Engagement Series: Activities
Rope them in with fun activities!
In this next part of the engagement series, let’s go over my favorite go to activities to use in meetings! Most of these work for both broadcast and working session meeting types. I’ve used all of them to spice up my Toastmasters District Council meetings. Audiences love of activities because it brings in variety and makes everyone feel a personal connection. They also can allow individuals get get their voices heard.
Timing is critical. Ensure that the timer is clearly positioned so everyone can see how much time is left for the activity.
Q&A: Gather questions from your attendees and answer them - or have a selected team answer them. Good for broadcasts and working sessions.
Round Table: A central person announces a topic and welcomes audience members to share experiences or answer a question. Good for broadcasts and working sessions.
Panel Discussion: Selected people answer a predetermined set of questions and/or questions from an audience. I highly recommend you rehearse how you will run the discussion. Start with predetermined questions which the panel has had time to review. Then move to audience questions. Good for broadcasts and working sessions.
Speech/Presentation: One person gives a presentation prepared in advanced. This could be a kick off speech or presentation of research on a topic. Good for Broadcast or working session.
Passing the Paper Around Design Activity. One of my favorite ways to do designs together is to have each attendee (in a small group of around 3 to 6 people) take a white sheet of paper and draw the design of the software. Every 2 minutes they pass their sheet to the right and the next person draws questions or adds to the design. At the end of the rotations we all understand what each of us is thinking about the system design. I am sure this can be done for almost any collaborative work. Good for working sessions.
Word Cloud Activity: I recently gave a tech team a word cloud poll that they could add their ideas to. No one had to speak but all were heard. It was a lot of fun and a good way to see what was on everyone’s mind. I used https://www.polleverywhere.com/word-cloud to gather the feedback. Good for broadcast or working sessions.
These are just a few of the many activities possible. Please add more on LinkedIN and on Facebook. I hope these help you as you create your next engaging meeting.
