• Number of Participants: Any
• Age Level: Any (adjust the topic and the length of the exercise for the age of the participants
• Source: 112 Acting Games by Gavin Levy
• To allow people to express their thoughts and opinions freely, to encourage participation, to encourage constructive listening
  

This is a variation of a game in 112 Acting Games by Gavin Levy. Mr. Levy's variation focuses on participation, encouraging acting students to stand in front of the class and elaborate on simple topics for one minute. In our variation, participants are encouraged to talk about the subject of the workshop.

- Katherine Burke, Director of InterPlay: Interactive Theatre for Dialogue

Once your group has established the subject of the day's dialogue (e.g. diversity, sexual harassment, substance use, etc.), and once the space has been made to feel safe through the use of other games and exercises (see the game archive for some ideas), give everyone in the group a piece of paper. Ask the participants to write a topic on the paper, focusing on the subject at hand. For example, if you are focusing on diversity, people might write...

• Diversity is important in my life because...
• One time I saw discrimination
• The benefits of diversity in the workplace
• The reasons discrimination exists

Fold up the pieces of paper and put them in a container. Ask a volunteer to pick a piece of paper. The volunteer must then talk about that topic for precisely one minute, no more, no less. No one is allowed to comment on the speaker's opinions. Listeners should try to listen constructively, without voicing or showing agreement or disagreement while the speaker is talking.

The speaker can talk about anything he or she wants, so long as it pertains to the topic he or she has selected.

Depending on the age of the participants and the time allowed, adjust the amount of speaking time and the topics. Younger people can use this game to increase confidence speaking in front of a group, using simple topics like...

• Flowers are great because...
• My favorite animal is...
• My favorite book is...