3 Bonding Exercises for Groups of Men

#258

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Exercise #1: The Most Interesting Man in the World Exercise

Use When:

• You need a non-lame icebreaker for a new group of men
• You want a light-hearted and fun experience for an established group of men

Time Needed

• 30-60 minutes (10 mins needed for the setup and the writing)

Tools Needed:

• Pen and paper

Recommended Group Sizes:

• No group size too small or too big
• For the readouts, you can keep men in large groups or break into small groups

Structure:

• Tell the men they’ll be writing 10 or more “interesting” things about themselves
• Most men will need “prompts” to get the juices flowing, so read some of the ones below before giving them time to write
• Share your own list of 10 (don’t skip this step! Hearing these examples really sparks creativity)
• Give them 5 minutes to write, and slowly read the prompts again while they write
• After the time is up, have them read out their list to the group
• Any group member is allowed to stay “Stop! Tell me more!” anytime something piques their interest.

 


Prompts*:

*They don’t need to answer every question…only the ones that spark an interesting tidbit about themselves:

• Where have you lived?
• What have you traveled?
• What was the worst travel experience you’ve had?
• What injuries have you sustained?
• What scars/tattoos/unique body characteristics do you have?
• When did you get in trouble?
• What nicknames have you had?
• Did you ever collect anything?
• What’s your most prized possession (now, or as a kid?)
• What was the best birthday gift you ever received?
• Did you ever run away from home?
• What’s an achievement you’re proud of?
• What’s a particularly colossal failure you’ve experienced?
• What’s an embarrassing moment you’ve sustained?
• What’s the worst date you’ve ever been on?
• What’s the best/worst job you’ve ever had?
• What special skills/talents do you have?
• What useless skills/talents do you have?
• What’s a quirk that you have that your partner makes fun of you for?

Exercise #2: Making Your Life Movie

Use When:

• You want a group of men to build deeper rapport
• You have 45 to 90 minutes of time

Time Needed:

• At least 45 minutes

Tools Needed:

• Pen and paper

Recommended Group Sizes:

• No group size too small or too big
• For the readouts, you can keep men in large groups or break into small groups

Structure:

• Have the men imagine they’ve just been called a movie studio who wants to buy the rights to a movie about a particular era of their life, and they need to come up with a story worthy for the big screen.
• Read each prompt below, and give men 20-30 seconds to journal on each prompt.
• Once finished, have each man read out their movie to the entire group (or in small breakouts)
• The role of the listeners = Supportive Movie Studio Agent. Their job is to ask questions and dig for the juicy details to help flesh out the story.