Page 158 - The Creative Training Idea Book Inspired Tips and Techniques for Engaging and Effective Learning

lucas chap 04 11/20/02 12:00 PM Page 147
Opening With a Bang 147
One of the ways that I do this in my sessions is to have each participant write down
one issue or concern on a piece of paper. For example, “I hope we get regularly scheduled
breaks” or “I hope there won’t be a lot of lecture.” I then have participants find partners,
exchange papers, introduce themselves, and share why the issue is important to them.
After several minutes, I have everyone retrieve his or her own paper, find a new partner,
and repeat the process. Next, I have participants form small groups of four to eight mem-
bers and have them share what they have written with team members as someone
captures all their concerns on a flip chart page for discussion and display. In doing this,
I gradually work people into small groups, encourage interaction, and ultimately dis-
cover concerns that I might need to address.
You can likely find other variations of this activity to fit your training needs.

Play Background Bingo

A fun way to encourage interaction and introductions and to get people up and moving
is to play a variation of the game Bingo. To start, create handouts of a Bingo card similar
to Figure 4-6. You can use whatever characteristics you prefer on your cards. Give par-
ticipants a card as they arrive and tell them they have 10 minutes to locate people who
fit one of the categories on their card. A participant can sign only one box on another
participant’s card, as the object is to have them meet as many people as possible while
searching for signers.
You can either have participants try to get a line Bingo (all boxes filled in one line
either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally) or cover-all Bingo (all boxes on the card
filled). Tell participants that the first person filling his or her card should shout Bingo.
If they in fact do get their card filled correctly, stop the game, reward the participant, and
get started with your session.

PUTTING YOUR BRAIN TO WORK: ACTIVITY

Think of various ways that you have used or seen for getting participants to know one another and to foster
a friendly environment early in a session. List those ideas here for future reference when designing your
programs.