Curiosity Ping Pong
Curiosity Ping Pong is a virtual icebreaker designed to spark engaging conversations and foster connection within hybrid and remote teams. Participants share brief written responses to a prompt and then verbally explore each other's answers, building curiosity and rapport.
Use this method at the beginning of a virtual meeting or workshop to create a welcoming and interactive environment. It's particularly useful when you want to encourage team members to learn more about each other in a low-pressure setting.
Solves: Lack of engagement in virtual meetings; difficulty building rapport among remote team members; superficial online interactions.
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Step 1: Pose a thought-provoking question to the group (e.g., "What is something strange you believed as a child?"). (1 minute)
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Step 2: Instruct each participant to type their response into the chat window, but not to send it yet. (2 minutes)
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Step 3: On your cue, have everyone simultaneously hit 'Enter' to populate the chat with responses. (1 minute)
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Step 4: Allow participants a minute to scan the responses in the chat. (1 minute)
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Step 5: Invite a volunteer to select a response they're curious about and ask the author to share the story behind it. (2-3 minutes per story)
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Step 6: After sharing, the storyteller chooses another response they're curious about, and that person shares their story. Continue for the allotted time.
- Encourage participants to be brief and concise in their initial chat responses.
- Remind participants that they can pass if they don't feel comfortable sharing a particular story.
- Actively listen and acknowledge each person's story to create a supportive environment.
- Use different types of questions (e.g., work-related, personal interests, hypothetical scenarios).
- Have participants vote on the responses they're most curious about.
- Break into smaller groups for more intimate sharing.