Three Things About Me

A simple and interesting way to introduce yourself to your group.

Write three things on the board.

1. Dorchester

2. 1967

3. sushi

Now the group gets to guess which 3 questions about you these might be answers for.

In my case:

Dorchester, England is where I went to school.

I became a Canadian citizen in 1967.

My favourite food is sushi.

Get the point. Very simple, easy to remember. Try it.

You might like to let the others in the group try it within small groups.

Plan Joe's Trip

Here is an activity that you can adapt to pen and pencil. It is basically a
"what should I include in my pack" activity, in which you pick what you should bring and why.

http://plancanada.ca/joetraveller_425x600.swf

I have used this type of activity for the following topics:

Needs and Wants and sustainable living
Emergency preparedness
Planning a staff retreat
Surviving on a team

Just another idea for your toolbox. Adapt it and make it your own.

Famous Last Words

Here is a fun quiz that will have people working together.
Give them several last lines from well-known movies and have them match them with the movies they are from.

• “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”

• “What did he just say?”- “He said there's a storm coming in.”- “I know.”

• “Sometimes, now and then, couldn’t we just talk?” “I tell you what. You talk. I’ll listen.”

• “Out there. That-a-way.”

• “Meine Damen und Herren... Madames et Messieurs... Ladies and Gentlemen. Where are your troubles now? Forgotten? I told you so. We have no troubles here! Here, life is beautiful. The girls are beautiful. Even the orchestra is beautiful. Auf wiedersehen! A bientot.”

• “What are your legs? Springs. Steel springs. What are they going to do? They're going to hurl me down the track. How fast can you run? As fast as a leopard. How fast are you going to run? As fast as a leopard. Then let's see you do it.”

• “Do I still have to sleep in the cupboard?”

• “Goodnight, you princes of Maine. You kings of New England.”

• “Okay, folks, everything's all right. Nothing to worry about...Okay folks, nothin' to worry about. Just a little illness. We'll be in Miami in just a few minutes.”

Here are the movies they are from. But which one goes with which one.

Cabaret (1972)

Gallipoli (1981)

Oh God! (1977)

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

The Terminator (1984)

The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

The Cider House Rules (1999

20 Things You Would Do....

Here is an idea I got from an article about living in the country that I saw in a magazine. In that article they posted 20 things you would change to make your life in the countryside better. They gave examples like:

-keep all traffic to under 40 kph
-make the internet access you were promised a true reality

and things like that. Now I don't remember the article exactly, but that is the gist of it. It combined good ideas with a bit of daydreaming and humour.

So why not ask your group to use the same humour to come up with 20 things that would make their office life better. A few groundrules, no naming names or making fun of people and whatever else you think would take away from the activity.

Here are a few I can think of:

-provide stick on labels for lunches that end up in the office fridge
-leave office umbrellas at the door for general use
-only include fresh coffee at meetings
-upgrade all staplers so they work
-give everyone an extra hour a month on their lunchhours to pop out somewhere.

So food for thought. Get the info but make it fun and lively.

Roommates

On Go, a program on CBC radio I heard a charming show about Roommates and how to sell yourself as a roommate.
This struck me as a fun way to introduce the idea of finding common ground. Here's my idea:

Take two very unlikely people, let's say:

Winston Churchill and Martha Stewart. Make them roommates. In your small group come up with a list of good things that would come about from such a partnership. How can each person benefit?

M.S. would be a marvellous cook and a cleaner.
W.C. is used to having someone cook and clean.
W.C. can get high profile guests to come to the home and that should amuse M.S.
W.C. has good manners on the whole.
M.S. should gain financially from this association.
M.S. could be surrounded by good legal advice.
W.C. could introduce M.S. into society and she could develop a line of home fashions for the Brits.

See how the game works. It is just a bit of fun, but really you are looking for the benefits of collaboration.

The Big Globe

http://www.hoberman.com/fold/Sphere/sphere.htm

The Hoberman's Sphere has to be one of the most useful and versatile props you can buy.

It is really worth it to buy the larger one, but the mini one can get you started.

I have used it in so many ways, and when it pops up big the audience always sort of gasps.

Here is one way I use it:

In my keynote "Nobody PowerWalked When I Was a Kid" I am talking about life's challenges. I pull up the small sphere and say,
"This is your mind." Then I jump it up to the huge size and say,

"This is your mind when it is stressed."

Then I kinda act like the sphere is running me down.

Anyhow, think about getting one.

Time Ain't On Your Side

http://beeks.eu/swf/handclock.swf

This is an amazing example of a clock. The last component of this clock is a hand-written number. I don't know how I would use this clock, but something to do with time being precious. Once it has gone it can never be recaptured.