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: 12f1804d226a659d0111edb208f25bea389be331ce485df394d83abb4ed04868

# Point to Present

Participants simultaneously point at someone on the count of three to choose who will speak, report, or present next. The selected person either accepts the role or passes it to the runner-up.

**Time:** 5 minutes. Source specifies under 5 minutes; UWT structures this into a complete 5-minute selection and handoff cycle.
**People:** 4 to 24. Whole group standing or seated in a clear circle where everyone has direct line of sight.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Select a speaker or reporting participant quickly through a synchronized gesture without prolonged debate.
**Use it when:** Use when a room stalls on deciding who will report back from an activity or present their work.
**Skip it when:** Skip when speaking involves high-stakes evaluation, when participants do not know each other at all, or when power imbalances make public pointing feel coercive.

## Materials and tools

- Chairs (optional, if seated)
- Video conferencing software with chat and reaction emojis (for remote or hybrid delivery)

## Before participants arrive

1. Arrange chairs or participants in a single circle so everyone can see every other person clearly.

## Say this to open

We need to choose who will present next. Instead of waiting for a volunteer, we will use a quick selection. On the count of three, everyone point directly at the person you want to speak. You may point to yourself if you want the floor, or point to someone else. You can always pass if chosen.

## How to run it

### 1. Explain rules and frame choice (1 minutes)

Deliver the opening script. Announce the specific speaking role needed, such as presenting the breakout summary. Give the group twenty seconds of quiet time to decide whom they will nominate. Remind participants that anyone selected has full permission to accept or pass.

### 2. Count down and point (1 minutes)

Call out a deliberate count: 'One, two, three, point!' In person, everyone points and holds their arm still; scan the circle to tally visible points. In remote or hybrid settings, everyone submits their typed nominee into the chat simultaneously on 'three'; scan the chat cascade to tally the names.

### 3. Confirm choice and check consent (1 minutes)

Lead a round of applause for the nominee, inviting remote participants to unmute or use reaction emojis. Turn to the nominee and ask: 'Do you accept the role, or do you want to pass to the runner-up?' If they accept, confirm them. If they pass, offer the floor to the runner-up.

### 4. Handoff and optional reflection (2 minutes)

Hand the floor to the confirmed speaker to start their presentation immediately. If using this activity to reflect on quick team decision-making, ask the group one reflection question from the debrief list and hear two brief replies before moving on.


## Debrief questions

- Facilitator choice: ask one of these two questions to hear two quick responses.
- What criteria did you use to pick your nominee in those few seconds?
- How did this synchronized gesture compare to waiting for a volunteer?

**Finished output:** One confirmed presenter or reporter ready to speak, with verified consent.

## Remote

Screen grids differ for every participant, so physical pointing fails online. Run this in the shared chat instead. Everyone types their nominee's name into the chat box but waits to send it. On the count of three, everyone hits Enter at once. The facilitator scans the chat cascade to identify the nominee. Attendees applaud using reaction emojis or unmuted audio.

## Hybrid

All participants submit their nominee into the meeting chat on the facilitator's count, including in-person attendees using phones or laptops. This creates a synchronized, fair tally across both formats without relying on camera angles. Use chat and room applause together.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants unable to point physically can call out their nominee's name on the count or type it into a room backchannel.
- Anyone selected may say 'I pass' with no explanation required, shifting the role directly to the runner-up.

## If the session gets stuck

**Two participants receive an equal number of points.**

Ask the two nominees if they want to co-present. If not, run an immediate tie-breaker between just those two candidates: have the group point or submit a chat vote between the tied names on a new count of three.

**The chosen person looks uncomfortable or pressured.**

Intervene immediately before they speak. State: 'You have total freedom to pass; would you like the floor, or should we go to our runner-up?'


## Terms used here

- Nominee: The participant who receives the highest number of points or chat votes during the synchronized count.
- Runner-up: The participant who receives the second highest number of points or chat votes during the synchronized count.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Relationship Makers Handbook, page 317.

Retained the core mechanic from Relationship Makers Handbook page 317: counting to three, pointing simultaneously, and launching the speaker with applause. UWT clarified whole-circle individual pointing, added an explicit consent check with a passing protocol, added remote and hybrid chat adaptations, and explicitly structured tie-breakers and debriefing to fit a 5-minute schedule.

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/point-to-present/