1. Ice Breaker:

Purpose: To help participants feel at ease with each other and comfortable in the new learning environment where you are training. It also establishes group rapport. As its name implies, it warms the learning environment to the point that the 'ice' keeping participants from interacting with each other is broken up.

Description: An ice breaker generally involves all participants in an active role. It sets the tone for the training by creating a noncompetitive environment, so that participants can interact with each other without feeling threatened. Ice breakers should be fun and attempt to create a bond between trainer and participants that can be strengthened during the rest of the training program. An example might be:

a. Randomly pair-off participants.

b. Have participants work in pairs and find out as much about each other in five minutes as possible.

c. Each participant then introduces his/her partner to the rest of the group.

Since ice breakers can often incorporate games, unorthodox activities or close physical contact between participants, it is important to keep in mind (as with all of these techniques) what is appropriate to the culture and context in which you will be training.