Does even just the name “icebreaker” bring up a lot of bleh feelings? Hollow echoes of resentment and the overall feeling that time is one of the absolute worst things we can waste?
Well, we have some great news—a great icebreaker is never a waste of time. They can be fast, fun, and unique opportunities to allow a group to peak into each other’s worlds. They’re a perfect way to get folks acclimated to your expectations of participation, set the tone for what’s to come, and have a little bit of fun and connection right up top to help the group feel bonded and more comfortable with each other.
But please, we beg, no more too-long games of two truths and a lie or Go Around Shares of fun facts!
Here’s why fun facts are anything but fun: asking people for “fun facts” kicks off a race to find a fact that balances between fun and showing off. It’s also a question everyone has been asked before, which usually means that people are going to default scripts. Or worse, get flustered and fail to listen to each other. It creates competition amongst responses, and inevitably someone is going to feel like their fact isn’t all that “fun” or certainly doesn’t stack up to the one that came before it. This does not help set a tone of welcoming community and collaboration.
So what does make a good icebreaker you ask?
The Keys To A Great Icebreaker Prompt
- Ask something that makes people think rather than remember.
- Keep it novel in order to keep it interesting—ask questions that otherwise never get asked!
- Keep it short. Ideally, responses can be less than a sentence for most folks.
- Stay away from evaluative phrases like best, favorite, or all-time. These phrases put undue pressure on the response and make people feel like they have to encapsulate all of themselves into a single word or sentence—a big (and not so fun) ask!
- Don’t evaluate the quality of responses as they’re shared. Keep your reactions enthusiastic and curious.
- If you’re looking for levity, create a prompt that allows for the responses to lean towards being silly and lighthearted.
- Creativity happens amongst constraints and everyone has a better sense of how to answer, which takes a lot of the pressure off.
Constraints are as simple as they are powerful. People love structure, and good icebreaker structures communicate how to share, how much to share, and what to share about.
So! We are going to share a few of our favorite frameworks, as well as questions you can use for each!
Thinking & Feeling
Asking for responses in those two forms explicitly gives people an easy script to follow, allows them to reveal as much as their comfortable with, and allows for the logical and emotional responses to co-exist.
“I want to know one thing you are thinking and one thing you are feeling in response to…”
- the upcoming school year
- how meetings have been going for the past month
- the progress of your latest project
Fill In The Gap
When you give people a sentence with an important gap, it helps keep everyone’s answers nice and concise!
- One thing I nerd out about is ____
- The most random object in my eye line is ____ (this prompt is one of our favorites for virtual sessions!)
- A type of furniture I love to sit on is ____
- The sound of a vacuum cleaner reminds me of ____
- A weird food item I’ve eaten cold is ____
Spectrum Questions
Set up a spectrum—we typically go with one that has Strongly Agree on one end and Strongly Disagree on the other for icebreakers.
- It’s important that all the dishes are done before the end of the night
- Pizza is the best takeout option
- Luck has nothing to do with success
- Flying is the best way to travel
- Composting is fun
In-person, we encourage people to physically move to that place on the spectrum.
Online, you can have them place a marker or stamp along a spectrum. Check out how we run Spectrum Questions on MURAL! (Jump to 11:27 to check out a full walkthrough!)
Strike A Pose
Sometimes, you don’t have to get verbal answers to run a great icebreaker! Strike A Pose asks everyone to move in reaction to a prompt, and you can encourage everyone to get a little silly. Everyone participates simultaneously, it gets everyone moving, and it can be a fun and effective way for everyone to bond.
These poses can be evocative of emotion, a freeze-frame pose, or whatever interpretation moves folks.
Strike A Pose prompts:
- show me how you feel about the upcoming test
- strike a pose that shows off how to play an instrument without your hands
- show me a fun dance move
“I Know” vs. “I Wonder”
Have everyone write down one thing they “know” and one thing they “wonder” about any given topic. This can be specific to whatever content they’ll be discussing, or a way to spark curiosity and warm everyone up.
“What is one thing you know and one thing you wonder about…”
- leadership
- the chapter we read last night
- advances in phone technology
Warm ‘Em Up
The whole goal of an icebreaker is to get people’s brains going, offer a simple moment of connection, and set the stage for participation. Icebreakers are not only a simple and effective way to get to know other people—they can also teach people surprising things about themselves.
Whenever we bring a group of people together we have a chance unlike any other to strengthen community and learn things—about each other, ourselves, and our work. While the content of any session is important, it will be more impactful when everyone is participating, paying attention, and engaged with not only the content but with each other as well.