Objective:
To let the participants champion themselves and each other, as well as getting to know each other better.
It is used to introduce participants to each other in a positive, upbeat way that emphasises each participant's value to the group.
Overview:
Champions will help a team to acknowledge and recognise the strengths of themselves and those around them. It is great for the start of a sessions as induces positivity to a meeting or discussion.
Activity:
- Have participants pair up.
- Allow 5 minutes for participants to interview each other and learn more about each other.
- Each participant then introduces his or her partner to the group.
- The introduction should "sell" the person on how great he or she is and on how he or she will significantly contribute to the meeting or the task at hand.
For example... "This is Lucy. She's been a student for only a short time. She brings a different perspective, yes. But more importantly, she's very good at helping people work together. She helps find bridges and commonalities among differing opinions, and she can do this without making anyone feel as if he or she 'won' or 'lost.'"
It is important to make sure participants understand that the goal is not just to introduce their partner. The goal is to champion their partner, to show the rest of the group what a great asset their partner is to the meeting, team, or work group.
- You could also add some variation to this icebreaker. Have participants work in teams of three. Two people introduce and champion the third one.
- If time is limited, or if you want to reinforce self-confidence, don't have participants pair up. Rather, each participant introduces himself or herself. During their introduction, participants champion themselves, explaining what value they bring to the group.
- This activity can work for much larger groups by first dividing them into smaller teams.
Skill Development:
The focus is to show the group that they have now broken the ice and that they know each other a little better than they did before, and they have figured out where there strengths lie. It's important for the facilitator to engage and make sure that there is time in the activity for reflection on what they have 'championed'.
Key skills of public speaking and presentation are clearly apparent here and it can be useful to reflect with the group why it might be easier to showcase someone else, rather than themselves. It is also possible to explore the styles of presentation used to "sell" or champion someone else to explore what forms an effective method to hook the audience. Presentation styles can be scored across the group (or voted on by the group) to reinforce what was most appropriate and what appealed to the audience most, and from that key learning can be drawn out.