Telephone Pictionary

Objectives

Understanding effective communication (it's not always the message you send, it's the message that is received)

Group Size

• Medium
• Large (if broken up into smaller groups of 6 or more)

Materials

3x5 cards pens/pencils

Set Up

This works best in groups of 8-10, but can go slightly higher or lower. Best if an even number in each group. If there are 8 people in the group, you will need 8 sets of 8 cards. If you have the time, number each card in each stack 1-8.

Directions

The rules of Pictionary apply here: no words, no talking, just drawing! Limit time spent on each card to 60-75 seconds.

1. Each participant WRITES a sentence on the top card (#1) in their pile (the crazier and more creative, the better!).
2. Everyone passes their entire stack of cards to the left.
3. Read the sentence on the card, flip to #2 and DRAW the sentence you just read.
4. Everyone passes their entire stack of cards to the left.
5. Look at the image, flip to card #3 and WRITE the image you just saw

   *Do no flip back through the pile. Only see the card that was passed to you and add on*

6. Continue until you get through the whole group (write, draw, write, draw, etc)
7. Once you reach the end, have each participant go through their stack and see the progression from the original statement to the final image.
8. Have each participant share their progression with the group.
9. If you have more than one group, ask for the most and least accurate to share with the participants at large.</ol>

   Debrief

   What happened to your original sentence?
   What does this have to do with communication?
   Who considers themselves an effective communicator?
   What does that mean?
   

   
   

   Alternatives

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