Quick energizers for workshops, trainings and large groups

An energizer is a short activity that changes the state of a group: after lunch, after a heavy topic, or an hour into a call when cameras start going off. The best ones take under five minutes, need no props, and don't single anyone out.

Energy isn't only loud. Sometimes a tired room needs a laugh, and sometimes it needs a calm minute to reset. Have both kinds ready.

All eleven at a glance

Ten seconds to two minutes

Don't smile. Everyone turns to a partner, or looks at someone's video tile, and holds eye contact for ten seconds without smiling. Almost nobody manages it. Chad Littlefield picked this up from Shawn Achor, who ran it with 800 leaders at once.

The clap. Hold your hands apart where everyone can see them. Every time they pass each other, the group claps once, together. Change the speed and height, and fake a pass now and then. The fake gets the biggest laugh. From playmeo's Mark Collard.

In the manner of the word. Give an action and an adverb: "stand up assertively", "stretch as if you're about to run the Olympics", "go get coffee as if it's the best coffee you've ever had". Do three or four in a row. It turns the break you were giving anyway into an energizer.

Emoji charades. Each person picks their three most-used emojis. In pairs, they act them out without words while their partner guesses. A point per emoji guessed in two minutes. People end up talking and laughing about their emojis, which is the point.

Name backwards. In small groups, everyone says their name backwards and the others guess what country it sounds like it comes from. Silly, quick, and it helps people remember names.

Get people moving (rooms)

Left and right story. Everyone stands. Tell a short story about Mr. and Mrs. Wright, full of the words "right" and "left". People step or lean that way every time they hear one. On a call, they lean in their chair.

Gotcha. In a circle or pairs, each person holds out a flat palm and puts a fingertip in their neighbor's palm. On "go", everyone tries to catch the finger in their palm while escaping with their own. Switch hands for round two.

Calm resets

How do you want to feel? Instead of "what do we do next?", ask the group how they want to feel by the end of the session or the next three hours. A minute alone to think of a word or two, a minute to tell a neighbor. People become aware of their own energy and start managing it.

A minute of quiet. On a call, ask everyone to turn their camera off, do nothing for 60 seconds, then come back on. People arrive from different places, a fight with a teenager or a lunch eaten at the keyboard; a shared minute puts everyone in the same room.

Take-what-you-need break. Before a break, ask people to take ten seconds and decide what they need to come back refreshed. Introverts get permission to sit alone; extroverts go and talk to ten people. Both come back better than if they'd spent it in their inbox.

Calls only

Chat waterfall. Ask a question, everyone types their answer in the chat but doesn't press enter. On "3, 2, 1, go", everyone presses enter at once. The chat floods, which is fun, and nobody copies the first answer.

How to keep energy up all session

• Alternate active and passive parts. A good session never has more than 15 to 20 minutes of listening in a row.
• Plan an energizer after every long break and at the start of each new session, not only at the very start.
• On a call, bring more energy than feels natural. Some of it gets lost through the screen, so what feels like too much to you reads as normal to them.
• Play quiet music during solo work on a call. Silence gets heavy fast.

Run it with Claryoo

Claryoo shows you who's with you and who's gone quiet as the session goes on, so you can see when the room needs an energizer instead of guessing. In a room, people can tap Too fast or Lost me on their phone at any time, and only totals are shown. A quick poll after an energizer ("How's your energy now?") is a good way to get the chat moving again.

More to watch

• Quick Energizers For Large Groups, Chad Littlefield (13 min): emoji charades, don't smile, in the manner of the word, how do you want to feel, take-what-you-need breaks.
• 5 x Instant ENERGY BOOSTERS for Large Groups, playmeo (7 min): the clap, gotcha, name backwards, the left and right story.
• How To Manage Energy In A Remote Workshop, AJ&Smart (8 min): why online workshops need more energy from the facilitator, warm-ups, and music.
• How To Make Virtual Team Meetings FUN, Chad Littlefield (12 min): podcast mode, video breaks and the chat waterfall.