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: 8f58171b677f786e1536ababece4035f9435e91f1ad7451974d5598cfedefc70

# Cumulative Name Game

Participants sit in a circle, say their own name, and repeat the names of the people who spoke before them in sequence. The group hears and practices every name through cumulative repetition.

**Time:** 15 minutes. 15 minutes matches the upper bound of the 5 to 15 minute source evidence, allowing comfortable pacing for single circles up to 12 or parallel circles up to 20.
**People:** 4 to 20. Single circle of 4 to 12 people; split groups of 13 to 20 into two parallel circles of roughly equal size.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Enable participants to hear, pronounce, and memorize each person's preferred name at the start of a session.
**Use it when:** Use at the beginning of a workshop, meeting, or class where participants do not yet know one another.
**Skip it when:** Skip when group members already work together daily or when the room exceeds 20 people.

## Materials and tools

- Chairs arranged in a circle
- Optional scratch paper and pens for participants who want to write names down

## Before participants arrive

1. Arrange chairs in a single circle with clear sightlines across all seats.
2. For more than 12 participants, set up two separate circle clusters in the room.

## Say this to open

We will go around the circle to practice everyone's name. When it is your turn, say your name, then recite the names of everyone who spoke before you in order. For example, if Alex starts by saying 'Alex', the second person says 'I am Brenda, and this is Alex.' You can ask the room for help at any point. Anyone who prefers not to recite the memory list can simply state, 'My name is [Name], and I pass the list to the next person.'

## How to run it

### 1. Explain sequence and establish order (2 minutes)

Seat participants in a circle. Explain the cumulative sequence. Emphasize that anyone who hesitates can invite the room to prompt them without penalty. Establish the starting person and designate clockwise order.

### 2. Introduce and recite names cumulatively (9 minutes)

Person 1 states their preferred name. Person 2 states their name and repeats Person 1. Person 3 states their name, then repeats Person 2 and Person 1. Continue clockwise. If someone exercises the pass option, the subsequent speaker resumes the sequence from the start of the list. The final person in the circle concludes the chain by stating their name and reciting everyone who came before them.

### 3. Optional opening turn and pronunciation check (2 minutes)

Offer Person 1 the optional opportunity to recite the entire circle from memory if they want a turn doing the memory task. Then open the floor for anyone whose name was mispronounced during the round to state the correct pronunciation aloud.

### 4. Debrief and transition (2 minutes)

Ask the room 1 or 2 debrief questions from the run sheet to close the activity and transition into the agenda. Take 2 or 3 brief reflections.


## Debrief questions

- Which names or pronunciations do we need to review before we start our main agenda?
- What strategies helped you track the names as the list grew?

**Finished output:** Every participant has stated their name aloud, heard their name repeated by peers, and clarified any pronunciation errors.

## Remote

Display an ordered speaker roster in chat or on a shared slide. Follow the roster sequence: Person 1 says their name, Person 2 unmutes, states their name, and recites Person 1, continuing down the list. Keep gallery view open so faces match names.

## Hybrid

Post an explicit speaking roster in the meeting chat. Alternate between in-person and remote participants. Project remote video feeds on the room display and ensure remote attendees have an unobstructed camera view of the in-person circle. Remote participants unmute, state their name, and recite the sequence over room audio.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may keep scratch paper and a pen to write names down as people speak to support recall.
- Anyone may pass on the memory recitation by saying, 'My name is [Name], and I pass the list to the next person.'

## If the session gets stuck

**A participant freezes or feels anxious about reciting a long list of names.**

Remind them they can ask the room for a group prompt, or simply state their name and say 'I pass the list to the next person.'

**The group has 13 to 20 people and a single circle would take too long for late turns.**

Split the room into two parallel circles of roughly equal size so each circle completes its run within the allotted 15 minutes.


## Terms used here

- Cumulative pattern: A sequence where each speaker repeats all previous entries in addition to adding their own.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Workshop Weaver, which attributes the method to SessionLab under CC BY-SA 4.0.

The core mechanic of sitting in a circle and repeating names cumulatively comes directly from Workshop Weaver and SessionLab documentation. UWT set the baseline time to 15 minutes to fit up to 12 participants comfortably without rushing, established a split into two parallel circles for 13 to 20 participants, resolved the turn sequence so the final person recites the complete circle, and added clear opt-out language.

[Workshop Weaver](https://workshopweaver.com/facilitation-methods/name-game)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/name-game-facilitation-method/