Hi… ummmm… uhhhhh…. Hi!
The waves of awkward silence and discomfort that crash around you when walking into a room full of strangers. People looking around, avoiding eye contact or staring into their phones. The atmosphere of good natured shyness coupled with expectancy. I’m sure you’ve experienced it many times. This is how many conferences, workshops and meet ups begin.
If you happen to be an event organiser, you might be surprised at how easy it is to not only alleviate this awkward buzz, but actually turn this disagreeable time into a pleasant and valuable experience.
But we already have an agenda… why add to it?
Many people don’t like ‘icebreakers’. Even the term itself can chill the spines of those participating. I would suggest that this is often because some don’t really understand what they are about or because they have never experienced icebreakers done in the correct way.
Icebreakers are activities or games that are used to warm attendees up and begin the work of creating a social bond between them. If your event requires comfortable interaction among participants then I believe icebreakers are not only helpful, but essential. Why? Here are the 4 main reasons why I think you should use them:
1. They break the silence.
It’s such a relief when the wordless space is filled in with engaging communication.
2. They energise.
When people move around and get their blood flowing, meetings are just so much more effective.
3. They connect.
Enabling good networking is such an important part of many events. Icebreakers allow people to make valuable connections with ease.
4. They make events enjoyable.
If you make people laugh, or even just help them to crack a smile, you can be sure that your event will be more successful and memorable.
My personal top 10
I have compiled a list of some my favourite activities that warm guests up.
1. Speed dating.
Wait, what?? Ok, I’m kidding, it’s actually speed networking, but I like playing with this confusion when attendees see the words speed dating on the screen. This is inevitably followed by the laugh and then the relief when they discover this icebreaker is not really about romantic matchmaking. You can make a special speed networking zone in your event space where people stand in pairs in front of each other, introducing themselves and then rotating every 2 minutes. Make sure somebody is facilitating this activity and keeping time.
2. Brainstorming mural.
In advance, prepare some blank posters with titles that relate to the topic of the event. As participants come in, greet them and give them markers, crayons or posits. Ask them to contribute to the posters by adding their thoughts, reactions and interpretations of the titles. This will not only give attendees something to do straight away, but also start them thinking on the major themes of the event
3. Improv theatre.
Don’t underestimate the power of laughter. It can open up even the most shy participant. Funny interactions give the opportunity to loosen up and relax. There are multiple improv games (check out the Encyclopedia of Improv Games for some inspiration). “Word at a time story” and “Samurai” are among my favourites. You might consider engaging an improv actor to help facilitate these activities. At several TEDxWarsaw events we had the support of Hofesinka and the audience absolutely loved it!
4. Shared lunch.
Each participant gets a lunch coupon, but you need four in total to get a lunch pack at the cafeteria during the event break. This little trick forces people to get into little groups and share a meal together during the lunch break. You can even include some discussion topic ideas on the lunch packaging.
5. Talk to me about name tags.
I’m a fan of personalised name tags. It’s great when people can quickly identify the participants role, interests and affiliation. At TEDxWarsaw we ask attendees at the registration stage to list three topics for the “Talk to me about” section on their badge. But don’t worry, you can also do it on the go as participants arrive at the event – a sticky label and a marker are enough to make it happen.
6. Birth map.
I work in a very multicultural environment. During meetings and workshops, it’s not uncommon that each person in the room comes from a different country. I like hanging a map and asking each participant to take a pin and mark their place of origin. It’s a great way to start conversation no matter if all the pins are clustered (oh! we’re almost neighbours) or very far away (wow! how is it to live in such an exotic location?).
7. Polling.
Live polling and interactive Q&A are a hands on way to engage the audience and include their opinion, feedback or questions. There are some great apps and extensions for setting that up (i.e. the Evenbrite extension for polling) and all your participants need is a smartphone.
8. Left right meet & greet.
During big events in theatres and large lecture halls, where interaction between all participants is not that easy, you can simply ask the audience to introduce themselves to the person on their left and on their right. It’s a simple as that.
9. Book exchange.
I’m a bookworm so I particularly like this activity (although it’s really hard to say goodbye to a book!). Each person brings a book to swap with another attendee and then explains why they brought that particular one. You can turn this activity into a lottery with business cards instead of tickets.
10. Selfie? Smile!
Let’s face it, we all love selfies 😉 as well as having memories from great events we attend. How about making it a group activity? Simply get everyone in the audience to take a selfie and post it on social media with the event hashtag. It’s fun, connects people to the event and it makes your social media channels more active!
Designing audience experience
Great warm up activities can really enrich your events. Designing the audience experience is an important part of the preparations – when done right, it ensures that all participants are engaged and the event will be memorable. Feel free to use a combination of the ones listed above, explore more options and consider inventing new icebreakers matching your event theme and audience type. And most of all, have fun!