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2.5
Cultivating a Willingness to Play
Submitted by Lori Britt
This activity encourages participants to take themselves less seriously and play with ideas (and one another). When we play, we explore—which offers an opportunity to let down our analytical guard and see with fresh perspectives.
Learning Goal
Learn how to use techniques like “limiting allotted time” or “creating playful competitions” to enhance creativity.
Instructions
Set Up: Prepare for the Activity
Organize participants into pairs or small groups (3-5 ppl).
Begin by introducing the learning goals of this activity.
Step One: Introduce Monroe’s Motivated Sequence (5 min)
In small groups, introduce a common persuasive “pitch” formula called Monroe’s Motivated Sequence. Participants may recognize this sequence from the format of many television ads and infomercials.
5 Steps (in this order):
Grab audience’s attention.
Present the need– Discuss the current situation and why something needs to be done. Appeal to emotions.
Offer a product/solution that addresses the need.
Describe how the world will look if this product or solution is implemented, help the audience visualize.
Call to Action – Ask them to buy or support the product/solution and why they must do it now.
Step Two: Develop a 2-minute Pitch (10 min)
Challenge the groups to quickly come up with a product or idea that will address a public need. Follow Monroe’s sequence to develop a quick 2-minute pitch. Remind the groups to name the product or idea with a catchy name. Explain to them that they will each be playing a part in the commercials they create. Encourage them to have fun with this and think outside the box.
Step Three: Present Pitches to the Full Group (15 min)
Invite each small group to present their pitch with everyone in the group delivering a part. For fun, the full group can vote on the top pitch.
Step Four: Debrief as a Full Group (10 min)
What did it feel like to do this so quickly? Did you feel like you were free to be playful or silly? Did the format of creating a commercial or infomercial allow you to be less serious?
How difficult was it to come up with an idea originally?
Once you had your idea, how easy or difficult was it to develop a pitch to persuade others to buy or support your idea?
TIME
40
min
MODULE
Creative Collaboration
This activity can be completed by any discussion group.
This activity might be considered high energy or more playful than other activities.
This activity can be easily modified to serve as an introductory exercise and completed in less than 10 minutes.
Tell us what you think. Rate and review this activity:
Have any helpful suggestions or modifications for this activity?
Share them in the comments below!
0 Comments
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 7:01:33 PM
Another all time favorite. I really recommend this activity when you are trying to think about the complexity of a social topic and who/what is impacted by it. It pairs well with the Divergent Thinking/Surround the Topic activity. This activity also includes a really helpful worksheet for capturing types of stakeholders.
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 6:59:07 PM
I really like this activity. It is a fun way to figure out what matters most to us as a group. For example, if you need to figure out the theme for a discussion series or a topic for a group project, try out this activity. It helps participants to reflect on their own civic passion but also negotiate together the civic passions of the group. It could be paired with the value activities in Module One.
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 6:54:13 PM
I the process in this activity ("surround the topic") a lot. It is particularly useful as facilitation preparation. It also helps with generative thinking.
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 6:52:01 PM
This is an all time favorite. Use it as a warm-up activity or whenever you have a group that feels stuck and can't think of new ways of engaging a topic or problem.
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 6:49:22 PM
Similar to the previous activity (1.7 Taking Inventory of CD Skills), this activity includes a google survey that participants can complete at the beginning of a program or class. Instructors or facilitators can use this information to then tailor future activities to best fits the discussion needs of their group.
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 6:46:46 PM
Use this as pre-class or pre-workshop preparation! These self-evaluations will help teachers or facilitators to better understand the starting point of each participant and an aggregate view of the group. The survey results are shared only with the instructor/facilitator. This is a really helpful resource (and you can modify the survey to fit your needs).
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 6:43:42 PM
This activity and the previous (1.5 Understanding Values) are great for difficult conversations. I would use this as the prep work before diving into potentially tricky conversations. It helps participants to look for the values that inform opinions (and not just dismiss ideas that they don't like).
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 6:41:01 PM
This is also known as "Identity Pie." It's a great warm up and way for participants to get to know one another. I would use this early in a group setting to help build connection.
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 6:39:24 PM
I think we all know that creating guidelines is important. I introduce activity 1.1 What is Collaborative Learning? first and then use the positive and negative attributes that they generate to help form our group guidelines.
Shannon Wheatley Hartman
December 7, 2022 at 6:36:43 PM
I always recommend that folks start off with this activity and pair it with 1.3 Creating Guidelines. It is a great way to set the tone and emphasize the importance of collaborative discussion.