Starting a meeting with everyone’s full attention is
important. Getting their head in the
room and away from whatever they were working on can be a challenge. And getting them engaged after a break can also be a challenge This quick game is a fun way to get people
engaged and hopefully laughing. The
basis for it is from rule #4 of Emma Coats’ 22 Rules of storytelling
according to Pixar. I think I’ve
seen a similar game while bouncing around the Internet but I can’t seem to find
it. So I can’t definitively claim this
as an original idea by me.
You can copy the below sections into 2 pages of a document. The first page is facilitator instructions. The second page is a handout for
participants. It is setup for a page
which can be cut in half for 2 participants.
Enjoy, and if you have improvements please share! Thanks for reading.
Page 1
A Very Short Story - Facilitator instructions
Goal
The goal of this game is to have fun and get people
talking. It can get creativity going
before brainstorming or planning sessions where you want people open to
divergent thinking.
Supplies
Instruction sheet, pen/pencil for each participant. A stopwatch or timer to countdown time
(preferably one participants can see). For a timer, try Googling “timer” and the first option is usually a timer you can use.
Instructions
1.
Hand out the questions page to each
participant. Make sure they have
something to write with.
2.
Instructions to participants: Without talking, legibly complete the
sentences to create a short story. You
can only use the available line, no extra space. Don’t worry about being creative, just tell a
story. You have 2 minutes.
3.
Use a timer for the countdown. It’s best if everyone can see the timer.
4.
After everyone is done, ask them to number each
line 1-7 like this:
1 Once upon a
time
2 Every day
……..and so on
5.
Pick someone to start. Ask them to read line 1, the person to their
left to read their own line 2, and so on until all 7 lines are read. Depending on the number of people you may
need to continue going. The end result
is usually pretty funny.
6.
Go through the reading again, but now you can
mix things up. Examples: start with
someone else, go opposite direction, pick people at random, pass stories around
and have other people read them.
Alt versions
After doing the original version, at the start of each
sentence add the following or your own starters.
Never once upon a time…
Never every day… Never one day... and so on
Surprisingly once upon a time... Surprisingly every day... Surprisingly one day... and so on
Predictably once upon a time… Predictably every day… Predictably one day… and so on
Page 2
A very short story
Complete the following sentences to create a very short
story. Make sure it is legible. It doesn’t need to be creative or original
unless you want to be. You have 2
minutes.
Once upon a time there was ____________________.
Every day, ________________________________________________________________.
One day ________________________________________________.
Because of that, ___________________________________.
Because of that, _______________________________________________________________________.
Until finally ___________________________.
The end.
A very short story
Complete the following sentences to create a very short
story. Make sure it is legible. It doesn’t need to be creative or original
unless you want to be. You have 2
minutes.
Once upon a time there was ____________________.
Every day, ________________________________________________________________.
One day ________________________________________________.
Because of that, ___________________________________.
Because of that, _______________________________________________________________________.
Until finally ___________________________.
The end.
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