- What they like doing at school
- What they like doing for fun outside school
- What they don’t like doing at school and why
- Who their favourite teacher is
- If they like sport – if so, which sport? Do they play? Do they support a particular team? Do they go to matches?
- If they like music – what sort of music? What are their current favourite bands?
- Do they play a musical instrument – which? Do they play in a band or orchestra?
- Do they like listening to music with friends, or on their own, on a CD player or MP3 player or iPod? Is there a CD they would really like?
- If they like games – what games? Do they have a Nintendo DS, an Xbox 360, a Wii, or a PlayStation? Or do they like board games? Or both? Which games would they like to have?
- If they like films – which films have they watched recently? Do they watch at home or at the cinema?
Whatever their responses, invest a bit of time researching their responses - if you try out a few movies they like or listen to some of their bands (even though you might not exactly enjoy the process) you'll have more to talk about next time. Who knows - you might even discover a new favourite yourself!
Next: Preparing for first direct contact