Icebreakers for workshops and training

The questions, and why each one works

1. What made you say yes to today?

   • The reasons people came tell the trainer what they expect — and who was sent rather than chose to come.
2. From one to ten, how much do you already know about today’s topic?

   • A show of fingers lets you pitch the day. If the room is all sevens, skip the basics.
3. What is one question you want answered by the end of today?

   • Write each one on a board and come back to it at the end. People notice when their question was answered.
4. What is the most useful thing you ever learned at a training day?

   • It sets the bar for the day and reminds people that these sessions can be worth their time.
5. Stand on an imaginary line from “never done this” to “do it every day”.

   • In a room it gets people moving and shows the spread of experience at a glance. It also tells you who to pair up.
6. Find someone you have not met and one thing you have in common that is not work.

   • It starts a pair before the first exercise, and the search itself breaks the ice.
7. What would make today a waste of your time?

   • Blunt but useful. The answers tell you what to avoid, and people respect being asked.
8. What is your job, in words your grandparents would understand?

   • Plain introductions. It stops a room full of job titles nobody outside the company understands.
9. Write one worry about this topic on a sticky note — no names.

   • Anonymous worries come out honestly. Read a few aloud and promise to cover them.
10. What is one thing you will need to do differently next week?

    • It ties the day to real work from the first five minutes.

How to run it

Choose one question tied to the topic. A workshop icebreaker should also tell you something you need to know to run the day.

With more than fifteen people, use pairs or a show of hands instead of going round the room. Thirty introductions of a minute each is half an hour.

Keep the answers — the questions people want answered, the worries — and return to them at the end. That is what turns an icebreaker into part of the workshop.

What to leave out

Everyone introducing themselves in a large room

It takes far longer than planned and nobody remembers the names afterwards.

Physical trust exercises

They make many people uncomfortable and have nothing to do with the topic.

Games with no link to the day

People can tell when time is being filled. Use an opener that feeds the work.

Questions

What is a good icebreaker for a training session?

Ask each person for one question they want answered by the end, and write them up. It is quick, and it shapes the day.

How long should a workshop icebreaker take?

Five to ten minutes for a half-day session. Longer only if building relationships is part of the point of the day.

What if people already know each other?

Skip introductions and go straight to a question about the topic, such as the one-to-ten knowledge check.

Icebreakers for other meetings

Every occasion →