Have you ever signed up for a new course and not known anyone, or started a new job and didn’t know what to say during lunch? A great way of handling potentially awkward situations like these is to lean on conversation starters or icebreakers. An icebreaker is a way of kick-starting a conversation with an activity or game that is humorous or fun, establishing the foundation for a comfortable atmosphere. In this article, we’ll provide you with 15 fun icebreakers you can use during training sessions. 

What are icebreakers?

Icebreakers are games, questions, or activities designed to encourage people in a group to get to know one another. They are often implemented in settings where all or most of the people don’t know each other to stimulate a comfortable atmosphere and kick off some easy, fun conversations. An icebreaker is a great tool to facilitate communication which will benefit them later on as well as established co-workers, course participants, or something else. 

Two types of icebreaker questions

Creative question-and-answer formats

One of the main types of icebreakers is the one that is centred on creative questions and answers. For example, «would you rather …» or «what’s your superpower?». These questions are playful and imaginative, but provide some insight into how your personality is or how your mind works. 

Visually interactive formats 

The other main type of icebreakers are visually interactive formats that most often take shape as a game. This can be anything from a quiz or bingo to “2 truths, 1 lie”. In other words, these icebreakers don’t necessarily have to be implemented during tense or awkward situations; you can also play them once you have established relationships with someone. Nevertheless, most people know them and can easily be persuaded to engage with them as icebreakers. 

15 fun icebreakers for training adults 

1. Human bingo 

Using a bingo-style sheet, you write facts in each box and the participants must look for people whom that fact applies to. The first participant who gets a full row, meaning that they have found sufficient people to cross out each box, shouts «BINGO» and wins the game. 

2. Find two people that … 

Using a sheet much like a bingo sheet that has a bunch of various facts written on it, hand them out to the participants and ask them to go around the room to find people who meet the requirements. Each time they find someone to whom the fact applies, they write down their name. That way, they also get to assign a fact to a name and hopefully remember that person.

3. Quiz 

A quick quiz hosted on Kahoot or any other online quiz platform is always welcome. This could be a great introduction game to loosen the mood amongst new participants. If it’s relevant to the theme, the course, or the specific learning session, even better! 

4. 2 truths, 1 lie 

Each person tells two facts and one lie about themselves, that they’ve prepared in advance. Everyone gets to share the facts and each member of the team has to guess which is the lie. 

5. Charades 

A classic word-guessing game that you can be creative with. Either you can have someone act out a word using gestures and movements the old-fashioned way, or you can assign different emojis to each person who then will act them out for the others to guess which is being portrayed.

6. Would you rather … 

Provide three alternatives and let each person choose an alternative and explain their choice. This can provide some insight into how their mind works which might help everyone get to know each other better. 

For example, it can be «would you rather spend 3 weeks in Dubai, all expenses paid; 3 weeks in Mexico City, all expenses paid, but stay at accommodation without any reviews; or 3 weeks in the Maldives, but having to nail down accommodation once you arrive?». 

7. What would you add to the dictionary? 

This is a fun game where the participants imagine how the dictionary can be expanded. Ever thought of a word that is needed to explain a certain situation or a feeling? Make up the word, explain the definition, and present it to the others. It will probably be a gateway into an interesting discussion. 

Also read: The importance of group discussions 

8. Invent an ice cream flavour 

Let the participants show how their brain works by inventing an ice cream flavour that they would love to taste. When everyone in the groups gets to invent a flavour, you get insight into how creative, imaginative, and adventurous each of them are. 

9. Life theme song

If you want to cultivate a more personal space, you can ask the participants to reflect on which song best describes their current life situation or general attitude towards life. «Primadonna Girl» or «Life Is a Highway» give two very different, yet telling, insights into who they are. 

10. Three things in common 

Challenge a small group to find three things they share in common and discuss it together. This is a potential gold mine for discovering similarities and differences, which can be a personal win and a professional advantage. One, they can easily spot something they have in common, making a potential strong relationship more probable. Two, they can see which qualities can complement one another, which is great insight to have in a collaboration, either in a course programme or as colleagues setting. 

Also read: How to cultivate a successful learning environment?  

11. One word mood 

Ask everyone in the group to describe today’s mood in one word. This might open up for a more lengthy conversation about how everyone is feeling, if they are struggling with something, or if they have some happy news to share. 

12. What changed

Once all participants are gathered in one room, you ask one of them to leave the room. Then the person removes an article of clothing or changes something about their appearance, before rejoining the room. Afterwards, all the participants are challenged to figure out what has changed. 

13. Word games 

Hangman, Wordle and Crosswords are classic games that can and should be used as icebreakers. 

14. What would you bring on a deserted island 

Ask everyone what they would bring on a deserted island. It can be an open question or you can be more specific, for example «of these three items, which would you choose?», or «if you can only choose one food item in your cupboard, which would you choose?». 

15. What’s your superpower?

Let everyone think about their superpower and what it would be, why they would choose that, and what they would use it for. 

Why are icebreakers important?

The goal of icebreakers is to «break the ice» of initial awkwardness and hesitations when strangers are meeting for the first time. An interactive game or a fun question-and-answer sequence alleviates anxiety and fosters safety before a meeting or a learning session begins. 

In learning sessions and training general, icebreakers are important for cultivating a healthy learning environment that encourages productive and meaningful learning outcomes. For one, it spurs creativity by making people feel more comfortable and relaxed, and secondly, it creates an open environment that encourages open communication. 

In summary, icebreakers are important because: 

• They foster connections between participants which have huge benefits for teamwork and communication, especially when people bring various personalities, perspectives, and backgrounds to the table. 
• It builds psychological safety in the group, which affects the environment at the workplace or in the course programme positively. It increases the likelihood of people expressing their opinions and bringing fresh ideas to the table.  

It’s up to the training provider 

As a training provider, you have the power to provide the opportunities for new participants to engage with each other. One way of doing this is to initiate icebreaker activities that elevates anxiety and builds a stronger bond from start, which affects the feeling of safety, communication, and comfort level in the group. 

Continue reading about what makes a good trainer, where you get insight into our expert advice on how to cultivate an engaging learning environment. 

Benefit from training management

FrontCore’s all-in-one Training Management System (TMS) is built to support your training sessions. From handling enquiries and registrations to automating communication and tracking performance, it gives you the tools to manage participants and courses efficiently. 

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