Speaking Workshop Activities

500 year gap

active listening speaking communication intercultural communication empathy improv em

In pairs, one person describes a modern appliance to someone from 500 years ago

Mirrors

improv game flexibility active listening listening and awareness speaking accepting offers trust leadership em fb

In pairs, players mirror one another's movements.

Gibberish Interpreter

speaking active listening listening and awareness communication body language relationships em

One person speaks gibberish and the other interprets

Story Spine

public speaking speaking storytelling

Once upon a time... Every day... Until one day... And because of that... And because of that... And because of that... Until finally... And ever since then... And the moral of the story is...

Telephone

active listening speaking storytelling accepting offers body language communication boldness clarity emotional intelligence emotions

message passed without checking to next person

Status mingle

status confidence listening and awareness public speaking speaking body language eye contact interpersonal relationships relationship communication em

Start with eye contact instructions (2 groups) & mingle
switch roles & mingle
choose and change status
Explore external vs. internal

Back to Back drawing

active listening speaking em

One partner describes what to draw without naming the object

One Person One Thought

public speaking speaking confidence body language body langugage eye contact em improv game

In groups, each player takes a turn talking for 90 seconds while expressing one thought at a time to one person.

Eye Contact Count

listening and awareness speaking public speaking confidence body langugage connection eye contact em

In small groups, speaker must hold eye contact with each person for 5 seconds at a time while speaking about any topic

Expert interview

improv game boldness confidence support speaking em

1 person is expert, 1 person is interviewer

Convergence

improv game justification group mind commitment speaking boldness listening and awareness rapid iteration em

2 people each think of a word that is a combination of 2 previous words, attempting to land on the same word.

Simultaneous talking

improv game listening and awareness speaking em

Both people talk at the same time, saying the same thing.