One Word Whip
One Word Whip is an ideation warm-up exercise for divergent ideation: it helps participants open up more possible ideas before choosing a direction.
How to run it
- At the beginning of the day, ask each person to summarize how they are feeling in one word
- Simply go around the room/group if it is under 25 people
- If you have more than 25 participants, break into People Science teams
- One Word Whip Timing <5 minutes Purpose/Objectives Quick Description Establish one word per person to quickly set the tone and direction Process At the beginning of the day, ask each person to summarize how they are feeling in one word.
- Logistics QRQH Cool Possibilities/Options If it is a multiple day gathering, start each day with this exercise.
- Tell a story with the words.
- Starting with the first person, the second person must use their word to follow.
- This can be done with additional connecting words "and then," "with," etc.
- Continue around to each person to get the full effect of the no doubt strange story that will ensue!
- Have everyone just say one word and then the facilitator or allocated person has to make a full sentance.
Run this exercise live
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What participants need now
Materials:
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Prompts to use +
At the beginning of the day, ask each person to summarize how they are feeling in one word
Simply go around the room/group if it is under 25 people
If you have more than 25 participants, break into People Science teams
One Word Whip Timing <5 minutes Purpose/Objectives Quick Description Establish one word per person to quickly set the tone and direction Process At the beginning of the day, ask each person to summarize how they are feeling in one word.
Logistics QRQH Cool Possibilities/Options If it is a multiple day gathering, start each day with this exercise.
Tell a story with the words.
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: One Word Whip. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: At the beginning of the day, ask each person to summarize how they are feeling in one word; Simply go around the room/group if it is under 25 people; If you have more than 25 participants, break into People Science teams; One Word Whip Timing <5 minutes Purpose/Objectives Quick Description Establish one word per person to quickly set the tone and direction Process At the beginning of the day, ask each person to summarize how they are feeling in one word.. 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 Relationship Makers Handbook; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including Relationship Makers Handbook.)
- 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.
- Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.