| Aim | The aim of this activity is to inspire the participants to have courage expressing themselves and be aware of what they want in life and how this can be achieved. This activity enhances the value of expression, of our thoughts and feelings. |
| Trainee profile | Any. People with special needs can participate as long as they are able to express themselves. |
| Learning Objectives | To develop their social skills
To gain experience presenting to an audience To fearlessly express their personality To be inspired by other people and the opposite |
| n° participants | Best between 8-20 people |
| Duration | 50 minutes |
| Materials | n° 1 paper sheet (A4 size or similar), n° 1 pencil/participant and n° 1 chair (if possible) per each participant. |
| Preparation | Set one concentric circles of chairs.
If it is not possible, due to the lack of space, you may create more small circles or two lines of chairs facing each other. If not possible, due to the lack of chairs, you may create room for the participants to sit on the ground. |
| Implementation | 1. Have all participants sit down on a chair in the circle. If there are many participants, you may want to split the group and create two or more circles of chairs.
2. Hand out paper and pen to all participants and ask them to think individually of an object or an animal that characterizes them as individuals. Give them from 3 to 5 minutes to figure it out. They need to have the WHY in mind as well. 3. Ask the participants to write down, or better yet draw, the identified object or animal. 4. When all have completed the task, ask one by one to stand up (one at a time in clockwise order) and analyses why they chose that object or that animal. Give them 5 to 10 minutes to express themselves. 5. Once all participants have completed their analysis, ask for a round of applause as a shared gratitude to the whole group. |
| Debriefing | The leader of the team will ask the questions, as the following provided, to each participant and will allow the other participants to contribute by asking other questions.
Why do you select that object/animal? What makes you feel? With what actions will you be one step closer to being that object/animal? Have you had an experience that made you behave like that object/animal? If you regret your decision, which other would you choose and why? What similarities do you have with that object/animal? |
| Tips and hints | If participants cannot write or draw the object/animal they have thought of, ask a partner to help them. |
| Safety measures | Keep the chairs at an appropriate distance. Keep other objects in the room at least 1 meter away from the outer circle of chairs. People with disabilities may have the proper assistance and need to get acquainted with the position of the chairs first. |
| Added value | Sometimes it is difficult to express what is happening to us. Our interaction with the world allows us to get more stimuli and understand our desires. The value of expressing feelings is a path to inner peace. It improves healthy human relationships, inspires trust and reliability.
Deeper and more authentic emotions make us more vulnerable, for example sadness, fear, shame, and loneliness, but they bring us closer to the person we are or can become. |