Getting to know each other

If the participants are going to spend half a day or more together, it may be a good idea to invest more time in the presentation. A good start can “warm things up” so the group is ready for active participation.

Stand in line and say your name

• Arrange it so everyone is standing in a line in the room. Point to where the line starts and where it ends. The participants now place themselves in alphabetical order from “A” at one end to “Z” or “Å” (in Norway) at the other end, using their first name. When everyone has found his or her place, they say their name out loud.
• The line can also be made into a number line with 1900 at one end and 2010 at the other. Participants could stand in the line in the order of their year of birth. Only the imagination limits what the line could represent and what the participants are to do. (This can also be used as an energizer between teaching sessions).

Present each other

• In this exercise the participants get to know each other better and everyone gets to say something. The participants sitting next to each other in the horseshoe or ring will form pairs. If the number of participants is uneven, the leader makes a pair with one of the participants.
• The pairs chat briefly about their name, job and hobbies (5 minutes). Then they present each other to the whole group of participants. The person being presented stands up, the other remains sitting while speaking.

Ball and names

• The participants stand in a circle. One of them holds a ball. The person with the ball says his/her name and throws the ball to one of the others, who catches it, says his/her name and throws it to another person.
• The game continues until everyone has said his/her name.
• The game can continue where the person with the ball says his/her name but also says the name of one of the other participants before throwing the ball to this person. The game continues until everyone has said his/her name and one of the other participant´s names.

(English translation: John Anthony)