Appreciative Gift Dialogue

What is this method good for?

An ice breaker to build creative connectivity within a group for spontaneous speaking.  Usually ends with lots of bubbling people.

How does the process look like?

Ask everyone to stand in the team or audience and find a partner for a role playing task taking only one minute (role switch + repeat).

Person one uses his/her hands to gesture that they are giving the other person a gift with a phase like, «I hope you will enjoy my gift».

Person two mimes that he/she is receiving the gift then opens the invisible package, looks into the invisible place and says something like: «Oh, this is perfect, how did you know that I wanted a …xyz… !?»
It doesn't matter what the person imagine he/she finds in that box, it's their perfect creation and should be completely spontaneous. Then the gift giver has the chance to appreciate the receiver by says: «I knew you wanted …xyz… because of …xyz…!» closing the co-creation.

Needed time/ materials/ people etc.

• Time: It needs about 1 min. time for each cycle of giving and appreciative receiving.
  
  

Our Experience with this Method

Explorer Keith: I love transitional tasks that inspire to enter into the next creative, engagement, reflective or harvesting phase. So please share your favorites with us too.

Sources and further literature

This method coms from Standford Prof. Matt Abraham’s talk:

«Think Fast, Talk Smart: Communication Techniques» (min. 26:00)

Written by Keith Riggs