--- title: "Accepting Yourself" description: "Participants write personal strengths used during a shared experience, then meet in small circles. In timed turns, each speaker shares briefly while a designated peer scribe records affirmations spoken by group members." last_updated: "2026-09-07" canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/accepting-yourself-powerful-self-reflection-exercise-for-groups/" --- # Accepting Yourself Participants write personal strengths used during a shared experience, then meet in small circles. In timed turns, each speaker shares briefly while a designated peer scribe records affirmations spoken by group members. **Time:** 35 minutes. Playmeo suggests 10 minutes for individual writing followed by sharing rounds. UWT establishes a 35-minute total running plan using parallel small groups of 3 to 5. **People:** 4 to 24. Individual silent writing, followed by structured peer turns in small circles of 3 to 5 participants. ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Document personal strengths from a shared project and collect peer-observed affirmations without requiring the speaker to write during their turn. **Use it when:** After a completed project, program milestone, or intensive workshop where participants worked closely enough to observe each other in action. **Skip it when:** When participants have not observed each other working, when group trust is fragile, or when formal performance evaluations are underway. ## Materials and tools - One printed Accepting Yourself Worksheet per participant - One pen or pencil per participant ## Before participants arrive 1. Print one copy of the Accepting Yourself Worksheet for each participant. 2. Arrange seating into small circular clusters of 3 to 5 chairs with writing surfaces. ## Say this to open Take the next eight minutes to reflect on our recent work together. Fill out Section 1 of your worksheet with strengths you used and one situation you handled well. Leave Section 2 blank for now. In small groups, you will speak for up to one minute about what you wrote, and your group members will offer additional strengths they noticed in you. A peer will scribe for each turn so the speaker can simply listen. ## How to run it ### 1. Introduce and write individually (8 minutes) Distribute the worksheets and pens. Direct participants to complete Section 1 in silence. State clearly that Section 2 remains blank. Explain that participants control what they write and what they choose to share. ### 2. Form circles and assign roles (4 minutes) Divide participants into circles of 3 to 5. For 4 to 6 people, stay in one circle. For 7, make groups of 3 and 4. For 8 or more, make groups of 4 or 5. For each turn, one person is the speaker. The person to the speaker's immediate left scribes into Section 2 of the speaker's worksheet. Remaining members offer feedback. After each turn, the speaker role moves clockwise, and the scribe role shifts to the new speaker's immediate left. ### 3. Run feedback rounds (18 minutes) Run timed turns of 3 minutes per person. The speaker takes up to 1 minute to share reflections from Section 1. For the remaining 2 minutes, group members share additional observed strengths. The scribe writes these affirmations directly into Section 2 of the speaker's worksheet and may also speak observations. Rotate roles clockwise after each turn until every participant has had a turn. ### 4. Conduct whole-room debrief (5 minutes) Reconvene the whole room. Ask two or three volunteers to each choose and answer one debrief question from the list. Focus on the contrast between self-perception and peer observations. Do not ask participants to read aloud private worksheet entries. ## Debrief questions - What was it like to hear strengths that others noticed which you had not listed yourself? - How did having a peer write the notes change how you listened to the feedback? - What is one strength identified today that you plan to carry into your next project? **Finished output:** Each participant holds a completed worksheet containing their personal self-reflection or peer affirmations recorded by a teammate. ## Remote Distribute editable digital copies of the worksheet before the session. After individual writing in the main room, split participants into breakout rooms of 3 to 5. During each turn, the speaker shares orally without typing. The assigned scribe for that turn types spoken observations directly into the speaker's shared document. ## Hybrid Run the individual reflection and small-group rounds in parallel cohorts: remote participants work in a dedicated video breakout room with shared digital documents, while in-person participants work in physical clusters using printed sheets. Reconnect both cohorts into a shared room audio-video setup for the final 5-minute debrief. ## Access and participation choices - Participants may opt out of reading their personal reflections aloud and instead invite peers to share observed strengths directly from their general observations. - Participants who prefer not to receive spoken feedback may pass entirely or hand their worksheet to the scribe to collect silent written notes from group members. - A participant who cannot write easily may dictate their individual reflection to a partner or use voice-to-text before groups assemble. ## If the session gets stuck **Feedback becomes generic praise without specific substance.** Intervene briefly to ask the peer to name the specific moment or behavior that showed that strength. **The speaker talks past the 1-minute mark, leaving insufficient time for peer feedback.** Remind groups to assign a timekeeper or watch a room timer so they transition to peer comments after 1 minute. **A participant finishes writing Section 1 early and looks disengaged.** Prompt them to silently jot down specific strengths they noticed in teammates to prepare for the group rounds. ## Terms used here - Scribe: The group member assigned for a given turn to record peer feedback onto the speaker's worksheet so the speaker can focus on listening. ## Participant material: Accepting Yourself Worksheet ACCEPTING YOURSELF WORKSHEET Name: _______________________ Date: ________________________ SECTION 1: INDIVIDUAL REFLECTION (Complete on your own) 1. What strengths did you rely on during our recent experience? - - - 2. Describe one challenge you navigated well, and the skill you used to handle it: 3. What is one contribution you made that you feel proud of? ------------------------------------------------------------ SECTION 2: PEER AFFIRMATIONS (To be filled out by your group scribe) Group members: Listen to the speaker, then share additional strengths you noticed. Scribe: Record those points below. Additional strengths and moments noticed by your peers: - - - - Recorded by: _______________________ ## Sources and adaptation Observed in Playmeo library, where the activity is attributed to Mark Collard. Retained core mechanics from Playmeo: completing Section 1 individually, sharing self-reflections, inviting peer feedback on additional strengths, and having a peer scribe record affirmations. UWT added explicit circular seating with a deterministic scribe shift rule (the person to the speaker's immediate left), clear subgroup math for 4 to 24 participants, and concrete opt-out paths. [Playmeo](https://www.playmeo.com/activities/debriefing-activities/accepting-yourself) [Playmeo](https://www.playmeo.com/activities/debriefing-activities/accepting-yourself/) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/accepting-yourself-powerful-self-reflection-exercise-for-groups/