I have endured far too many silly icebreakers activities in the workplace and as a volunteer. I remember one where you had to talk while you wrapped a string around your finger, stopping when the string ran out. Some seemed more like Facebook memes, where you find friends who liked the same movie or tried that same restaurants. Others were just ridiculous, like the “sit on one another’s lap” icebreaker.
I have also been part of plenty of introductions where the participants go around the table, saying their name and position title. These techniques usually relate in learning one another’s names, but you don’t really get to know anyone.
In my professional writing classes, I definitely want students to get to know one another, and I want to learn a bit about who they are as well. I want to accomplish all that however, without silly games and ineffective icebreakers. My solution has been to ask students to compose professional bio statements, like those you might find on a company’s website or in its annual report.
If you would like to learn more about the assignment, check out these resources from my Spring 2015 Technical Writing course:
You can also read more about my goals for the Professional Bio Assignment in my post on the Bedford/St. Martin’s Bits blog.