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Icebreaker
Workshop participants

Workshop Icebreaker Bingo

A quick workshop icebreaker that gets participants talking, moving and engaged before the main session begins.

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Workshops often start cold, with participants sitting quietly and waiting for the facilitator to begin. This bingo card gets people up, talking and engaged before the main content starts, making the room noticeably warmer and more collaborative.

It is most useful when people do not already know one another or when a facilitator wants to surface a little information about the room before moving into exercises. The prompts can stay social, or a few can be adapted around the workshop topic so participants begin thinking about the session without turning the icebreaker into a knowledge test.

How to run this activity

Hand out cards as attendees arrive and take their seats. Give a five to ten minute window before the session officially starts for people to mingle and fill in squares. Facilitators can use completed cards to spot common ground between attendees, which is useful for later group exercises. Recognise the first finisher with a shout-out rather than a prize to keep the energy focused on the workshop ahead.

Keep the opening proportionate

For a half-day or full-day workshop, five to ten minutes is usually enough to create some movement and conversation without making the icebreaker feel like the main event. If the workshop is shorter, simplify the card or ask participants to complete a line rather than a full card.

For technical or specialist workshops, use only a few topic-related prompts. Participants should not feel tested before teaching has begun.

Full prompt list

  1. Find someone attending this workshop for the first time
  2. Find someone who works in a similar role to you
  3. Find someone who has used this topic's tools before
  4. Find someone who travelled from outside the local area
  5. Find someone who signed up on someone else's recommendation
  6. Find someone hoping to solve a specific problem today
  7. Find someone who has attended a similar workshop before
  8. Find someone who brought a notebook rather than a laptop
  9. Find someone who works for a different type of organisation than you
  10. Find someone who arrived early
  11. Find someone who knows another attendee already
  12. Find someone with more than five years in their field
  13. Find someone new to their current role this year
  14. Find someone who has taught this subject to others
  15. Find someone who prefers hands-on learning to lectures
  16. Find someone who has read a book on today's topic
  17. Find someone sitting at a different table to you
  18. Find someone who set a personal goal for today's session
  19. Find someone who is a manager or team lead
  20. Find someone who has never used the software being taught
  21. Find someone who found the venue tricky to locate
  22. Find someone who prefers morning sessions to afternoon ones
  23. Find someone hoping to bring back at least one idea to their team
  24. Find someone who has met the facilitator before

Customisation ideas

  • Add squares related to the specific workshop topic or software being taught
  • Include a square for identifying someone who can help others during exercises
  • Adjust language for a more formal or academic setting

Frequently asked questions

Five to ten minutes is usually enough, especially if you start it as people are still arriving and settling in. It shouldn't eat into your core content time.

Yes, noting who matched on which squares can help you form varied breakout groups later. It's a useful, low-effort way to map out the room's mix of experience and interests.

Yes, though it's worth tailoring a few squares to reference the workshop topic. This helps surface relevant experience levels among attendees early on.

Usually a mixture works best. Social prompts help people talk naturally, while a few topic-related squares can reveal experience or interests that are useful later. Avoid making every square subject-specific, especially if participants arrive with very different levels of knowledge.

Related activity guidance

If you are deciding where bingo fits within a longer session, explore RoomZing's workshop bingo ideas and templates.

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