# Awestruck 3 Minutes

Participants watch a short video clip that evokes wonder, note a personal moment of awe, and share reflections in small groups.

**Time:** 15 minutes. Relationship Makers Handbook suggests 5 to 15 minutes. UWT standardizes the session at 15 minutes.
**People:** 4 to 24. Trios or quartets, followed by a brief whole-room debrief.

## 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.

## 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.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Relationship Makers Handbook (page 43) under the title 'Awestruck 3 minutes'. The source notes possible clips such as 'Powers of Ten' or Carl Sagan quotes.

The original source outlines an activity where teams watch a video, pause in silence to write down thoughts, and discuss moments of awe relevant to their topic. UWT standardized the group sizes, provided a concrete 15-minute breakdown, established structured turn rules, added access options, and dropped internal corporate tracking language.

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/awestruck-3-minutes/