Topic #1/ Public Speaking

Activity #1 - Body Language

Activity #2 - For and Against (Stage fright)
Activity #3 - One Minute Speeches

Topic #2/ Feedback

Activity #1 - Effective feedback
Activity #2 - Effective feedback

Topic #3/ Storytelling

Activity #1 - Story in the circle
Activity #2 - Story Exchange
Activity #3 - Story Seeds

Topic #4/ Debriefing

Activity #1 - Journal Writing
Activity #2 - Make a Poster

Topic #5/ Conflict management

Activity #1 - Conflict Confessions
Activity #2 - What would you do?
Topic #1/ Public Speaking

Activity #1 - Body Language

How to play?
● Divide the trainees into two equal groups.
● Ask the first group to write a fiction story about adventure.
● Ask two trainees (one from each group) to start presenting.
● Ask the presenters to stand behind each other so that the storyteller is not facing the
audience.
● Ask the storyteller to start reading and ask the second trainee to present the proper body
language of the storyteller based on the story sequence.

Activity #2 - For and Against (Stage fright)

How to play?
● A speaker has 30 seconds to talk 'for' a topic and then another 30 seconds to speak
'against' it.
● Prepare and print out a selection of speech topics. You'll need one per person.
● Put the topics into a box. Have each speaker select their topic when it's their turn to
speak.
● Ideally what's wanted is at least two or three good points supporting both sides: for and
against.
● Sample topics:
- Money is the root of all evil

- Pets in apartments should be banned

- Poverty is a state of mind

Activity #3 - One Minute Speeches

How to play?
To play you need:

● a stopwatch
● topics are written out on small pieces of paper.
Examples: matchboxes, cars, princesses, travel,..
● a group of 5 or more people. One person is the timekeeper and subject giver.
● Put all the topic papers in an open container face down.
 ● The timekeeper names a player to begin. The player chooses a piece of paper
from the container. Once they have read the topic they give the topic paper to the
timekeeper who says: 'You have one minute on XXXX (name of subject on
paper) starting from now.' The timer keeper then begins timing.
● The goal for the speaker is to fill the minute.
● If they do, award 10 points.
● If they reach 50 seconds award 8 points.
● If they get through 30 seconds award 5 points.
● There are no points for stalling out before 30 seconds is up. A speaker is 'stalled
out' if the timekeeper can count slowly to three before the speaker starts
speaking again. Once the timekeeper gets to three, the speaker must sit down,
and a new speaker is chosen.
● Go through at least 3 rounds. Keep the tally of scores public. The winner is the
person with the most points at the end of all rounds.

Topic #2/ Feedback

Activity #1 - Effective feedback

How to play?
Instructions to participants:

● Circle the number of each sentence that you think meets the criteria for helpful feedback
(not necessarily perfect, but OK) For the rest of the questions, see if you can figure out
the criterion that has been actively violated. Put that criterion in front of the sentence.
You may find more than one.
● Note: You can divide them into groups and let them discuss the feedback then reflect on
it.

"I'm really confused over what you just

1.
said about my work".

2. "Now I don't want you to get upset

about what I'm going to say, but...."
3. "When you interrupt me like that, it
makes me want to stop talking to you".

4. "It really doesn't matter to me, but a lot

of people would really be upset with
what you just did".

5. "You're really overreacting to what I just

said".

6. "Your problem is that you just don't like

yourself".

7. "I have some feedback for you and I've

got to give it to you for your own good."

8. "When you continue to talk so softly,

even after I've said I have trouble
hearing you, I get frustrated and want
to end the conversation".

9. "You've just offended every person in

this group".

10. "You appear to be frowning, and I'm

confused about what just happened."
11. "From the way you needle people, you
must have a need to get even with the
world".

12. "I could work with you more easily if

you had a better sense of humour".

13. "Why do you do things like that?".

14. "Do you understand what I mean when

I say you're sending me a double
message?".

15. "Charlie, how does it make you feel

when Tom keeps coming late to
meetings?"

16. "I'm going to be open with you, level

with you: I think you're a fathead".

17. "I wish you'd stop trying to run things

around here".

18. "How do you think it makes me feel

when you say things like that?"
 19. "That kind of adolescent behaviour
won't get you anywhere around here".

20. "And another thing. I'm sick and tired

of you calling me "Honey".

Activity #2 - Effective feedback

How to play?
● Split trainees into groups of three and brief the activity where everyone has the
opportunity to play the role of observer, feedback giver, or feedback receiver.
● Set a timer for 6 minutes and have groups run through the first round of the activity.
● As the groups practice, walk around the room listening to how it's going so you can later
use what you hear and notice in the processing of the activity.
● Next, ask participants to switch groups and play a new role. Run the second round of the
activity.
● Run a final round of the activity where everyone plays the third and final role in a new
group.
● Finally, invite participants to reflect on the activity with the following questions.
○ "How did this go overall?
○ What stood out for you?
○ What was the most challenging part of this activity?
○ What was the least challenging part?"

Topic #3/ Storytelling

Activity #1 - Story in the circle

How to play?

● The facilitator asks everyone to sit around in a circle

● He or she starts the story with the first line(s).
● The facilitator then asks the next person to continue the story
● Now, this person continues the story until the organizer invites the next person
 ● The series resumes till everyone in the group has contributed to the story

Activity #2 - Story Exchange

How to play?

● Before starting the game, the facilitator gives participants 2-3 minutes to think about a
story, a story should be:
○ Only 60-90 seconds long
● Then, he or she tells participants to look for a partner
● Now, the participants have 2 minutes to share their story and 2 minutes to listen to
the stories of their partners (4 minutes in total)
● Whenever the participants share their stories, the partners listen and not interrupt
● When the first round is over, ask everyone to find a new partner
● Within the new couples, each person tells the story they just heard from their first
partner
● Once both partners have exchanged their stories, it’s time for the third round. Ask
them to find a new partner and repeat the same process
● How many rounds you choose to do depends entirely on your preferences. However,
we recommend between 3-4 rounds to keep it exciting and fun
● After the last round, the facilitator asks everyone to get together, form a circle, and
share the story they just heard. People love hearing how their stories have evolved.

Activity #3 - Story Seeds

How to play?

● The facilitator comes up with four neutral sentences or asks the group members for
prompts (For example: “Phoebe ate a pizza.” “The PC stopped working.” “The cat
chewed on the catnip.” “The boss yelled at his employee.”)
● Each participant writes a story using these four sentences
● Give each participant 10 minutes to complete their stories
● Ask participants to turn to the neighbour and share their stories
● Alternatively, the players can share their stories with everyone.
Topic #4/ Debriefing

Activity #1 - Journal Writing

How to play?
● Participants write about their experience in a journal.
● You want to give time for them to write.
● Challenge people to write a full page or two about their experience, their thoughts, what
they learned about themselves and others during the exercise(s).
● After that, bring the team together and have them share what they wrote.
● They do not have to read it word for word, but they should share their experience. This
helps other people remember things that they may have forgotten and also identify with
other’s experiences.

Activity #2 - Make a Poster

How to play?
● There are two ways that you can have group members make posters:
● Using markers, pencils, etc. and draw about their experience
● Gather a bunch of magazines and have the team cut out pictures to make a collage.
● You can have people pair up or have everyone do their own collage/poster of the day’s
events.
● Encourage the team to not just focus on events, but also demonstrate through pictures
what they learned and the lessons that they will take home form the day and begin to
implement in their work and life.

Topic #5/ Conflict management

Activity #1 - Conflict Confessions

How to play?
● Simply gather in a group, then ask volunteers to share stories.
● While sharing the story, the presenter should touch on the following points:
1. What was the cause
2. What escalated the situation
3. How was the issue resolved
 4. What I did well
5. What I learned or what I could have done differently

● If the conflict happened years in the past, then the presenter can also discuss
how the problem might be solved today.
● At the end of each story, other team members can weigh in, share praise critisim,
and suggest other ideas for dealing with the issue.

Activity #2 - What would you do?

How to play?
● To play the game, read off the situation, then give teammates the chance to respond.
You can have players vote on certain actions multiple-choice style in a poll, or call on
players to share answers out loud.
● Examples:
● What would you do if two teammates refused to speak to each other and used you as an
in between?
● What would you do if your boss took credit for your work during a meeting?
● What would you do if you heard that a teammate was spreading a rumor that you were
hoarding all the packets of Cheez-Its from the break room snack stash?
● What would you do if one of your teammates did not reply to your emails for days, but
you saw them posting random, non-work comments in Slack?

● The prompts can be funny, serious, or a mix of both. Players can answer individually,

however you should talk the decisions out as a group and have teammates give reasons
for or against taking actions. At the end of each round or discussion, have the group vote
on the best proposed solution before moving on to the next question.

● This activity can help team members imagine and prepare for scenarios before they

happen, as well as giving employees a better understanding of what teammates’ first

instincts are in crises.