Roundtables and masterclasses are two of the best platforms for knowledge sharing in any industry. With more businesses seeking to discover new insights into today’s pressing challenges, event organisers have to find creative ways to make these discussions more interesting for participants.
We’ve got a few creative icebreaker ideas that you can use for your next discussion event. From illustration exercises to live sketchnotes, these fun and engaging activities will surely warm up your guests for their discussion.
Blindfoldoodle
This activity is a good mental exercise your participants can take at the start of your discussion. It’s an entertaining way to hone observation skills in preparation for any lengthy knowledge-sharing event.
Your participants will also certainly be amused with their illustrations and share a good laugh about how funny they’d come out. Remind them that it’s not about the result, but rather the process.
The best part: no art skills are needed!
Why-conic
In this activity, your participants will be given an opportunity to reflect on their reason for joining your event. While all of them may share one or two objectives in attending your discussion, it’s important for them to understand their respective purposes in participating.
Their illustrations don’t have to be too detailed. Just ask them to sketch icons or logos that symbolise their purpose or reason. This activity also ties into the dynamics of sketchnoting, which we’ll bring up later.
Live sketchnotes
Icebreaker activities can sometimes be done all throughout an event. Level up live events with sketchnoting”>Sketchnoting’s a good example of an icebreaker that encourages participants to share their ideas during a discussion. Seeing their shared insights illustrated in real time allows them to track their contributions to the conversation and stay within the scope of the topic being discussed.
You can ask your participants to illustrate their ideas themselves, or you can take that added burden off their shoulders by having a professional illustrator do the job for them. Ortus Draws is home to some of the best live illustrators in the knowledge-sharing space, and their live sketchnotes add a more lively and colourful dimension to live discussion events.
Looking for more creative illustration exercises for your events? Check out Ortus Draws here. Explore some of their best illustrations to see how they add life and colour to live discussion events.
Interested in creating a more engaging knowledge-sharing experience of your own? Contact Ortus Draws to book one of their talented illustrators to sketchnote your next event live!
