Intended for:
This short icebreaker activity works well at the beginning of a virtual training session or meeting. We like to use it in sessions where participants work form completely different locations because it helps the people to learn a little about each other and gets them talking. It works particularly well when participants are located in different countries when the locations where people live, and work are completely different. with a communication theme, particularly when participants are challenged with giving key information in very limited time.
The icebreaker is good to use at the start of any virtual training session and does particularly lend itself to any programme that has a communication theme.
Training course contents:
You can download instructions to help you run the icebreaker, ’What’s Outside’ from the link at the bottom of this page or simply follow the instructions below.
Instructions
- Tell participants to look out of their window and to take it in turns to describe what they see.
- Demonstrate this activity by going first. You could describe the weather, scenery, building, people, animals, birds etc. The idea is that you are giving people an idea of the location you are working from.
- Then ask each participant to describe their own location and continue until everyone has spoken.
Possible Variations:
- Ask participants to support their description with a picture taken from their mobile phone. You could ask them to take the picture in advance, as a pre-training or pre-meeting activity.
- An alternative is to ask participants to describe the room they are working in
Objectives:
Use this quick and simple icebreaker to help break the ice at the beginning of a virtual training course or meeting.
