Crowd Words

by Matthew Broda and Trevor Dunlap

Many times, it is the simplest of ideas that can have the most profound impact. In this book, the authors focus on an experiential methodology that strips away the trappings of equipment/material heavy facilitation and focus instead on a single element that can be utilized across a wide range of use groups.  Using a simple 'alphabet deck' facilitators will be able to utilize scaffolded progression of activities designed to foster deep collaboration and experiential engagement - and have a ton of fun at the same time!

Intended  Use

In  its  simplest  form,  CrowdWords©  can  be  used  as  a  collection  of  fun and  engaging  activities  to  build out  any  number  of  programmatic objectives.  To  assist  in  your  selection  of  the  “right”  activity  for  your participants,  we  have  organized  all  26  experiences  into  four  core interactions:  introduce,  cooperate,collaborate,  and  reflect.  Here  is  a quick  primer  on  what  we  mean  for  each  of  these  designations:

• Introduce  (I) -  This  activity  genre  is  used  to  welcome,  warm-up, or  begin  to  mingle  a  newgroup.  These  exercises  generally  have limited  (emotional)  risk  and  are  designed  to  be  to  prime participants  for  the  day’s  interactions.  Activities  classified  as Introduce  are  great  for  “fun-building”,  providing  an  interactive segue  between  elements,  or  used  as  a  front  loading  strategy.
• Cooperate  (CP) -  This  activity  genre  is  used  to  stretch  a  group’s relatability  skills.  Activities are  designed  to  challenge  the  team  to move  from  a  surface  level  into  a  more  structured challenge/experience  and  require  participants  to  take  more  risk and  play  to  their  individual strengths  within  a  group  setting.
• Collaborate  (CL) -  This  activity  genre  is  used  to  take  a  deeper dive  into  team  engagement.These  exercises  are  designed  to  be more  challenging  and  robust  and  will  require  more advanced communication  and  trust  as  they  work  toward  innovative  solutions.
• Reflect  (R) -  This  activity  genre  is  used  to  provide  the  tools  and space  for  participants  to  make   connections  and  transfer  new understanding  from  the  day’s  experiences  and  interactions  into future  situations.

Types of Games Included in the book:

Icebreakers

Energizers

Creative Problem Solving Activities

Literacy Activities

Debriefing Activities