20 minutes is all the time it takes to rinse and cook a pot of white rice, 🍚💨but did you also know it’s all your audience needs to lose their attention in a meeting and stop listening to you. Nodding off in no time, right? 😅 Well, it’s time to wake up all those sleepy-headed employees! All you need is dynamism. And there’s nothing better than opening your meetups with a short icebreaker!
Icebreakers break the “ice”—that stolid, unsure, passive ambiance that so often pervades at the start of every gathering. They foster genuine interaction between participants. Coming up with original icebreaker ideas, on the other hand, isn’t always easy. 🤔 How can we get away from the classic “name+role+animal I would be” format? Whether your presentation is remote or in a conference room, that’s what we’re going to find out!
In this article, you’ll find 13 icebreaker ideas to make your meetings more dynamic!
Presentation icebreakers
Which quote are you closest to?
Want to help employees get to know each other better and be more engaged at your team meetings? One interesting icebreaker idea for team meetings is to propose a survey with several quotes! These come in all shapes and sizes: famous, motivational, humorous, inspirational, nostalgic, or philosophical. Simply select several quotes on the same subject and ask participants: “Which quote fits you the best?”
Using this type of icebreaker in a meeting will create a bond between participants who have chosen the same quote—and perhaps even enrich discussions. On the one hand, it breaks the ice, and encourages exchange! And more connection = better collaboration, so more dynamic team meetings! 😉
For example, at our last webinar, we launched an icebreaker inviting participants and speakers to select their favorite quote and explain how they identify with it. This instantly warmed up the atmosphere, while also giving everyone the opportunity to express what makes them unique and share a bit about their personality. ✨
💡This icebreaker can be used both internally and externally, during face-to-face and remote meetings.
Who am I?
Add a touch of fun to your meetings with “Who am I?” The aim of this icebreaker idea is to make people guess “fun facts” about the meeting’s speakers and/or the participants, to kick-start your meetings with laughter and dynamism. There’s just one condition: the facts must be amusing, surprising, and above all, authentic!
This game not only enables participants to get to know each other better but also encourages interaction and communication throughout the team. Plus, a meeting where communication is fluid obviously makes the experience more enjoyable for all! By the way, there are several ways to organize this icebreaker for any meeting:
The classic: with anecdotes
To make this icebreaker, participants need to know each other at least a little, and be able to identify who’s who. Before the meeting, participants are asked to send an anecdote to the facilitator via a private discussion channel, such as your enterprise social network chat. The facilitator then selects the anecdotes to be presented, which participants are asked to match with the right owners. Now it’s time for the meeting: present the anecdotes and get them thinking and sharing! The right answers can be given either before the start of the meeting—or at the end—to keep things a little more suspenseful.
Also read: 10 Tips to Facilitate your Meetings, Making them Inclusive and Effective!
Fun: in rebus format
Rebus is a syllable-by-syllable word-guessing game based on pictures. As it’s a visual game, all you have to do is add it to your presentation material. And in just a few minutes, you’ve got an icebreaker idea that‘ll energize your meetings!
For example, you could create a rebus to make participants guess what their expertise is. If he’s a CIO or CISO, the word to illustrate could be “IT“. Alternatively, if there are external participants, you can have them guess the name of one of the companies present at the meeting by illustrating its name in a rebus. The other team members then have to guess which participant or company it is. Here’s an example:
Here, the images represent: FULL – STACK – DEVELOPER, to illustrate the word “full-stack developer“. All participants have to do is identify the person most clearly linked to this word. Now it’s your turn!
The modern starter pack
If you surfed X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram around 2010, you can probably recall the “starter pack.” If not, don’t worry, it’s not too late to discover it and incorporate it as an icebreaker idea in your meetings. A starter pack is a compilation of four visual elements, often in the form of memes, which humorously represent a concept, a situation or a group of people. Like a rebus, you can target a few participants, or companies, and get the others to guess them thanks to images that represent them. For example:
Here, the first image on the left represents the software format, then the second image represents the market for this software, setting itself apart from all the American-based behemoths by ensuring client data security and confidentiality (as it’s not subject to the Cloud Act). The third image illustrates communication, and that last one, collaboration. Got it now? We’re talkin’ Talkspirit!
👉 Talkspirit is a secure French platform that simplifies team communication and collaboration. It brings together all the essential functionalities for maximum efficiency: chat and videoconferencing, webinars, meeting room equipment, shared agenda, office suite, project management and much more. Rather than limiting yourself to a simple starter pack, explore this all-in-one tool with a free demo!
Icebreakers on the subject of the meeting
Ever noticed during meetings that some participants are not very engaged or productive? In one study, employees considered that 48% of meetings were “unproductive”—the main reason being lack of clarity! To remedy this, there are icebreakers to remove ambiguities about meeting topics, and better engage your teams. Let’s take a look. 👇
Quiz: find the right definition!
The idea here is simple: choose a key term or concept for your meeting and ask your team to find its correct definition using collective intelligence.
What may seem clear to you may not be to others. By clarifying certain notions, we realize that sometimes the level of knowledge isn’t the same for everyone… For example, would you know how to define a transparent company and all that this term encompasses? Well, that’s the question we asked our employees during a workshop on that very same topic —through a live survey!
You can also do this survey asynchronously! For example, share a survey in advance of the meeting on your enterprise social network. Specify a deadline. Collect the responses and present them at the start of the meeting to get everyone on the same page. You can then use this data to guide your presentation.
This moment of clarification will enable you to strengthen your team’s cohesion and efficiency—and ensure that all members have the same understanding of the subjects discussed. This is one of the icebreaker ideas that will make your meetings clearer and more productive!
The key figures game
This meeting icebreaker is designed to enrich the internal knowledge of teams. The concept is simple! The meeting leader prepares a list of key company figures. He presents them and invites participants to find the value of each figure, justifying their choice. The aim is not to create a “surprise quiz” in the meeting, but rather to stimulate the teams and enhance collective intelligence and collaboration.
For example, you can make them guess:
- this year’s sales target
- the average amount of a typical transaction or contract
- the previous year’s sales
- the number of new customers acquired in the last quarter
- the company’s percentage growth compared with the previous year
- the customer satisfaction rate from the last survey
- the market share the company holds in its sector
These key figures will give your teams a quick and better understanding of the company’s performance and health. In this way, launching this icebreaker right before a meeting is a fun way to remind employees of the importance of being well-informed about the company to improve their performance! You can also give them advance notice of the theme of the icebreaker and invite them to consult the internal resources library to brush up on these key figures.
The cooperative investigation game
Turn your teams into detectives! 🕵️ Cooperative investigation is an interactive activity in which participants are divided into small groups to investigate a specific topic. Each group is tasked with researching the assigned topic and gathering relevant information. Once the groups have completed their research, they present their findings to the rest of the participants. This icebreaker is perfect for kicking off a collaborative meeting! It will encourage your teams to communicate to solve a problem as a group.
To successfully execute this icebreaker, you need to be well equipped! In a physical setting, you’ll need several spaces to separate groups. Remotely, you can use virtual chat rooms, such as on Talkspirit‘s “breakout rooms.”
Once the groups have been formed, present them with a common theme to explore. For example, imagine you’re holding a meeting on improving internal processes. You could present each group with a specific challenge, such as finding solutions to reduce product delivery times. The groups would then discuss and propose solutions. Congrats, you’ve just given your meeting an effective motivational boost! 👍
💡 A final tip: to get the most out of this icebreaker idea, be sure to set a specific deadline for group work during your meetings!
Icebreakers to identify trends
Trends have the power to bond, so why not incorporate them into your meeting icebreaker? By giving participants a voice, and letting them discover what they have in common, you can build close-knit, committed teams in meetings! It’s an effective way of creating a collaborative culture and cultivating a powerful lever: a sense of belonging. Here are several trend-setting icebreaker ideas to energize your meetings! 👇
3 ways to gauge the overall mood
Here are three fun ways to test the waters by asking everyone to anonymously share their mood of the day. This simple but effective activity will help break the ice and create a relaxed atmosphere right from the start of the meeting.
The word cloud
A first icebreaker idea is to ask meeting participants to share their mood using a word cloud, or simply chat. Everyone can submit a word or short phrase describing their mood for the day (for example using Talkspirit’s survey or chat tool), and these responses can then be displayed visually as a word cloud. This gives you a quick snapshot of the collective mood. This type of meeting icebreaker goes beyond simple animation: it’s also proof of the attention you pay to employees’ mental health and well-being. And that counts for a lot!
The emoji barometer
Another option is to use an emoji barometer. Better than words, emojis can easily illustrate a thought! On Talkspirit, for example, you’ll find a survey option during videoconferencing that allows you to create this barometer. Participants can select the emoji that best matches their mood of the day, be it a smile, a neutral face, or a frown. With this interactive icebreaker at the start of the meeting, everyone can express their feelings in a fun way, and thus feel valued.
Learn to sign
Here’s a fun and original idea for large in-person meetings with lots of participants. The facilitator presents signs with his hands: one for validation, the other for negation. He then asks participants several questions, including one about their mood. Finally, he concludes the icebreaker by revealing that participants have just learned to say “yes” and “no” in American sign language. And in just a few minutes, you’ve just created an enriching experience that promotes inclusion and exchange between participants!
Pain points bingo
Pain points bingo is a playful approach to exploring common challenges faced by participants. The idea is to create a bingo grid containing different pain points that participants may encounter in their day-to-day work. These can include obstacles, frustrations, or specific problems linked to their field of activity or current project.
To create a pain points bingo, start by drawing up a square table of cells listing the main challenges that participants may have in common. In a face-to-face meeting, distribute the bingo grid to participants and invite them to put an x in the boxes corresponding to the challenges they face. If your meeting takes place remotely, share the grid on-screen and launch a poll so that each participant can vote for the pain points they encounter. You’ll then be able to quickly discover the similarities that emerge! At the same time, your participants will discover their peers and exchange with them more easily—thus realizing that they are closer than they imagined.
The best news
Each team member shares the best news they’ve received or the achievement they’re most proud of since the last meeting—or over the past week. This icebreaker idea is suitable for all kinds of meetings! It works both internally with team members and externally with partners or customers. You’ll be able to assess audience trends and see how your teams or the market are evolving!
This icebreaker allows everyone to highlight their recent successes and celebrate victories large and small. It’s THE time to speak freely, inspire others and learn about each other’s achievements in a positive and encouraging environment. To get the icebreaker started and encourage people to speak out, start with yourself, then leave the floor open to other participants who wish to chime in. Keep the format simple, short, and dynamic. After all, what better motivator than the participants themselves?
Sharing recent inspiration
What are your participants’ sources of inspiration? What books do they read, what films do they watch to find inspiration? Do they share common references? Is there a particular trend or recurring theme that’s currently emerging? That’s what this icebreaker will help you discover!
The process is simple: each participant shares a recent source of inspiration—whether it’s a book, a film, a quote, or just a unique, personal experience—and explains how it touched him or her. This activity creates a friendly atmosphere and gradually builds a sense of belonging among participants. Participants who feel at ease right from the icebreaker will be more involved and committed throughout the meeting!
We recommend you inform participants of this request in advance so they can prepare themselves accordingly. To do this, you can use the meeting module of our Holaspirit tool. You can create a meeting, specifying in the description how it is to be run and what you expect participants to do, so that they are as prepared as possible.
Holaspirit is a self-management platform that clarifies roles and responsibilities, processes, and goals, thereby enhancing team autonomy. Want to find out more? Request a free demo today!
A final word
With these 13 icebreaker ideas, you now have a wide range of options to get your meetings off to a fun start and energize the rest of the show. Whether you want to break the ice, stimulate creativity or promote inclusion, there’s an icebreaker for every situation!
Feel free to experiment with different options and adjust these icebreakers ideas to best suit your participants’ preferences during meetings. With a little creativity and an open mind, you can transform your meetings into enriching and productive moments for all!
Finally, don’t forget to promote the psychological safety of your employees, to encourage everyone to participate. And if you’re not familiar with the term, this white paper should interest you:
Access the white paper
Find out in this white paper what psychological safety is all about—best practices for ensuring and measuring it, an example of a participative workshop that follows these principles, and the testimonial of a company that has benefitted from this methodology.
