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: 4ff0dacc7b5592e45775fa7d6558ef8b0e47918b2637f9cbe8f275a29aa08f4d

# Intro Bingo

Participants circulate with a grid of personal traits and experiences, interviewing each other to find matches. They collect names to complete a line or pattern while learning facts about their peers.

**Time:** 20 minutes. Source recommends 20 to 30 minutes; UWT structures this run sheet for a brisk 20 minutes.
**People:** 8 to 24. Whole group milling and rapid one-on-one pairings

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Identify shared experiences and diverse traits across the group through one-on-one discovery conversations.
**Use it when:** At the beginning of a workshop, cohort kickoff, or multi-team session where participants do not know each other well and need an active, low-stakes mixer.
**Skip it when:** When the group already works together daily, or when participants have urgent, sensitive business requiring immediate formal focus.

## Materials and tools

- One printed Intro Bingo card per participant
- One pen or pencil per participant
- One countdown timer display
- Optional small tokens or celebratory stickers for verified lines

## Before participants arrive

1. Print enough bingo cards for all attendees plus spares.
2. Clear chairs and tables to the edges of the room to create open space for milling.
3. Distribute one card and pen at each seat or at the entrance.

## Say this to open

Take your bingo card and a pen. Your goal is to meet people across the room and find someone who matches each description on your grid. When someone fits a box, write their name in it. You can only use a person once on your card, so talk to as many different colleagues as possible. The first person to complete a straight row, column, or diagonal calls out 'Bingo!'

## How to run it

### 1. Explain rules and distribute cards (3 minutes)

Deliver the opening script. Emphasize the core constraint: each peer can sign or be written in only one square per card. Give an explicit example: if Alex speaks three languages and also loves gardening, you can only write Alex's name in one of those two squares. Invite participants to scan their grids before moving.

### 2. Circulate and interview peers (10 minutes)

Signal the start. Participants stand, circulate freely, and interview each other. Encourage brief follow-up questions when a match is found. If someone shouts 'Bingo!', pause briefly to check their line aloud, celebrate, and then instruct the room to continue circulating to complete blackout grids or additional lines until the timer sounds.

### 3. Verify matches and spotlight discoveries (4 minutes)

Bring the room back to order. Ask the first participant who achieved bingo to read out their winning line and the names listed. Check with those individuals that the claims match. Ask the wider room for hands on 2 or 3 of the rarest squares, such as who has lived in more than two countries or who has an unusual pet.

### 4. Debrief group commonalities (3 minutes)

Conduct a whole-room debrief using the structured questions. Take 2 or 3 quick answers from volunteers.


## Debrief questions

- What was the most surprising thing you learned about someone here today?
- Which trait or experience turned out to be far more common in our group than you expected?

**Finished output:** Completed bingo grids documenting peer names and traits, creating initial social connection points.

## Remote

Pre-populate a shared digital whiteboard or online spreadsheet with individual player boards. Send participants into automated pairs in breakout rooms for 2 minutes each across 4 rounds. Participants ask each other about their board squares and type names directly onto their own digital card. Convene in the main room to celebrate lines.

## Hybrid

In-person attendees carry physical cards; remote attendees use a shared digital sheet. Set up a dedicated video kiosk or tablet station in the physical room. In-person participants can walk up to the station to interview remote participants, ensuring both cohorts exchange names and complete squares together.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants with limited physical mobility may remain seated; prompt other participants to rotate to them, or designate stationary interview hubs.
- Anyone may opt out of sharing specific personal details by stating 'pass on that square' without giving a reason.
- An attendee who prefers not to circulate can serve as the official timekeeper and claim verifier.

## If the session gets stuck

**Participants bunch into cliques and repeatedly write down their immediate friends.**

Remind the room of the one-name-per-card limit and prompt participants to take three steps across the room to talk to someone they have not spoken with yet.

**Someone cannot find anyone matching an obscure square.**

Clarify that bingo requires only a single line of 4 or 5 squares, not the entire board, so difficult squares can simply be bypassed.


## Terms used here

- Blackout: Filling every single square on the bingo card rather than just one line.

## Participant material: Intro Bingo 4x4 Grid

INTRO BINGO
Rules: Find a peer who matches a box. Write their name. Each person can only appear once on your card!

[ Row 1 ]
[ Has lived in more than two countries ] | [ Enjoys gardening ] | [ Has an unusual pet ] | [ Speaks 3+ languages ]

[ Row 2 ]
[ Prefers tea over coffee ] | [ Has worked remotely 1+ year ] | [ Is an avid reader ] | [ Plays a musical instrument ]

[ Row 3 ]
[ Has run a marathon or race ] | [ Loves board games or puzzles ] | [ Is left-handed ] | [ Has moved more than 5 times ]

[ Row 4 ]
[ Volunteers at a community group ] | [ Has taken art or dance classes ] | [ Has traveled to 10+ countries ] | [ Has baked bread from scratch ]

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Participatory Methods library under the name 'Intro Bingo'.

Retained the traditional mixer mechanic, rule constraints (one square per person, straight line wins), and prompt examples from Participatory Methods. UWT supplied a concrete 20-minute facilitation timing structure, exact opening script, hybrid kiosk guidelines, accessibility adjustments, and ready-to-print 4x4 card content.

[Participatory Methods](https://participatorymethods.com/activities/intro)

[Participatory Methodologies Library](https://participatorymethods.com/activities/intro-bingo/)

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