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What Are Ice Breakers
What Are Ice Breakers
(Source: www.mindtools.com)
Ice Breakers can be an effective way of starting a training session or team-building event.
It is a structured activity aimed at helping people to get to know each other and buy into
the purpose of the event.
If an icebreaker session is well designed and well facilitated, it can really help get things
off to a great start. By getting to know each other, getting to know the facilitators and
learning about the objectives of the event, people can become more engaged in the
proceedings and so contribute more effectively towards a successful outcome. But have you
ever been to an event when the icebreaker session went badly? Just as a great icebreaker
session can smooth the way for a great event, so a bad icebreaker session can be a recipe
for disaster. A bad icebreaker session is at best simply a waste of time, or worse an
embarrassment for everyone involved.
As a facilitator, the secret of a successful icebreaking session is to keep it simple: Design
the session with specific objectives in mind and make sure the session is appropriate and
comfortable for everyone involved.
When to Use Icebreakers?
As the name suggests, an icebreaker session is designed to "break the ice" at an event or
meeting. The technique is often used when people who do not usually work together, or may
not know each other at all, meet for a specific, common purpose.
Consider using an ice breaker when:
establish a level playing field? etc" As a further check, you should also ask
yourself how each person is likely to react to the session. Will participants
feel comfortable? Will they feel the session is appropriate and worthwhile?
4. Move the shoulders make them shudder, tremble, rotate. Demonstrate that letting out
the noise that goes with a shudder adds to the relaxation. Practice releasing shoulder
tension while moving around.
5. Explore shaking of legs and feet in a similar way to hands and arms.
6. Ask people to explore how far they can start shaking one part of their body and get the
rest to join in.
Tips:
1. Exercises can be used one at a time for 5-minute energizers.
2. A "silly walks" competition can be held for walks that involve loosening as many muscles
as possible.
1. Stand Up - Ask group members to stand if they have done the following during the last 3
months: They stand for a statement and sit down, until you read the next statement.
Have you travelled to an island?
Did you see an international movie?
Have you learned something new?
Did you have houseguest visit you?
Have you read a novel?
Did you attend a musical performance?
Do you own a foreign made automobile?
2. Pairs Sharing - Form pairs among the participants. Ask the pairs to take turns in telling
the other person two things you like about yourself, one skill you have, and one of your most
satisfying achievements.
3. Mingling - Each person will use two pieces of paper (5x8). Each person writes a topic
he/she likes talking about on the first pieces of paper and tapes or pins it on his front.
Second, each person writes a topic that they would like to know more about on the second
piece of paper and tapes it to his back. This encourages talking and mingling during a coffee
break.
4. Complete the Sentence - This activity can be done in a large or in small groups of 5.
The last thing I did before coming was
I love working with people who. . ..
I am really concerned about....
I'm uncomfortable when.. ..
I wish I could.. ...
5. Personal Item - Select an item from your pocket, briefcase or purse and explain to the
group what it says about you.
6. I Am........
Write down 6 way of completing this statement to explain who you are. Share your list with
the group.
a. This is a group competition. The Group Leader will give the instructions for groups to line
up in a particular way.
b. Your group should get in line as quickly as possible.
c. When a group is lined up, all group members should clap, hum, or give some sort of signal
to indicate they are finished.
d. The group that finishes first is the winner of the round
Line up ideas: Line up in order of age as a Lion Member. Line up in order by shoe size Line up
by length of arm's reach Line up in order by the number of siblings you have Line up in order
alphabetically by favorite color Line up in order of eye color Line up alphabetically by country
or city of origin
Once those decisions are made, you need to discuss what is often referred to as the
hierarchy of information or what the order of information is; starting with the most
important and moving onto the least. At this stage, youll need to know on which panel or
panels information is being placed. In some brochures, information (particularly photographs
and maps) can go across two panels to striking effect.
At the same time, when thinking about how the brochure will be laid out, consider whether
each individual panel will hold distinct information or are the panels related?
Youre still not quite ready to move into the actual design process as you need to refer back
to that target audience the brochure is aimed at. Here you need to know the answer to the
following question: what is the message being sent with this brochure? Advertising,
educating, informing, and entertaining are how that message is presented; the actual
message is what you want to say about the particular product, service, or company.
When all that information is gathered, you can finally get down to the business of designing.
Youll take into account the basic elements of good design - alignment, repetition for a sense
of unity, contrast and a focal point that provides interest, balance, scale and perspective,
color, and so on. Youll also want to keep in mind the font, size, color, and orientation of the
text.
As with any design there are also things youll want to avoid. These include:
Avoid over-used typefaces, two of which are Arial and Helvetica.
For content type, keep the point size under 12.
Dont use more than three type faces in a brochure.
Generally dont use more than one alignment.
As you can see, designing even a standard six-panel brochure is often a much more
complicated process than you initially might think. The more organized you are, the easier
the graphic design process will be, and probably a lot more fun. With any design project, its
a good idea to have all the necessary information, pictures, parameters, and specifications
before you let your creative juices flow.
Create an eye-catching design
When creating your own marketing materials from scratch, remember: simplicity is key!
Follow these tips for a winning design:
Plan it out. Sketch the layout ahead of time, keeping in mind that people scan in this order:
1. Pictures or illustrations
2. Headlines
3. Charts or graphs
4. Captions
5. Body copy
Add photos, illustrations, and charts. Visuals are the most important piece of your brochure
or flyer.
They add interest and emotion as well as establish the tone of your piece. Use your own
photos or search for royalty-free images online. Charts can easily be created in Excel.
Use full color. Bold colors stand out and grab attention. For cohesive messaging, coordinate
the colors of your business or logo with the flyers photos, text, and background.
Less is more! Avoid losing key pieces of information in a cluttered, over-designed layout.
When designing headings and bullets, limit yourself to one or two fontsand dont be afraid
to leave white space!
Write great content
Great marketing copy delivers a clear, focused message, so know your audience and keep it
simple!
There are several key elements to creating an effective brochure or flyer:
Get their attention. Create a hook or an attention-grabbing headline that will draw your
audience in and pique their interest.
Dont bury crucial information. Body copy is important, but don't put your key points there.
Keep the facts clear so your audience can easily find the information they need (who, what,
where, when, why, etc.).
Keep it simple. Be sure the language in your flyer or brochure is straightforward and easy
to read. If its too lengthy or wordy, your audience may lose interest or miss valuable
information.
Create a call-to-action. Know what you want someone who reads your brochure or flyer to
do and mention it more than once!
Include contact information. Whether its your e-mail, website, or phone number, make sure
you can be contacted for more information.
Tips before you print
Proofread content. Your computer may check spelling and grammar, but there are many
mistakes it overlooks, including wrong words that are still spelled correctly (such as loose
and lose).
Check for consistency. If you do something one way in one place, make sure to do it across
the board! For example, if you capitalize the first letters in one header, do so in every
header. Or, if you add a drop shadow to one image, add them to the others.
Inspect the facts. Be sure to check your content for accuracy. Incomplete or incorrect
information will make your organization look unprofessional, or worse, send people to the
wrong place.