Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: aae218ed2c8727df318a98798fe70ab93aa3e9f94c93b302f1e3e377ae070f4f

# Diversity Bingo

Participants circulate with a grid of personal experiences and background traits, asking peers questions to find someone who matches each square. Peers initial qualifying squares on each other's cards before a structured whole-group debrief.

**Time:** 15 minutes. UWT suggested timing based on Teampedia's 5 to 15 minute warm-up range.
**People:** 6 to 24. Whole-group mingle in rotating pairs. If there is an odd number of participants, one cluster forms a trio or the facilitator participates.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Exchange background information and discover unexpected shared experiences across the group.
**Use it when:** Early in an in-person or virtual training session to start conversations among participants who do not know each other well.
**Skip it when:** When participants already work together closely every day or when discussing personal backgrounds would feel intrusive in a high-stakes setting.

## Materials and tools

- One printed Diversity Bingo card per participant
- One pen or pencil per participant
- Digital copy of the card if remote or hybrid participants join

## Before participants arrive

1. Print one copy of the 4x4 Bingo card for each participant.
2. Clear enough open floor space for participants to walk and speak in pairs comfortably.

## Say this to open

Take a card and a pen. Your goal is to circulate, introduce yourself to different people, and ask questions to find peers who match the squares. If a square fits someone, they write their initials in that box on your card. Each person may sign up to two squares on your card. We will mingle until time is up. You are always welcome to pass on answering any question that feels private.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce rules and hand out materials (2 minutes)

Distribute one card and pen to each person. Read the opening script. Clarify that individuals sign other people's cards, not their own, with a limit of two signed squares per partner.

### 2. Circulate and collect initials (8 minutes)

Invite everyone to stand and mingle. Participants converse in brief pairs, asking about items on the grid. When an item applies, that partner writes their initials in that square on the asker's card. For example, if Jordan speaks two languages, Jordan initials that box on Alex's card. Continue mingling and rotating partners until the 8-minute timer ends.

### 3. Check patterns and share observations (2 minutes)

Ask participants to return to their seats. Conduct a brief show of hands: who filled at least one complete row or column? Who got more than eight boxes initialed? Invite two volunteers to name a square that surprised them.

### 4. Debrief the exercise (3 minutes)

Pose the debrief questions to the room. Take one response per question from different volunteers to fit the time limit.


## Debrief questions

- Which squares were easy to find matches for across our group?
- Which squares were hard or remained completely empty?
- What is one new thing you learned about a peer today?

**Finished output:** Completed or partially initialed bingo cards documenting shared and unique traits across the room.

## Remote

Distribute an individual digital 4x4 card link to each participant. Run 4 rounds of 2-minute randomized one-on-one breakout rooms (8 minutes total). If an odd number attends, one room has three people. Partners ask each other about the grid squares and type each other's initials into matching boxes on their own individual digital cards.

## Hybrid

Each remote participant receives their own digital card link and is paired with an in-person buddy carrying a mobile video device. The pair mingles with in-person participants. The remote participant asks questions directly, and when a box matches, the peer gives permission for the remote participant to type the peer initials onto the remote participant's personal card. The in-person buddy also maintains their own separate paper card.

## Access and participation choices

- Seated option: participants who prefer not to walk may stay seated while peers rotate to visit them, or complete the prompt in stationary small groups.
- Privacy protection: every participant may decline to answer any specific square by saying Pass without giving an explanation.

## If the session gets stuck

**One participant signs everyone's card for four or five squares.**

Remind the room of the limit: no person can sign or initial more than two squares on any single sheet.

**An odd number of participants leaves one person standing alone during the mingle.**

Invite the extra participant to join any pair to make a temporary trio, or join the mingle yourself as a facilitator.

**Participants bunch up with familiar friends instead of circulating.**

Call out a 4-minute time check and ask everyone to switch partners and find someone they have not spoken with today.


## Terms used here

- Mingle: Moving around an open room to hold brief, one-on-one conversations with different peers.

## Participant material: Diversity Bingo Card

Instructions: Ask a peer if a square applies to them. If yes, have them initial the box. A peer may sign at most 2 squares on your card. You may pass on any question.

[1] Speaks more than one language
[2] Has lived in 2 or more countries
[3] Grew up in a rural area
[4] Is the oldest or only child

[5] Plays a musical instrument
[6] Has stood up for someone else's rights
[7] Prefers public transit over driving
[8] Has traveled across more than three time zones

[9] Has dietary restrictions or preferences
[10] Practices a traditional craft or art
[11] Is a first-generation college graduate
[12] Reads books in multiple languages

[13] Has changed careers or fields
[14] Regularly volunteers in their community
[15] Has lived in both an apartment and a house
[16] Has relatives living on another continent

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Teampedia as Diversity Bingo (also cited as Discovery Hunt and People Bingo). The underlying party game format is widely known as Human Bingo.

Retained the signature-hunting mingle mechanic, two-square signing limit, and debrief prompts documented in Teampedia. UWT added explicit time allocations (15 minutes total), a 4x4 printable prompt template drawn from public examples, structured access options, odd-participant handling, and balanced remote breakouts.

[Teampedia](https://www.teampedia.net/wiki/index.php?mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile&title=Diversity_Bingo)

[Teampedia](https://www.teampedia.net/wiki/Diversity_Bingo)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/diversity-bingo/