Visual Phone is a great energizer to get everyone engaged while fostering a conversation about communication and its interpretations.
Running the activity:
- Break the large group into sets of three people (one or two groups can have four people).
- Place three sticky notes and a pen in front of each person.
- Ask everyone to write a sentence (on the sticky note), then place a blank sticky note on top of it (at this time, only the author of the sentence knows it).
- Everyone passes the sticky note clockwise.
- Each person reads the sentence from the sticky note in front of them, and then creates a representative drawing for the sentence (on the blank sticky note).
- Everyone passes the sticky notes clockwise.
- On a new sticky note, each person writes a sentence for the drawing in front of them, and places it on top of the sticky note set (now the set has three sticky notes: the original sentence, the drawing, and the new sentence).
- Everyone passes the sticky note set clockwise (for the groups of three people, the set should end up in front of the original sentence writer).
- Open the sticky note set so everyone can see the sentences and their respective drawings.
Typically, participants will laugh and have a great time comparing drawings and sentences.
This is a great energizer with a sublime message about communication (visual and written), context, and interpretations.