Unique Thing in Common

People are given the instruction to find the most unique thing they have in common. This works well in pairs or small groups. Instruct people to find as many things as possible and then keep deciding which of those are the most unique. Choose things you like, have done, hobbies, pet peeves, quirks, etc. can help people avoid obvious, visible things (e.g. both have curly hair).  The goal is to come up with the most surprising things (e.g. "we both spent the first three years of our lives in Miami").  

Having a shared goal can help push people into curiosity about the other person and asking focused questions.  

If you are going to have groups share out what was their most unique thing, let them know ahead of time you will be asking them to do so. For example, if facilitating online you can broadcast a message with one minute to go to tell them that they have one minute to decide on one thing to share with the group. Or bring people back to the main session and give that same instruction & then send them back in to decide what they want to share to the group.

Using random breakout room assignments can be fun, because if the two people know each other well, this will get them to know each other even better.  If two people don't know each other well, it gets them interacting with one another and learning about each other.  Or it can make sense to pair people manually with someone they don't usually work with.