When I choose an icebreaker I am hoping to accomplish three things. First I want to create an opportunity for people to start talking to one another. Second I want them to be successful. Finally I want the activity to be related to the content of the session. Asking people to talk about photographs can accomplish all of these goals. Most people find it easy to respond to a picture as long as they can say anything they want. So, it is important to ask an open ended question where there is no right or wrong answer.
Try a question or statement to repond to that either serves to help people get to know one another, gets them started talking about something that will be explored in greater depth later, or gives them an opportunity to voice an expectation or dream.
There are endless ways to use VisualsSpeak as an icebreaker. You can ask any number of questions and have people select photographs that speak to the question or statement. For example:
What are you bringing to the session today? What do you hope to learn from the session? What shows something important about you? What shows something about your role? What do you bring to the team? What strength do you bring to your work? How do you see success?You can also ask riskier questions. These ask for a deeper level of sharing. They are best used when you have some idea of who is in your audience or group.
Who are you? (Be particularly careful using this one. While it is a common social type question for Euro-centric Americans, it can be received as threatening from some other cultures. For example, some people from Northern Europe may find this too personal). How are you feeling today? What does trust look like?
After individuals share their answers you can ask the group about what they learned.
What was the process like for you?What did you notice?
Was there anything interesting or surprising?
Do you have any new insights?
