{"id":1728,"date":"2014-02-27T03:44:26","date_gmt":"2014-02-27T08:44:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/terrencemetz.com\/?p=1728"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:54:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:54:15","slug":"icebreakers-meeting-sparks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/icebreakers-meeting-sparks\/","title":{"rendered":"A Few Dozen Highly Effective Icebreakers (aka, Meeting Sparks)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b><\/b>Use icebreakers to get participants vocal and more participatory sooner by introducing themselves beyond name and title. The following examples can be used by virtual participants as well. When virtual, make sure all participants identify themselves before speaking.<\/h2>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3><b>Questions to Launch\u00a0<strong>Effective Icebreakers (<em>aka<\/em> Meeting Sparks)<\/strong><\/b><\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_1729\" style=\"width: 415px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img wpfc-lazyload-disable=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1729\" class=\"wp-image-1729 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/ice-breakers-aka-meeting-sparks-e1558209686208.png\" alt=\"A Few Dozen Highly Effective Icebreakers (aka, Meeting Sparks)\" width=\"405\" height=\"400\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1729\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Effective Icebreakers (<em>aka<\/em> Meeting Sparks)<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">A simple yet effective method: \u201cIf I were a . .\u00a0 . \u201c approach such as\u2014\u201cIf I were a gem, I would be a ____\u201d or \u201cIf I were a flower, I would be a ____\u201d or \u201cIf I were a bird, I would be a _____\u201d or \u201cIf I were a vehicle, I would be a _____\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Describe your dream career as a child.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Describe the first event you remember vividly in life.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Explain how you got one of your scars (and where it is).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Explain your strangest paying job or chore.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">If you were a room in a house, which room are you and why?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cMy hero is . . .\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Name a talent that you have and no one here knows about it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Name the last song you sang out loud by yourself.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Sound out or act out your high school mascot.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Tell us an animal you would like to be, and why.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Tell us your favorite James Bond actor and explain why.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The title of your autobiography?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Two truths and a lie\u2014participants guess the lie.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Use one word to describe where you are right now.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">What kitchen appliance or tool would you be and why?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">What would you bring with you on a desert island?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">What\u2019s on your reading list or nightstand?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">When wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Which model and type of automobile would you be and why?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cWould you rather?\u201d questions; e.g., Would you rather be invisible or be able to read minds? Would you rather live without music or live without television? <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Would you rather be 4 feet tall or 8 feet tall?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Your favorite ice cream?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><i>Meeting Sparks &#8211; another phrase for icebreakers<\/i><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Based on a project theme, create new surnames for participants; e.g., Lori Aconcagua (i.e., the highest mountain in South America).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Begin with a \u201cFun Fact\u201d sharing by each individual of something previously unknown to everyone.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">On a rotating basis, have an assignee bring in a joke.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Start the meeting with a song and award a prize to the first person who correctly identifies the name artist or both.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>______<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Don\u2019t ruin your career by hosting <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/bad-meetings\/\">bad meetings<\/a>. Sign up for a <a href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/public-facilitation-training\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">workshop<\/a> or send this to someone who should. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20260106090117\/https:\/\/mgrush.com\/\">MGR<span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">USH<\/span><\/a><\/em> workshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools, methods, and activities every day during the week. Therefore, while some call this immersion, we call it the road to building high-value facilitation skills.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Use icebreakers to get participants vocal and more participatory sooner by introducing themselves beyond name and title. The following examples can be used by virtual participants as well. When virtual, make sure all participants identify themselves before speaking. Questions to Launch\u00a0Effective Icebreakers (aka Meeting Sparks) A simple yet effective method: \u201cIf I were a . [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55884429],"tags":[453190873,453192214,453190874,453190875],"class_list":["post-1728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meeting-support","tag-icebreakers","tag-introduction","tag-meeting-icebreakers","tag-meeting-sparks"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Few Dozen Highly Effective Icebreakers (aka, Meeting Sparks)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Use icebreakers (aka meeting sparks) to get participants vocal and more participatory sooner by introducing themselves beyond name and title.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mgrush.com\/blog\/icebreakers-meeting-sparks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Few Dozen Highly Effective Icebreakers (aka, Meeting Sparks)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Use icebreakers to get participants vocal and more participatory sooner by introducing themselves beyond name and title. 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