I do not ask this question. I believe it leaves too many people to respond in a (personal) way that might be considered discriminatory, such as a I'm a mom (dad), single parent, etc. I like to start an interview with why the person has applied for a position and what they know about the organization. I will ask applicants how their professional and/or educational experiences prepared them for the open position during the interview. I believe this is the type of information one should be seeking to the typical "tell me about yourself" question.

I don't ask the question. You are only going to hear exactly what they want you to hear. Besides, the applicants that are so quick to tell you just how good they are usually are the worst employees. Good employees are usually willing to let their work stand good for themselves and rarely do they go around bragging about it.

I usually use the same ice-breaker but follow up with the words, "professionally only please".