Leadership and Personal Development Group Activities

An engaging variation on a feedback activity that focuses on future changes and positive action, rather than dwelling on what went wrong.

In this debating game, participants imagine they are in an inflatable lifeboat that is running out of air. Each round, participants must state why they should remain on the boat and then vote on who should leave. Encourage critical thinking and develop presentation skills in this fun debating activity.

Powerpoint Karaoke is an improv game where volunteers take turns presenting slide decks that they've never seen before, in front of a live audience.

Ever heard the cliché, “It's not what you say, but how you say it”? The Seven Words jolt dramatically demonstrates this principle. You demonstrate how the meaning of a sentence changes as you emphasize different words. Later, you invite pairs of participants to explore this concept.

A short activity to run early in a program focused on sharing fears, anxieties and uncertainties related to the program theme. The purpose is to create openness within a group. The stinky fish is a metaphor for "that thing that you carry around but don’t like to talk about; but the longer you hide it, the stinkier it gets." By putting stinky fish (fears and anxieties) on the table, participants begin to relate to each other, become more comfortable sharing, and identify a clear area for development and learning.

A persuasive activity where participants "give" each other terrible presents.

Spoken activities such as presentations or role play conversations are transcribed then analyzed.

A bingo game that is played throughout a live session using common virtual session occurrences. 

Wizard Mingle is a simple networking activity designed to break the ice while getting participants to discuss core facilitation skills and begin exploring group dynamics.

In this leadership development activity, participants are asked to draw their own coat of arms symbolising the most important elements of their leadership philosophy. The coat of arms drawings are then debriefed and discussed together with the group.

After the exercise you may prepare a coat of arms gallery, exhibiting the leadership approach and philosophy of group members