A Matter of Taste

Purpose. An easy way to surface shared interests while also mixing up who talks to whom.

When to use. In the first 15 minutes of a session, once names are known and the group is settling in.

Best for. Any group size, in person.

• Prepare a few multiple-choice “taste” questions in advance. See Trainer's Reference below for a starter list.

Room setup. Enough open space for participants to move into different corners or clusters for each answer.

Virtual setup. This works best in person. If you must run it virtually, use a poll feature and breakout rooms by answer instead.

Hybrid setup. Give remote participants a poll to vote in, then match them into a breakout room with others who chose the same answer.

Materials.

1. Prepare a multiple-choice “taste” question in advance, with 3–4 answer options (see Trainer's Reference below for a starter list).
2. Read the question and its options aloud to the group.
3. Ask participants to move to a corner of the room (or raise a hand for their choice, if space doesn't allow moving) matching their answer.
4. Give each resulting small group a minute or two to chat about their shared choice.
5. Repeat with a new question and category, letting the small groups re-form differently each round.

Learning outcome. Participants leave having had a few short conversations with a genuinely varied set of colleagues.

• Question bank prepared (3+ ready in Trainer's Reference)
• Debrief questions ready
• Timer set for 10–25 min
• Room set up with space to move or sort into groups