Are You More Like...

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Start low-stakes conversations between participants across multiple brief rounds of partner matching.

Use it when: Use early in a meeting, workshop, or training session when people need an active prompt to meet and talk to colleagues.

Skip it when: Skip when the group is already focused on intense task work, or when the room lacks physical space for moving and mingling safely.

Group arrangement: Mingling into pairs; trios when total attendance is odd

Timing: Playmeo sources note 10 to 15 minutes of matching and sharing; UWT structure sets 15 minutes across two rounds and a short debrief.

Materials and tools

• 24 unique pairs (48 cards total) printed and cut from the supplied card sheet, divided into Round 1 Set A (12 pairs) and Round 2 Set B (12 pairs)
• Discard basket for collecting used cards between rounds
• Timer or chime
• Shared digital board (spreadsheet or slide deck) for remote participants if meeting virtually

Before participants arrive

1. Count participants precisely before the session starts.
2. Select matching pairs equal to half the participant count from Set A for round one. Keep matching pairs from Set B ready at the facilitator table for round two.
3. If participant count is odd, invite one participant to form a trio with an existing pair, or take a card yourself to partner up.
4. Ensure open floor space so people can mingle without colliding with furniture.

Say this to open

Take one card from me. Walk around the room and find the person holding the card that matches yours, like Cat and Dog or Sunrise and Sunset. When you find your match, ask each other: 'Are you more like [Card A] or [Card B], and why?' You choose what to share. We will do two rounds.

How to run it

1. Distribute cards and find first match 3 minutes

   Hand one card from Set A to each participant. Read the opening script. Participants walk around the room, reading or showing their cards until they locate their natural counterpart. Anyone who cannot locate a partner within two minutes raises a hand, and the facilitator assists or creates a trio.

2. Round one partner sharing 4 minutes

   Once paired, partners step aside and discuss the question: 'Are you more like [Card A] or [Card B], and why?' Both partners take roughly 90 seconds to answer. Ring a chime halfway through to prompt the second partner to speak.

3. Swap cards and round two sharing 5 minutes

   Ring the chime. Ask everyone to deposit their Set A card into a discard basket and take one card from Set B. Participants mingle to find their new match. Give partners roughly 90 seconds each to share, ringing the chime halfway through so both speak.

4. Whole room debrief 3 minutes

   Call everyone back to a circle or their seats. Ask the room two debrief questions. Take two or three voluntary answers from the floor.

Debrief questions

• Which pair forced the hardest choice between the two options, and why?
• What was an unexpected reason someone gave for their choice?

Finished output: Two brief rounds of low-stakes partner conversations completed by all participants.

Remote

Distribute paired terms into a shared digital board (spreadsheet or slide deck) with hidden names. Assign each participant a numbered row containing only their half of a prompt (for example, Person A gets 'Sunrise', Person B gets 'Sunset'). Participants write their name next to their term on the shared board, identify their matching counterpart from the adjacent column, and the facilitator places each matched pair into a two-person breakout room for 3 minutes. Repeat with a second tab for round two.

Hybrid

Keep remote attendees together in the virtual meeting space using the remote spreadsheet and breakout workflow. Run the physical card mingling among in-person participants in the room. Do not pair roaming in-person participants with remote laptop screens.

Access and participation choices

• Participants with limited mobility may sit in an easily visible location holding their card up while others approach them.
• Participants may decline to pick either card and instead explain why neither or both represent them.
• Participants may pass on personal disclosures and speak objectively about the two concepts.

If the session gets stuck

An odd number of participants leaves one person without a match.

Add the extra person to an existing pair to form a trio, allowing all three to discuss the pair, or step in as facilitator to hold the balancing card.

Two participants believe their cards match even though they were intended for different pairs.

Accept any plausible or creative connection the participants identify and let them proceed with that combined prompt.

Terms used here

• Paired cards: Two cards with contrasting or complementary terms that together form a preference question (for example, Cat and Dog).