Words and Pictures

Flow

Brief participants. Distribute copies of the handout. Ask participants to read it carefully and to take notes, because there will be a contest at the end. Proceed with your presentation. Announce a suitable time limit for this activity.

Organize teams. At the end of the assigned time, organize participants into four teams so that each team has two to six players. (If you have more than 24 participants, organize them into six teams.) It does not matter if a team has one more (or one fewer) members than the other teams. Ask members of each team to briefly review the content of the handout that they read.

Give instructions to the teams. Give the following “Words Only” instructions handout to two of the teams. (If you have six teams, gives the instructions to three of the teams.)

Poster Contest Instructions

Your job is to design a poster that presents the key points of the handout. Here are four rules:

Page limit. You are limited to one page of flip chart paper.

Text only. Your poster must only use words. You may not use any graphics, pictures, or diagrams.

Joint effort. All team members should contribute to the creation of the poster.

Time limit. The final version of the poster should be ready in 5 minutes.

Give the following “Pictures Only” instruction handout to the two (or three) other teams:

Poster Contest Instructions

Your job is to design a poster that presents the key points from the handout.

Here are four rules:

Page limit. You are limited to one page of flip chart paper.

Graphics only. Your poster must only use pictures (including graphics, symbols, and diagrams without words). You must not use any letters, words, or numbers.

Joint effort. All team members should contribute to the creation of the poster.

Time limit. The final version of the poster should be ready in 5 minutes.

Ask team members to read these instructions. Emphasize the 5-minute time limit.

Begin the activity. Ask each team to go to a flip chart. Distribute felt-tipped markers. Start your timer and blow the whistle to indicate the beginning of the poster-preparation activity. Keep announcing the remaining time at the end of each minute.

Conclude the activity. After 5 minutes, blow the whistle again to indicate the end of the time limit.

Compare the posters. Place the “Words-Only” posters side by side. Invite all participants from the “Pictures-Only” teams to study the posters. After a minute, ask participants to indicate their preference (by raising their hands or through applause) as you point to each poster in turn. Repeat the same procedure with the “Pictures-Only” posters by polling members of the “Words-Only” teams.

Combine the posters. Ask participants to return to their original seats. Place all posters in front of the room. Conduct a brief discussion on how elements from all posters can be combined to create a single poster.