The Truth About Fun Facts

The phrase “fun fact” is stressful, isn’t it? When you are asked to “tell us something about yourself!” – do you freeze up? Do you worry that you are not fascinating enough, or that the fact has to be super impressive? I know of many people who’d prefer to throw themselves to tigers than to be asked for a fun fact.

But here’s another way to think about it.

Imagine you are listening to a panel of experts introducing themselves. You decide to bravely approach at least one of them after the talk. You might be swayed by how friendly someone seemed, or how chatty they were. But most likely? You picked up a fun fact.

You learned something about them that gave you a “way in”. Dr Heron said she liked mountain climbing? Someone could ask for her favourite ever hiking adventures. Professor Pitman said he had recently enjoyed a book about AI? We can sidle up and ask about his theories on LLMs. Martha the moderator noted she had three dogs? It’s an open goal to ask about the breeds (and maybe not about how badly her house smells).

Note that none of these are actually super unique or wildly INTERESTING facts. They are simply hooks – ways to connect people with conversation topics and get things going. We will all seize on the thing that we think we can have a conversation about, even if we might not also be an expert on the topic. It will be interesting enough.

Sometimes these fun facts are work-related; very often they are more personal. Hobbies, interests, pets, family life, where we grew up. People want to speak to people, and emotional content resonates more deeply than anything else. But the key is detail. Simply saying you like dogs is a start. Mentioning you have three cockapoos back home in Bristol gives people a lot more to work with.

Now what does this mean for YOU, when YOU are asked for a tidbit about yourself? You can relax knowing that you are simply doing a simple service for others: you are helping them find a reason to talk to you later!

And think of the service you are doing for yourself: the more details (interesting or otherwise) that resonate with people, the more new contacts you might be able to collect.

Prepare a true fact or two about your home city (the Glasgow Subway is the United Kingdom's only completely underground metro system and is the world's third oldest underground railway… for example!), your current city, your family name… Think about what people ask you, and come prepared. Heck, talk about how you are feeling today and see how many people go “Yeah I felt a bit frazzled at work today as well!” and use it as a way to connect.

If the goal is to open yourself up to connection, remember this: it doesn’t have to be a “fun” fact – it just has to be a fact.