I’ve been thinking about ice as my area has been covered in it lately. This is, therefore, the perfect time to talk Icebreakers! Icebreakers are great for initiating conversation and shortening the time between strangers to conference friends. Here are some ideas for you to use at your next event.
Post-It: Ask a question and have everyone write down his or her response on a piece of paper. Post the answers on a board or wall and kick off the event by seeing how different or similar the answers. Some fun questions may be:
- What time did your day start?
- Who sent you to this meeting?
- Where is your favorite vacation spot?
Nametags: As people register, have people also include a subject they want people to ask them about on their nametag.
Table Time: Include a piece of paper at each table, each with 3 questions printed on it. Have each table assign a person to read the questions and allow everyone at the table to answer. Questions could be:
- If you could have any superhero power, what would it be?
- If you could have any animal as a pet (that is guaranteed not to hurt you no matter what it is!), what would it be?
- What movie do you think everyone should watch at least once?
Stickers: Depending upon the number of people you have, give out 2, 5, 8 or however many more of a certain design of sticker, then tell those people to seek each other out and introduce themselves with name, where they are from and what their favorite food, sport or hobby is.
Challenge: Challenge each table or group to come up with a name for a new widget – perhaps the widget has something to do with your industry or it could be something silly, like a device that detects when you should eat more vegetables or when you need to take a power nap or the color of clothes you should wear to best fit your mood of the day.
Artistic: Give everyone a piece of paper and 3 minutes to draw something that represents who they are; they are not allowed to use words or numbers.
Have fun! Icebreakers are so easy to make happen, but can add so much to a meeting. For a list of more icebreaker questions, check out this page.
