Think-pair-share for adult training and meetings

Think-pair-share is the simplest structure there is: ask a question, give everyone time to think alone, have them talk it over with one other person, then take answers from the room. It was built for classrooms, and it's just as useful in a training session or a team meeting, for the same reason.

When you ask a question and take the first hands, you're only hearing from the people who think fastest out loud. Everyone else learns they can wait. Think-pair-share makes sure every person has an answer before anyone speaks to the room.

How to run it

Write it down

The Edutopia video shows a teacher adding one step: people write their answer before they pair up. Writing makes people think properly, not just nod along, and it gives quiet people something to read out if they're nervous. With adults it also stops the pair from just agreeing with whoever talks first. The version is sometimes called think-ink-pair-share.

Don't skimp on the thinking time. Education researcher Dylan Wiliam makes the same point in a short video: the "think" step is the one most often rushed, and it's the one that matters most.

Good questions for it

• What's one way this applies to your job?
• What would you do first if this happened on your team tomorrow?
• Which part of what we just covered is least clear to you?
• What's a time you saw this go well, or badly?
• If you had to explain this to a new starter in one sentence, what would you say?

Variation: pair, share, promote

For a group with a dominant voice, David Burkus suggests a twist: after the pair talks, each person shares their partner's idea with the room, not their own. The over-talker has someone else presenting their point, and every idea gets heard without the volume and the confidence attached. If they interrupt, you can gently remind them it's their partner's turn to speak for them.

On a call

1. Post the question in the chat and on screen.
2. Ask everyone to write their answer somewhere private (a notepad, or typed in the chat but not sent yet).
3. Breakout rooms of two for three minutes.
4. Back in the main room, everyone sends their answer to the chat at once, then you invite two or three people to say more.

Think-pair-share or 1-2-4-All?

Common mistakes

• Asking a question with one right answer. Use a quiz for that, and save think-pair-share for open questions.
• Taking answers from every pair in a big room. Take a few, and let the rest go to the chat.
• Moving on before people have thought. Count to ten in your head after you ask.

Run it with Claryoo

Start with a quick poll on the question, have people pair up to explain their answer, then run the same poll again to see who changed their mind. In a room, people answer on their phones by QR. After the pairs, pick a volunteer at random from the people who voted to share first.

More to watch

• Bolstering Effortful Thinking With Think, Ink, Pair, Share, Edutopia (3 min): the written step, shown in a real class.
• Most Teachers Skimp on the Think in Think-Pair-Share, InnerDrive with Dylan Wiliam (5 min): why the thinking time matters.
• How to Silence the Over Talkers in Meetings, David Burkus (3 min): the pair, share, promote twist.
• Online Teaching Adaptation: Think-Pair-Share, The K. Patricia Cross Academy (2 min): running it on a video call.