Overview

This is a riff off of the notorious game for helping singles quickly meet a lot of other eligible people, called “Speed Dating.” Of course, we’re not trying to launch any romantic relationships; this is about getting to know other participants as swiftly as possible.

Group Size
  • Any Size
Materials
  • None

Steps

  1. Have all the participants form two lines facing each other. Arrange the chairs so that people are facing each other, and everyone is in a pair. For example, if there are 20 people in the room, you will have two lines of 10 people each.
  2. Then you tell the pairs to meet each other. You can give the pairs 3 minutes to talk.
  3. After those 3 minutes have finished, you call time. Then everyone in Line 1 will move over one seat to the left. (People in Line 2 will stay in their seats.) The person at the far left side of the room will now come over and sit in the far right seat. In this way, everyone will get to meet another person in the room.
  4. You keep repeating this pattern as often as you like. You can do it until everyone in one line has met everyone else in the other line. Or you can cut it off early, in the interests of time.
  • If you don’t have a lot of chairs, you could do this standing as well. Just create two lines of people facing each other.
  • Some people may feel like they are having the same superficial conversation multiple times – asking each other the tired old questions: “Where are you from?” “What’s your major?” (if they are students) “What do you do for a living?” (if they are in the “real world”) So a variation on this Speed Meeting game is to give the pairs a specific subject to discuss each round, to keep it fresh and interesting. Such subjects could include: 1. Your greatest passion 2. Your favorite place 3. Your sense of home 4. One of your most interesting experiences 5. Your favorite hobbies 6. Your heroes or heroines/greatest influences 7. Your ideal dream for your life 8. Your favorite movie 9. Your favorite music 10. Your favorite book 11. What gives you hope 12. What keeps you up at night 13. What would people not about know you after 15 years? 14. According to other people, whom do you look like?
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Debrief

This activity typically does not need a debrief. It’s just a great way to get energy in the room to a crescendo, and also to get people to feel like they belong to a community. People seem to appreciate getting to know each other. They are probably used to gatherings where they are anonymous, lost in a sea of people passively listening to a lecturer on a stage.

Source

Transformative Action Institute, adapted from popular activity

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