Broken Telephone is a participatory activity where participants verbally or visually pass along a message through multiple people until it reaches the final participant. The activity highlights how communication can transform, fostering creativity, attentiveness, and reflection on the importance of clarity and active listening.
Preparation
- Define the purpose:
- Demonstrate how messages can change when communicated through several people.
- Encourage creativity and attentiveness in communication.
- Promote teamwork and group reflection.
- Prepare materials:
- Simple phrases, words, or images to initiate the message.
- Sheets of paper and pencils, if visual variations are included.
- A spacious area for participants to form a line or circle.
- Set up the space:
- Organize participants into a line or circle where they can pass the message easily from one to another.
- To conduct the activity virtually:
- Use virtual platforms with chat tools, collaborative whiteboards, or audio and video features to sequentially transmit messages.
Step-by-step instructions
- Form the group:
- Ask participants to sit or stand in a line or circle, depending on the available space.
- Explain the rules:
- The first participant receives an initial message (verbal or visual) and must pass it to the next person.
- The message can only be passed once, without repetition or clarification.
- The last participant says or shows the message they received.
- Rotate roles:
- Repeat the activity with different messages, changing participant order if necessary.
- Group reflection:
- Discuss how and why the message changed during the process, reflecting on implications for group communication.
Example of a digital collaborative Broken Telephone activity
Creative Collaborative Broken Telephone, Questiory
Variations to make Broken Telephone more engaging
- Visual Telephone: Instead of passing along a verbal message, the first participant draws something, and each subsequent participant draws what they think they saw. At the end, compare the original drawing with the final one.
- Thematic Telephone: Relate messages to a topic relevant to the group (e.g., sustainability, leadership, teamwork).
- Telephone of Roles: Assign roles to participants (leader, moderator, observer) and reflect on how these roles affect communication.
- Telephone of Emotions: Ask participants to describe how they feel the message changed and why they believe it happened.
- Narrative Telephone: Begin with the start of a story, and each participant adds a line before passing it on.
- Collaborative Telephone: Divide participants into small groups; each group works on a different message and reflects on how it evolved.
- Combined Telephone: Combine verbal and visual messages in the same activity to observe differences in results.
- Improvement Telephone: After each round, discuss ways to improve communication, then repeat the activity applying those improvements.
- Instructional Telephone: Transmit a set of steps participants must execute at the end (e.g., building something simple with provided materials).
- Intercultural Telephone: Use messages containing cultural references and reflect on how different perspectives influence interpretation.
Phrase ideas for Broken Telephone
📚 Education and Training
- “A book is a silent friend.”
- “Curiosity killed the cat.”
- “Knowledge is power.” – Francis Bacon
- “Education is the most powerful weapon.” – Nelson Mandela
- “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember.” – Benjamin Franklin
- “Curiosity is the engine of learning.”
🏡 Community Development
- “Unity is strength.”
- “It takes a village to raise a child.” – African proverb
- “Building bridges, not walls.”
- “Together we’re stronger.”
- “Change starts at home.”
🏢 Organizational and Business Management
- “Make it simple, but significant.” – Don Draper
- “Don’t bite off more than you can chew.”
- “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
- “Great ideas are born from small conversations.”
- “To lead is to serve.”
🏙️ Urban and Rural Planning
- “A city is an open book.”
- “The best city is one you don’t need to escape from.”
- “Plan today, enjoy tomorrow.”
- “Green is life.”
🩺 Health and Social Well-being
- “Healthy body, healthy mind.”
- “To move is to live.”
🎭 Art, Culture, and Creativity
- “Art is a lie that makes us see the truth.” – Picasso
- “Culture is the memory of the people.” – UNESCO
- “Art is freedom.”
- “Without imagination, there’s no future.”
🌱 Sustainability and Environment
- “There is no planet B.”
- “Every action counts.”
- “Reduce, reuse, recycle.”
- “Plant a tree, change the world.”
- “Water is life.”
🏛️ Public Policy and Governance
- “To govern is to listen.”
- “Power belongs to the people.”
- “Participation is decision-making.”
💡 Innovation and Design
- “Less, but better.”
- “If it isn’t useful, it’s not good design.”
📊 Research and Evaluation
- “Data tells stories.”
- “Observation is key to understanding.”
- “Research is discovering what we didn’t know we knew.”
🤝 Conflict Resolution
- “No peace without dialogue.”
- “Respect is the foundation of everything.”
- “Disagreements are opportunities in disguise.”
🗳️ Civic and Social Participation
- “Small actions change the world.”
- “Every voice counts.”
- “The street is a space for debate.”
- “Asking is the first step toward transformation.”
