Have you ever experienced the gut-wrenching void of AWKWARD SILENCE at a networking event feeling that there is nothing good to say?
Getting to know new people is not always easy, so let me give you one of my favourite games to support people getting familiar with each other, kick-starting teambuilding, and having a great time! Sounds good? So, what is this game to get to know each OTTER?
Fun fact bingo
The fun fact bingo is an icebreaker game that you can easily use to kickstart interactions and start to build personal connections for groups around 10-30 people. It takes some preparations before the event, and you should allocate around 20-30 minutes for the icebreaker in your agenda.
In summary, before the game every participant anonymously shares a fun fact about themselves in a shared document. During the game, every participant gets a list of the shared fun facts, and they have to figure out which fact belongs to which participant. The person who links most people with their fun facts wins.
Why is this great?
Participants have a reason for getting to know each other while having funny and somewhat personal things to speak about. And did I mention that this is fun and most likely your group will be rolling with laughter? Even the most die-hard introvert can easily come out of his bubble!
How to lead the teambuilding game?
You will need:
- Little bit of preparation with the participants.
- Optimally, the ability to print at your event
Preparation:
- Share the Fun Fact Bingo template with the participants well before the event as a Google doc with the instructions that every participant should write a fun fact about themselves. (You find your fun fact bingo game sheet here)
- If you are still missing some facts in the Google doc at your event, then ask the participants before the game to use their phones and write a fun fact of themselves in the Google doc.
- When every participant shared a fun fact about themselves, then print one template filled with these facts for every participant.
Script for running the game
Take this script to introduce the game for your participant crystal clearly, providing the right information in the right order. Use the script to run the game like a Pro, maybe tomorrow 😉
(Or, consider to spice it up to match your facilitation style. I included as little of my style elements in the script as I could while keeping the most important info & structures so you can modify it to your facilitation style and your audience.)
Starting instructions:
- “Group, you might have wondered why we collected a fun fact from each one of you. Well, now is the time to reveal the secret. In the next 20 minutes, we will play a little competition called the Fun fact Bingo, so get ready”
- “Please have a Bingo sheet and a pen at hand. You see that on the sheet, there is a list of fun facts and next to each fact, an empty space for a signature. Your aim will be to find out which fun fact belongs to which participant by going around the room and talking to each other. When you find a match then you get their signature next to their fact.”
- “Before I continue to describe how you can win the game, lets have 2 minutes of silence to read through all the fun facts on your paper. When you read all the facts, please look up so I know that you have finished” Wait until everybody reads the facts.
- “Okay, so now that you have read the fun facts, let’s speak about the rules of the game. When I say GO, then you introduce yourself to a participant and both of you try to guess which fun fact belongs to the other. You have three guesses. If you haven’t found the matching fact with the three guesses, then your partner can help you by telling you their fact. When you matched the right fact to the person, then you ask him to sign your sheet.”
- “You have 20 minutes to link as many fun facts to their owners as you can, therefore collect as many signatures as you can.”
- “This means that until … [end time] … the person who collected the most signatures will win the game and the prize.”
- “Are there any questions?”
- “No? Then GO! Let the Fun fact Bingo begin!”
When the time is up:
- “Okay, the time is up. Collect your last signature then please look at me”
- “Let’s see who has the most signatures by a show of hands.”
- “Who has more than 1 signature? Please, raise your hand”
- “Who has more than 5? 10? 15?…
- Find the one with the most signatures and give her a prize. Nothing too big. It can be also be something funny, like a majestic, delicious-looking tomato.
- “Okay, let’s give a huge hand to the winner!”
And this is the fun fact bingo script, fresh and sizzling right out of the oven. Bon appetite!
Conclusions. Icebreaker in a nutshell
Before I sum up, here are two extra tips to make your bingo extra spicy.
This teambuilding game is a great icebreaker exercise for larger groups. It is fun and energetic while also safe enough for more conservative environments. I mainly recommend it if teambuilding is one of the main workshop goals because of the preparation required for collecting the fun facts. As for teambuilding events, the fun fact bingo is a prime predator of the icebreaker food chain.
When you lead a teambuilding event, why not make your job easier?
Which email of yours should I send the Fun Fact Bingo script & game sheet?
Good luck!
Innovatively yours,
Viktor
I love the simplicity of the article. Thank you for sharing, i will use it also soon.
Thank you and good luck!