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: 57abb12fe3302e683f922861d6c65f23a78e8697973b2361fa25265bec5a569a

# Network Aerobics

Small groups complete a rapid circuit of connection tasks, including mutual introductions, mapping indirect ties, offering problem-solving resources, and introducing a teammate across the room.

**Time:** 15 minutes. 15 minutes based on the low end of the source range (15 to 30 minutes)
**People:** 6 to 24. Small teams of 3 to 4 participants

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Practice uncovering shared contacts, resources, and mutual introductions within a short time limit.
**Use it when:** Use during networking events, cross-department kickoffs, or community meetups where participants need to practice exchanging resources and making warm introductions.
**Skip it when:** Skip when participants are already closely knit or when the room requires a quiet, low-stimulus working environment.

## Materials and tools

- One task instruction card per table or slide display
- One countdown timer display visible to the whole room
- Scratch paper and pens (1 pad and 4 pens per table)

## Before participants arrive

1. Arrange chairs or standing stations into clusters of 3 to 4 people.
2. Distribute scratch paper, pens, and the prompt cards to each station.

## Say this to open

We are running a circuit called Network Aerobics. You will complete four short stations in small teams to uncover shared contacts and practice making warm introductions. Physical contact is completely optional; a nod or wave is fine. Let's form groups of three or four and start station one.

## How to run it

### 1. Form teams and complete greetings (3 minutes)

Assemble participants into teams of 3 or 4. If someone is left over, place them into a group to make a team of 4. Instruct participants to greet each person in their group for 6 seconds using either a handshake, eye contact, a wave, or a brief hello. After greetings, each person states their name and one brief professional or personal mini-story in 20 seconds or less.

### 2. Map external connections (4 minutes)

Each person names one well-connected person inside this room or organization, and one well-connected person outside of it. The team takes 2 minutes to sketch on scratch paper whether anyone at the table knows those people or knows an intermediary who could connect them. Example: 'I know Sarah in legal; Marcus knows her former colleague David, which links me to David's mentor.'

### 3. Crowdsource a challenge and move (4 minutes)

The group selects one member's current work challenge or practical problem. The remaining team members each take 30 seconds to offer one specific resource, tool, or person that could help. Once finished, the team spends up to 1 minute doing a quick movement or game chosen by consensus, such as a round of Rock Paper Scissors, shoulder rolls, or standing stretches. Any participant may choose a seated stretch or pass on movement.

### 4. Cross-group introduction and debrief (4 minutes)

Groups disband. Each person walks over to another group and introduces one of their former tablemates to someone new, highlighting one skill or connection uncovered during the circuit. Regather the full room for the final 2 minutes and take 2 or 3 quick observations from volunteers.


## Debrief questions

- What unexpected common contact or resource came up at your table?
- How did structuring a short time limit change the way you shared and asked for help?

**Finished output:** Every participant completes a warm cross-introduction to at least one person outside their original team, with notes on shared contacts.

## Remote

Use breakout rooms of 3 or 4 people. Step 1 uses video greetings or waves. Step 2 uses a shared digital whiteboard or chat to type the names of well-connected contacts and draw link lines. Step 3 problem-solving proceeds normally, using desk stretches or virtual Rock Paper Scissors in chat. For Step 4, bring all participants back to the main room and have volunteers introduce a teammate in chat or over audio using the pattern: 'Meet [Name], who is working on [Topic] and connected to [Resource].'

## Hybrid

Keep in-person attendees in local clusters of 3 or 4 and group remote participants into dedicated breakout rooms of 3 or 4. During Step 4, pair one in-person team with one remote room via a shared screen, or have remote participants type their introductions into the whole-room chat while in-person participants read them aloud.

## Access and participation choices

- Physical greetings are optional; participants may substitute a wave, nod, or verbal hello instead of a handshake.
- Movement activities in Step 3 are voluntary; participants can choose seated breathing, gentle stretching, or observe without explanation.
- Participants may decline to share a personal problem and instead suggest a neutral, hypothetical workplace scenario.

## If the session gets stuck

**Groups spend the entire time chatting on Step 1 mini-stories and fail to move forward.**

Use a room timer and announce firm phase transitions every 3 to 4 minutes so groups rotate through all four prompts.

**An odd number of participants prevents even groups of 3 or 4.**

Add the extra person to existing groups to form teams of 4. Avoid groups larger than 4 to preserve equal airtime.


## Terms used here

- Intermediary: A mutual acquaintance who can connect two people who do not yet know each other.

## Participant material: Network Aerobics Prompt Card

STATION 1: GREETINGS & STORIES
- Greet each teammate for 6 seconds (shake hands, wave, or nod).
- Share a 20-second personal or professional mini-story.

STATION 2: CONNECTION MAPPING
- Name one well-connected person inside this organization and one outside.
- On scratch paper, trace who in the group can link to those people.

STATION 3: RESOURCE SWAP & MOVEMENT
- Pick one teammate's challenge. Everyone else offers one helpful contact, tool, or tip.
- Do a 1-minute agreed movement (Rock Paper Scissors, shoulder rolls, or seated stretch).

STATION 4: CROSS-ROOM INTRODUCTION
- Walk to someone from another team.
- Introduce your former teammate and share one cool resource they possess.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Relationship Makers Handbook (pages 267-268).

Retained the source's multi-part circuit mechanic: six-second greeting, mapping inside/outside connected contacts, resource-sharing for a problem, brief movement, and cross-group introductions. Structured the timing into a clear 15-minute format with explicit four-step intervals, made physical contact and movements explicitly optional, and provided concrete adaptations for remote and hybrid teams.

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/network-aerobics/