Goal
A warm-up activity to find consensus and build as a team
Level of Difficulty
Various
Participants
3+
Instructions
Beginner Version
A leader should identify a topic. It could be as simple as a single word. Go around the room with each person saying a single word, to build a sentence, or story, based on that word.
For instance, if the suggestion was “poker” the sentence, a word at a time might be: The-poker-player-lost-the-hand-because-hotpockets-came-out-blazing.
Intermediate Version
This time, stand or sit in a circle and look at the floor, not each other. Build a new sentence and go in any order. If two people speak at the same time, start the sentence over from the beginning. The goal is to embrace silence and not fill it. Wait for the right time to add content.
Advanced Version
Now in pairs, look your partner in the eye. You will try and tell the same sentence at the same time. Don’t lead or follow but wait through the pauses to say the same words at the same time.
Practical Application
Product design is a collaborative task, with no individual acting as the sole-creator of good ideas. How might word-at-a-time evolve into building on creative endeavors?
See More General Warmup Games
- Yes-And
- Word-At-A-Time (Single Word Sentence)
- Crazy Eights
- Everybody Let’s
- Red Ball, Thank You
- Knife, Baby, Angry Cat
- World’s Worst Disco
- Mind Meld
- What’s in the Box
- Rock-Paper-Scissors Thunderdome
- Zip Zap Zop (Zip Zap Zop New Rule)
Collaborative Improv 