Awestruck 3 Minutes

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Reflect on a memorable experience of wonder and connect that perspective to the group's current work.

Use it when: At the start of a visioning or strategy session when opening up perspective before detailed planning.

Skip it when: During urgent operational reviews, conflict resolution, or when reliable video and audio playback is unavailable.

Group arrangement: Trios or quartets, followed by a brief whole-room debrief.

Timing: Relationship Makers Handbook suggests 5 to 15 minutes. UWT standardizes the session at 15 minutes.

Materials and tools

• A short video clip of 2 to 3 minutes featuring scale, nature, or human achievement (such as Powers of Ten or Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot)
• Screen and external audio speakers loud enough for the whole room
• One index card or notepad sheet per participant
• One pen or pencil per participant

Before participants arrive

1. Preload and test the chosen video and sound on the presentation display.
2. Distribute one note card and pen to each seat.
3. Confirm subgroups of 3 or 4 can turn to face each other without moving heavy furniture.

Say this to open

Take a seat with a card and pen. We will watch a short three-minute video together in silence. Afterward, you will write down a brief memory of a time you felt awe or wonder, then share your reflections in small groups.

How to run it

1. Watch video 3 minutes

   Play the selected video on the shared display. Ask participants to watch in silence without writing or checking devices.

2. Silent note-taking 3 minutes

   Direct participants to write answers on their index cards to two prompts: 'When was a recent time you felt a sense of awe?' and 'What aspect of our shared focus evokes that same wonder?' Anyone who prefers not to write a personal story may write about a natural phenomenon or leave their card blank.

3. Small group exchange 6 minutes

   Form groups of three or four. Each person has up to ninety seconds to share their reflection or pass. For example, someone might say: 'Seeing a satellite pass overhead reminds me how small our daily problems are, which helps me focus on our long-term mission.' Group members listen without debate.

4. Whole-room debrief 3 minutes

   Call the room back together. Invite two or three voluntary observations from the groups using the debrief questions.

Debrief questions

• What common themes surfaced when you described moments of wonder?
• How does zooming out to a broader perspective alter how you view today's tasks?

Finished output: Handwritten index cards with personal reflections, retained by each participant or shared optionally with the room.

Remote

Stream the clip using meeting software with computer audio sharing enabled. Have people reflect on paper or in a private document for three minutes. Use breakout rooms of 3 to 4 people for six minutes. Reconvene in the main room for text chat or verbal debrief.

Hybrid

In-person members watch the central screen while remote members view the screen share. In-person members pair with in-person colleagues, and remote participants join separate online breakout rooms to preserve clear audio.

Access and participation choices

• Turn on closed captions for the video clip.
• Participants may pass entirely or share an impersonal example rather than a private memory.

If the session gets stuck

Video fails to load or audio cuts out.

Skip the video. Read aloud a short passage, such as Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot quote, and continue with the three-minute reflection.

One person dominates the small group conversation.

Instruct groups to designate a timekeeper and limit individual turns to 90 seconds.

Terms used here

• Awe: An emotional response to something perceived as vast that challenges one's current understanding.