Icebreakers · Discussion Prompts

Agree/Disagree & Would-You-Rather Bank

Sparks quick, low-stakes debate and reveals personality through opinions.

IcebreakerDiscussionLight Debate

Duration: 15 min
Participants: 1–5, 5–10, 10–20, 20–50, 50+
Energy: Low
Difficulty: Beginner
Materials: Minimal
Prep time: 5 minutes

3 min read · Delivery: Offline · Virtual

Overview

Purpose. Sparks quick, low-stakes debate and reveals personality through opinions.

When to use. As a flexible warm-up, or to fill a few spare minutes before a session officially starts.

Best for. Any group size, in person or virtual.

Facilitator preparation

Prepare a bank of at least 30 light debate prompts in advance. See Trainer's Reference below for a ready-to- use starter list.
Decide whether you'll run this in pairs or small groups of 3.

Room setup. Open enough floor space for pairs or small groups to spread out and hear only their own conversation.

Virtual setup. Run this over video call using breakout rooms for pairs or small groups, and the main room for whole-group sharing.

Hybrid setup. Give remote participants an equal way to take part, for example a shared digital whiteboard or chat thread mirroring the in-room discussion.

Materials. A prepared question list

How to Conduct

Split participants into pairs or small groups of 3.
Read one prompt aloud, or hand it to pairs in writing (see Trainer's Reference below for a starter list of prompts).
Give each pair or group 1–2 minutes to discuss and pick a side.
Invite a few pairs to briefly share which side they landed on, and why.
Move to the next prompt, repeating for as many rounds as time allows.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE GROUP

A few participants may hang back at first; let them opt in when they're ready rather than forcing a turn.

Trainer's Reference: a ready-to-use prompt bank

The source material for this activity calls for “a prepared question list” without giving one. Here are ten to start with; mix agree/disagree statements and would-you-rather questions for variety:

Cats are better than dogs, agree or disagree?

Would you rather have unlimited time or unlimited money?

Tap water tastes better than bottled water, agree or disagree?

Would you rather always be 10 minutes late or 20 minutes early?

Homework should be banned, agree or disagree?

Would you rather work from home forever, or the office forever?

Mountains are better than beaches, agree or disagree?

Would you rather give up your phone or your car for a month?

Morning people are more productive than night owls, agree or disagree?

Would you rather always know when you'll be told bad news, or always be surprised by it?

After the activity

DEBRIEF QUESTIONS

What part of “Agree/Disagree & Would-You-Rather Bank” felt easy, and what part felt harder than expected?
Did you find yourself agreeing with your partner more or less than you expected?

REFLECTION QUESTIONS