- Time: 3.5 hours
- Participants: Up to 20
- Difficulty: Easy
- Facilitators: 1
Objectives
- Increase participants' awareness of their own and others’ communication styles
- Learn how to tailor the youths’ language to engage with different people effectively
- Become comfortable conversing with other people who communicate differently to themselves
- Experience the importance of efficient communication and teamwork skills through fun team games which encourage situational leadership
When should this session be delivered?
This half-day workshop plan should be aimed at groups of young people who are fairly familiar with one another. The ice-breaker exercise involves linked arms in a circle and this level of contact may not be ideal for complete strangers. The team games involve knowing (or at least remembering) each others’ names so this session would be ideal for groups who know each other.
As some youths can be shy, it’s important for the facilitator to actively encourage participation and to engage all the members to express self-awareness of their own communication style. However, the ice-breaker is designed to break down initial barriers so the activities will flow far more easily.
The decision making activities require a level of hand/eye coordination but nothing more than throwing, catching, and passing a ball. Do feel free to adapt and change this session plan to suit the group’s ability and substitute tasks / remove them where useful conversations about communication styles take longer than anticipated.
Who can facilitate it?
You may choose to deliver the session yourself if you have experience working with (and encouraging participation from) young people, or if the group already know you. However, you may have an external facilitator leading the session as the introduction encourages the facilitator to discuss some of their passions which will help the group relate to the facilitator better.
Check out the template details including step-by-step plan with instructions, timings, printable schedule and more
Aga is an experiential education trainer who bases work on simulation games and outdoor exercises. She is a promoter of ideas and methods of experiential education in Poland. Based on her academic background, she is working as an expert in transferring scientific theory into management practice as a trainer and also as a training consultant and experience designer.
