about something they like? This will spark a light conversation that can be perfectly shared over a holiday dinner.

Another great way to start a conversation is by asking, “are you an organized person?” By simply asking these four words you give off an impression of asking for help, and that you think highly of this person, because why would you ask someone you do not admire for help? After starting with this, a good discussion is sure to follow.

Asking someone what they are best at will be the start of a long and enlightening conversation. It is human nature for people to want to brag about their accomplishments. By asking this you will learn a lot about a person, including what they are good at and what the like to do. However, you may also learn how humble and modest that person is.

“It’s pretty awkward talking to family, because they just mention how you’ve grown and how tall you are but you really don’t have anything to say to them so conversation starters would be pretty handy,” freshmen Jack Evans says.

Family members commenting on how much someone has grown seems to have become a staple in embarrassing and awkward conversations. To avoid this age old “compliment” one only has to say, “you would never believe the weather we’ve been having.”

Complimenting someone’s growth and talking about the weather both live in the house of long conversations. For many years, weather has been an easy way for people to express opinions, either complain or praise, and, in recent years, mix politics [global warming] into conversations.

Using these many conversation starters is sure to ease awkwardness between kin around the holidays, and will make a once dreaded part of the year easy and fun.