You know what it’s like delivering a conference. You want everyone to feel relaxed, but you don’t want long, drawn-out silences where people feel uncomfortable.
This is where icebreakers shine, energizing and engaging every last person in attendance.
A little planning goes a long way in delivering the perfect conference. Get yours right with our 15 conference icebreaking activities.
What are icebreakers good for?
Icebreaker activities work as prompts to create engaging conversations between groups. They help people overcome initial nerves and eliminate uncomfortable silences. There’s a reason why master teachers use icebreakers for a classroom. When carried out properly they strengthen relationships and promote a sense of belonging.
From the cafeteria to corporate headquarters, icebreakers help people shake off initial nerves and establish a positive atmosphere. When using icebreakers, context is key, and it’s best to choose activities that suit the tone of your event.
When selecting and designing icebreakers, you want to keep these three things in mind:
- Set a clear goal for the activity
- Keep things simple but meaningful
- Be sensitive and aware of everyone’s point-of-view
Today’s 15 activities tick every box while aiming for the conference hall, so let’s get into it.
15 of the best icebreaker activities for a conference
Now we’ve laid out the benefits of icebreaker activities, we’re handing you a pickaxe to shatter any conference ice into a million pieces!
1. Interview and introduce!
Let’s kick off the list properly. One of the main challenges at conferences is helping attendees open up to strangers. This can often result in people not being 100% comfortable with opening up to strangers. People work on improving this skill for years, but it’s a lot easier said than done!
Set up this energizer activity to kickstart the conference called “Interview and Introduce!” and you’ll be helping the people who need it. The activity will flip the sometimes awkward introduction process on its head.
Set up:
Create pairs for everyone in attendance. If you have any groups of 3 remaining, that’s okay, a trio works too. Each person will interview their partner with a few simple, lighthearted questions. Here are a few examples to start:
- What’s your name and where did you grow up?
- Where do you work?
- What's a hobby you’re passionate about?
- What’s your favorite food of all time?
After swapping roles, each person introduces their partner to the group, easing the pressure of self-introductions and making networking more comfortable. You can follow our simple questions or make yours more detailed and specific, just remember to keep it light!
2. Speed Networking
Moving on from “Interview and Introduce,” up the ante a bit with a Speed Networking activity. Conversations with timers work well because limitations provide a touch of chaotic fun. This can be perfect for diffusing any initial awkwardness and establishing some meaningful conversations.
Set up:
Explain to everyone in attendance that they’ll be networking with each other while sticking to a timer. Get the timer displayed clearly on a large screen, or use a recognizable, fun sound (a moo-ing cow can go down well!)
Each conversation should be short but sweet, allowing both people to respond. 1 to 1.5 minutes usually does the trick. Provide some icebreaker questions for them to follow too, if you need to. These could include:
- What’s your go-to productivity hack?
- What’s a skill you’ve always wanted to learn but haven’t had the chance to yet?
- If you could switch jobs with anyone for a day, who would it be?
This rapid-fire networking event helps shatter ice faster than a speeding bullet. Try it out!
3. Helping anonymous challenges
Here’s a unique take on sharing personal challenges with others without feeling pressure. This conference activity adds an element of surprise to encourage collaboration and thinking on your feet. You never know what kind of challenges another person is facing. This activity uses anonymity and encourages everyone to engage without the pressure of ownership.
Set-up:
To each attendee, give a pen and a piece of paper. On their sheet, they need to write down one person or work-related challenge they’re currently facing. Once everyone is ready, have them crumple their papers into a ball and throw it high into the air. Let them fall wherever they may.
Then each person picks up a random ball and reads it. They should write down one helpful piece of advice or propose a solution. If your groups aren’t too large, each person can anonymously share the problem they picked up, and their idea for a solution.
The random element of scrumpling a ball and tossing it will catch attendees by surprise, so try this fun activity at your next conference!
4. Conjuring up Q&A questions
Here’s an ingenious way to hit two birds with one stone. Most conferences carry out a Q&A section just before the event closes. After a conference, have you ever wondered how many other questions there might have been if people had more time and support to create them? Sometimes people struggle to create a great question when they’re limited for time. Here’s how to overcome that:
Set-up:
Right at the start of your event, create groups for attendees and tell them they’re free to brainstorm ideas throughout the conference. Thought-provoking questions should be encouraged from the get-go. Paper or whiteboards will work just fine.
Remind them again to keep crafting at the halfway point of the conference. Around the time you’re wrapping the conference up, ask groups to share their questions electronically. An app like Kahoot will work. Other groups can vote for the best question, then the group who created the question can ask.
You’re helping create an event with an open and productive atmosphere, and you will have questions for future reference for the next conference. Win-win!
5. Icebreaker Polls
Leading on from electronically sharing Q&A prompts, why not try out some fun polls at the start of your event to loosen things up? There’s a whole bunch of websites out there to enable quick and fun polling, even for really large groups! Quizziz, Brightful and Quizlet all come to mind. Kicking off the conference with some fun polling questions helps attendees shatter the ice together.
- If you could go back in time, would you choose the same career?
- What are you most grateful for?
- What was the last good book you read?
- (For remote teams) Where are you joining from today?
You can make these questions as work-related or outlandish as you wish, just don’t go overboard! Many poll websites allow you to design multiple-choice questions too, if that’s to your liking. You never know how attendees might respond to “Would you rather spend the rest of your life in the freezing Arctic or the scorching Sahara Desert?”
Use ending poll questions to relate back to the overall objective of the conference now that all attendees are familiar with the formatting. Enjoy!
6. Pink ‘n’ Mix candy Sharing
Almost everyone grew up with some kind of candy store nearby. Do you remember making a “pick-and-mix” bag, a collection of your favorite sweets, and (not) sharing them all with your loved ones? Some countries call them a “Lucky Dip” bag, but regardless of the name, why not use them to break the ice in your next conference?
Set-up:
Pre-arrange your candy bags. It might be a great idea to look up some retro sweets that people remember from the past. Finding a few small, forgotten gems from the 90s can kickstart fun conversations. Look for “circus peanuts,” “pop rocks” and “Freddos.” Dish out one candy to each attendee.
After sharing (and before eating!) share a large screen with them, showing how each candy comes with an ice-breaking question. Something along the lines of: “Rollo chocolate: Share the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done!”
This is a delightful way to break the ice and get conversations started. Satisfy a sweet tooth while helping people build bonds. What’s not to love?
7. The GIANT question ball
If you’re not afraid to get a little chaotic in your conference, try out an activity called “The Giant Question Ball.” Obviously, as a disclaimer, don’t do this one if you’ve got tables filled with food or glasses of wine, that’d just get too messy!
This large group energizer requires a giant beach ball. You need to write a bunch of pre-written questions on the ball. It’s a larger-than-life activity, so the more oversized the beach ball, the better!
Set-up:
Before the event, get a large inflatable beach ball. On the ball, write some of the best ice-breaker questions you can find (we’ve got a great selection here!). Let attendees smack the ball over their heads all around the room.
When someone catches it, or when you decide (you can use music), the person holding the ball needs to freeze. Whichever question their right index finger is on, they need to answer. Then pass the ball along.
This simple, fun icebreaker brings a little bit of silliness to proceedings, and might have your attendees thinking about sandy beaches and food by the coast!
8. Two Truths and a Lie
“Two truths and a lie” is a tried-and-tested icebreaker that’s loved the world over! Turn mystery into laughter with this classic icebreaker that lets everyone reveal a bit about themselves while practicing a small amount of deception!
Set-up:
Each attendee crafts three sentences about themselves. Two of the sentences must be true, while one of them should be a big fat lie! Encourage everyone to share quirky or surprising facts from their past.
All other members should write which sentence they think is the lie, then share it with the others. It’s a fantastic way to get to know colleagues in a lighthearted way, and who knows, you might be surprised to find Janice from HR had a pet porcupine! Great fun!
9. Would You Rather?
The power of “would you rather” questions comes from their simplicity and endless fun. “Would you rather?” questions put attendees on the spot and can be as quirky as you like (we’ve got a whole bunch of them here!)
When carried out properly, they bring everyone together and kickstart engaging unexpected conversations. They provide a great blend of lighthearted debate and laughter.
This-or-that questions work perfectly for icebreaking too.
Let the group answer and explain why they made their choice. It’s a great way to discover different perspectives while keeping things fun and engaging!
10. My strangest job
Here’s a fantastic one for smaller groups. “My strangest job” lets people open up about their past in a fun and casual way. Have each attendee write down the most interesting or unconventional job they've ever had on a slip of paper. Encourage them to really think about what aspects of the job were strange.
After that attendees draw one paper, one by one, and ask questions like “Who here has worked outdoors?” or "Who’s had a job where they wore a costume?" The whole aim of the activity is to encourage members to relate to one another about their often strange or quirky early employment. Lots of people enjoy bonding this way, so try it out at your next conference!
11. Coin connection
Assuming you live in a country that uses coins (not every country does!), make the most of your old coins for an icebreaking activity. This activity adds a personal touch by turning an everyday object into a storytelling moment, helping everyone get to know each other a little better as they think about the past.
Set-up:
Scatter a handful of coins on each table and have each participant pick one at random. They’ll introduce themselves (name, role, company, and so on) and then share a meaningful event or story from the year marked on their coin. Attendees are likely to share personal milestones, major life changes, or important moments in their careers. This can be a simple yet effective way of getting attendees to open up.
Just don’t go looking for ancient Roman Aureus, unless you’ve got time-travellers among your teams!
12. Ongoing top-10 quizzes
One of the more challenging aspects of executing the perfect conference is maintaining energy levels, from start to finish. Lots of conferences start out bright and exciting, yet engagement dwindles after the initial excitement.
Incorporate a top-10 quiz that comes in installments throughout the evening. You don’t need to be too specific to your workplace, but keeping things within the same industry can perk up the competition. If you’re in the travel industry, for example, challenge your teams with a quick “top 10 travel destinations around the world” at the start of the event. Quiz them again at the halfway point with “What are the top 10 most visited landmarks around the world?”
By having quickfire quizzes that aren’t just one-offs over the evening, you can tally up a grand total at the end and reward your teams as you see fit. Who doesn’t like a bit of trivia in the form of a pop quiz?
13. Word spark
Here’s a no-pressure activity that’s great for gauging the feeling of the room. “Word spark” is a quick-thinking activity that is perfect for setting the tone and generating ideas without putting anyone on the spot. You’ll be guiding your conference-goers into creative thinking about the central topic, and encouraging them to interact with the main content.
Set-up:
Divide participants into small groups or pairs. Give them a topic related to the meeting (such as "customer experience" or "growth goals," whatever relates to your conference). Each group has 2 minutes to come up with one word that best describes the topic. Afterward, compile all the words on a whiteboard and discuss them to generate a list of keywords. You can build on this list for future conferences and to energize your teams.
14. Human bingo
Everyone has played the regular version of bingo, right? That game where you’re given a 5x5 sheet of numbers, and cross off the numbers that are called out. Once your bingo sheet is full, you shout “Full house!” and win a prize. Well, there’s a version called “human bingo” which works fantastically as a conference icebreaker that helps everyone mingle. You’ll be encouraging new interactions, and learning new things about each member.
Set-up:
Hand out 5x5 bingo cards filled with quirky little questions, or work-related statements like “Has worked in three different countries” or “Owns a pet that isn’t a dog or cat.” Participants move around the room, asking each other questions to check off matching boxes. Play until the first person has a full card and “BINGO!”
15. Future focus
Rounding off our list is an activity that celebrates the conference’s ending and looks toward the future. “Future Focus” is a simple activity. Give each participant a notecard and ask them to write down one personal action or goal inspired by the day. Don’t hesitate to set up an area back at the office to display the actions and goals raised by your teams. Call it a “Future Focus Zone" "Commitment Corner," and let the goals be shared.
Encourage everyone to revisit the board from time to time, and revitalize it with each conference you hold. Without even realizing it, your future leaders will learn a lot from this board. The future is bright with this activity!
Icebreaking reaches the next level on a team retreat!
We know you’re in the business of getting the most out of your teams. Breaking the ice at a conference is an ideal way of bringing staff together and forging strong team bonds. If you want to amplify your team spirit to the next level, carry out these icebreakers while on an unforgettable team-building retreat.
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Not only this but we also have access to 160+ locations around Europe, APAC, the US, Latin America, and now Africa, meaning the sky is your limit when it comes to choosing the right location for you and your team.
Let us sort out the tricky logistics for you. Spaces are very limited, so get in touch now!
