Icebreakers · Get-to-Know-You

Autobiographical Scavenger Hunt

Forces active mingling and creates natural conversation starters.

IcebreakerRapportPersonal Sharing

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

2 min read · Delivery: Offline

Overview

Purpose. Forces active mingling and creates natural conversation starters.

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.

Facilitator preparation

Reach out to participants at least a few days before the session, asking for one short, interesting, not- obvious fact about themselves. See Trainer's Reference below.
Compile the facts into a single numbered list, without names attached, before the session.

Room setup. Enough open space for participants to mingle and compare notes.

Virtual setup. This works best in person. If you must run it virtually, have participants guess in a shared document or chat instead of moving around.

Hybrid setup. Give remote participants the same list, and let them guess via chat while the room mingles in person.

Materials. Pre-collected one-line facts from each participant

How to Conduct

Before the session, collect a short autobiographical line from each participant and compile them into a numbered list, without names attached (see Trainer's Reference below).
Hand out the list to participants as they arrive, or at the start of the activity.
Explain the challenge: participants must mingle and ask questions to figure out which line belongs to which person, writing the matching name next to each line.
Give a time limit, 10 minutes works well.
Once time's up, go through the list together and reveal which line belonged to whom.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE GROUP

Expect a little shyness in the first 30 seconds, followed by a quick warm-up once one or two people go first.

Trainer's Reference: this one needs advance preparation

Unlike most icebreakers in this handbook, you can't run this one cold on the day. Reach out to participants by email or message at least a few days ahead, asking for one interesting, not-obvious fact about themselves, for example “grew up in three different countries” or “once met a famous chef,” and compile the list before the session starts.

After the activity

DEBRIEF QUESTIONS

What part of “Autobiographical Scavenger Hunt” felt easy, and what part felt harder than expected?
Which fact was hardest to match to a person, and why?

REFLECTION QUESTIONS