Eventdrive

Icebreaker activities: 6 techniques to build connection between guests

18 December 2019 | Temps de lecture : 6 min.
Deux personnes posent devant un fond bleu en tenant des déguisements à la main. C'est la photo principale de cet article rédigé par Eventdrive

As an event planner, there are many things you are afraid of: that the caterer will have the wrong address and you will find yourself without food, that it will rain all day when our event was planned outside, or that the atmosphere will be mediocre throughout the event. 

Of course, a good event organizer always has plans B to avoid this kind of misadventure. But as far as the good atmosphere is concerned, there is only one real solution: creating a link between guests and icebreaker activities. To achieve this, several techniques exist. Eventdrive has decided to group them together in one article. Are you ready? Let’s do it!


BREAK THE ICE BETWEEN GUESTS WITH GAMES

It may seem childish, but often the easiest icebreaker activity is to set up games. Don’t worry, whether your event is professional or more relaxed, the possibilities are numerous! Eventdrive has gathered its favorites starting with an activity that is particularly easy to set up with our tool.

Use word clouds

Recently, word clouds have become very popular. The principle is simple, the facilitator asks a question and the guests must answer the question using a single word.

Eventdrive also offers this feature in its software. The real advantage is that the results can be broadcast live on a large screen. The more a word has been chosen many times, the bigger it gets. Trends can therefore quickly emerge.

We particularly like this game, because it allows to launch the debate between the guests according to the answers, but can also bring them closer according to the answers that are given.

Offer classic games

Since the beginning of time, there have been games that bring even the shyest ones together during an event. Do you know what we’re talking about? 

Of course, we think of pool tables, table tennis and table football of all kinds. You can also make available several sets of darts, which have been coming back into vogue recently. 

The advantage is that you only have to place them on the site of your event and it will naturally form groups. In addition, this type of game tends to bring out the competitive spirit of the players and challenges could be thrown between your participants.

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A photo animation

What could be better than setting up a photo booth to break the ice between your guests? To make the animation a little more fun, you can challenge your guests. For example: “Take a picture of yourself with someone wearing a red tie”. The goal of the game is to find a person with a red tie and ask them to be photographed with it!

You can go even further to create a link by offering challenges such as ‘Take a picture of yourself with an employee who has been working in the company for more than 5 years’. If the number of guests is large, it can encourage people to talk to people they don’t know every day!

On the other hand, if you really want to motivate your participants, you will have to find an issue to get them to play and promise them a prize! A filled basket or a discount card at a store will surely do the trick. 😉

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CHOOSE ORIGINAL ICEBREAKER ACTIVITIES TO CREATE A LINK

 If you are not a fan of the games, don’t worry, there are other techniques and animations that can be implemented. Here are our 3 favourites:

Set up ‘Bars of’.

It is always easier to go and talk to someone if you have an affinity with that person. But how do you know if you’re really going to get along with someone before you even talk to them? To do this, set up ‘bars of’!

We explain: at the venue of your event, add a touch of originality by offering a ‘cocktail bar’, a ‘chocolate bar’, a ‘cupcake bar’ or a ‘tea bar’.

Quite naturally, people will go to the bars they like the most and probably talk to the people around them. And what could be easier than to start a conversation about the subject that brought them together. Easy, isn’t it?

Place your guests

Another tactic that is a little riskier to break the ice between your guests is to place them. Of course, this solution is only possible if you offer a sit-down meal and it is not always well received by participants who often prefer to settle down with their friends.

This proposal is, on the other hand, ideal if you have a relatively small number of guests and the various participants have already met at least once before. 

For example, if you are organizing the gala dinner of a medium-sized company, it may be interesting to mix teams. Everyone has already spoken to each other, but has not necessarily had the opportunity to exchange ideas more widely.

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Installing a jukebox

 As we know, music has the ability to bring people together. Then you might as well enjoy it! Our proposal? Install a jukebox on the site of your event and let it go… Quickly, you will see that your participants will come to propose their music.

Some will start dancing, others will engage in musical debates and there may even be blind tests that will start! Setting up a jukebox has a double advantage: it creates a link between your guests and ensures the musical entertainment of your evening. Bet won, didn’t it?

Organizing an event is not an easy thing, especially when you don’t know how the guests will react! By setting up fun activities, small games or original animations, you will have no trouble breaking the ice.

If you want to be really sure that your event will have a good atmosphere, you can also use a qualified facilitator who will be in charge of ‘heating your guests’ in case your proposals have not appealed to them.

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