Can You Top This?

Our SCORE for Technical Training book is now available! As a sneak peek, here is one of our energizers from the book, available here.

Author: Adrianne Roggenbuck

Description: Participants try to top each other’s stories about technology gone wrong.

Objective: To generate enthusiasm around sharing participants’ worst technology horror stories

Time: 5-7 minutes, depending on how many stories are shared

Audience: Any technical training audience

Group Size: Any size group subdivided into teams of 4-5 people

Materials: None

Process:

1. Ask participants to close their eyes for a moment and envision the worst technology snafu that has ever happened to them. When they have decided on one, have them stand up.

2. Once everyone is standing, have them sit once again and share their horror stories at their tables. Have each table team select one story they think is the absolute worst. The person whose story gets selected will be the spokesperson for the team.

3. You begin the sharing with one of your own technology horror stories, and then say, “Can you top this?”

4. Ask for a volunteer spokesperson to share their story. After they finish their story, you say, “Can you top that?”

5. Continue the same process with the stories until no one else volunteers to share.

Debrief: We have all had technology issues that have negatively impacted our effectiveness. If we are aware of the possible pitfalls and have more than one way to solve a problem, then we are more likely to recover more quickly from the negative occurrence.

Variations: Add a discussion of how the issues were resolved if you have 10-15 minutes for the activity instead of 5-7 minutes.

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