Cover Story
Cover Story is a workspace ritual exercise for divergent ideation: it helps participants open up more possible ideas before choosing a direction.
How to run it
- Explain the object of the game to the players and define each category on the template:
- “Cover” tells the BIG story of their success.
- “Headlines” convey the substance of the cover story.
- “Sidebars” reveal interesting facets of the cover story.
- “Quotes” can be from anyone as long as they’re related to the story.
- “Brainstorm” is for documenting initial ideas for the cover story.
- “Images” are for supporting the content with illustrations.
- Break the players into groups of four to six and make sure there are markers and one template for each group. Tell the players that to populate the template they can either select a scribe or write and draw on it together.
- . Explain the object of the game to the players and define each category on the template:
- . Break the players into groups of four to six and make sure there are markers and one template for each group. Tell the players that to populate the template they can either select a scribe or write and draw on it together.
Run this exercise live
The facilitator console stays in this browser. Its QR handoff is a short-lived participant snapshot containing only public exercise instructions, phase, prompt, and timer state.
What participants need now
Materials:
This is a participant-safe snapshot, not a response form. It sends nothing back to the facilitator.
Prompts to use +
Explain the object of the game to the players and define each category on the template:
“Brainstorm” is for documenting initial ideas for the cover story.
Break the players into groups of four to six and make sure there are markers and one template for each group. Tell the players that to populate the template they can either select a scribe or write and draw on it together.
. Explain the object of the game to the players and define each category on the template:
. Break the players into groups of four to six and make sure there are markers and one template for each group. Tell the players that to populate the template they can either select a scribe or write and draw on it together.
Run this with your AI assistant +
Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.
Adapt this exercise for my exact room. Exercise: Cover Story. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Explain the object of the game to the players and define each category on the template:; “Brainstorm” is for documenting initial ideas for the cover story.; Break the players into groups of four to six and make sure there are markers and one template for each group. Tell the players that to populate the template they can either select a scribe or write and draw on it together.; . Explain the object of the game to the players and define each category on the template:. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.
Origin unverified
- Where we observed it: The strongest current observations come from Gamestorming; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (2 sources observed, including Gamestorming, SessionLab.)
- What that means: we track where an exercise has been observed in public sources. We do not claim to know who created it, or how popular it is.
- No efficacy claims: appearing in this library is not a claim that the exercise is proven effective. Facilitator judgment and context decide whether it works for a given room.
- Method lineage: this exercise shares its method name with work attributed to Dave Gray and James Macanufo in our people index. That is a name match, not an origin claim.
- Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.