Frappe Breaks are little doses of creativity that can be injected into your day at any point. They’re meant to inspire, wake you up, and put some fire under your feet! They’re just as potent as any cup of real coffee (or in my case, a good ‘ol frappe), just without all the jitters, and possible midday energy drains.
Brief:
“How could you possibly hate someone after hearing their story?”
— Deja W.
Like the title and quote above suggests, we all have special stories to tell. Our personal journeys are what make us unique. Today, you’re going to get a chance to share yours, but also dive a little deeper into someone else’s.
Deliverables:
Like always, I’m challenging you to hop completely outside of your comfort zone to set this up. This exercise at its core is similar to speed dating, but the goal here is to help you see the world from someone else’s viewpoint, if only just for a few minutes.
This exercise works best in larger group settings (i.e. with multiple teams at work, a group of friends, family members, etc.) but if you do not have one, don’t worry, you’ll still be able to set it up.
If you’re unable to set aside the time for a whole group session, try popping from cubicle-to-cubicle when you have a few extra minutes. You never know what you can learn from your team members or friends!
Here’s how to successfully host a “We All Have A Story” session:
- Divide your group evenly into groups.
- Once the groups are divided, give the groups a few open-ended topics, and allow them to organically elaborate on them.
- The groups will only have five minutes to get their thoughts out. This will be the first round.
- Once the time is up, individuals must get up and place themselves into a group with someone that they haven’t been in a group with before.
- Everyone MUST talk in each round!
- Repeat until you’ve reached your desired number of rounds. I did this for seven rounds, which is about a 35-minute session!
Note: As the facilitator of the activity, you will need to find a way to communicate the topics to your participants, keep up with the rounds, and keep track of time. I chose to create a PowerPoint to assist me with all of these tasks. You have the option to participate as often as you’d like in each round.
My Results:
My first time hosting a “We All Have A Story” session was in college. I’d been having a horrible experience, but I’d found sort of a safe haven in my residence hall’s community council. They were hosting a conference and had an open call for conference activities. I signed up to host one, just because, and my session was chosen!
My session was impactful and inspiring to all of the attendees, and today, I hope I’ve inspired you to host your very own, “We All Have A Story” session.
You’re probably wondering how I knew that it moved my attendees. Well, I won a certificate for my session! I wasn’t expecting it at all, but I did appreciate that my session attendees received some sort of benefit from it. I’m so proud of that little accomplishment, and I still have the certificate to show for it!
Your Results:
I want to see how you did! Submit a video of your session to Human Resources if you’d like to be featured on the community’s Employee Resource Group page!
Featured Image by Reuben Juarez