Rain Maker
Rain Maker 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
- Have everyone rub their hands together.1
- Have half the room switch to clap with only one finger - as in clap with one finger on each hand together!2
- Have the rest join in clapping with one finger
- Logistics As long as Players have two hands, there are no logistics Cool Possibilities/Options Rather than telling everyone to stop see if everyone can feel when to stop.
- People Science Data Capture Not recommended to capture Tags <5 minutes, collaboration, collective power, energizer, exercise, front of the room, icebreaker, network analysis, networking, people science, unity 326 Raise your hand" and then again...
- Timing <5 minutes Purpose/Objectives Quick Description 30 seconds of raising participants hands up and down once to dramatically shift participants' understanding of commitment Process Ask participants to raise their hands.
- Look at their hands and ask them to raise them higher.
- Ask the group what happens w...
Run this exercise live
The facilitator console stays in this browser. Its QR handoff is a short-lived participant snapshot containing only public exercise instructions, phase, prompt, and timer state.
What participants need now
Materials:
This is a participant-safe snapshot, not a response form. It sends nothing back to the facilitator.
Prompts to use +
Have everyone rub their hands together.1
Have half the room switch to clap with only one finger - as in clap with one finger on each hand together!2
Have the rest join in clapping with one finger
Logistics As long as Players have two hands, there are no logistics Cool Possibilities/Options Rather than telling everyone to stop see if everyone can feel when to stop.
Timing <5 minutes Purpose/Objectives Quick Description 30 seconds of raising participants hands up and down once to dramatically shift participants' understanding of commitment Process Ask participants to raise their hands.
Look at their hands and ask them to raise them higher.
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: Rain Maker. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Have everyone rub their hands together.1; Have half the room switch to clap with only one finger - as in clap with one finger on each hand together!2; Have the rest join in clapping with one finger; Logistics As long as Players have two hands, there are no logistics Cool Possibilities/Options Rather than telling everyone to stop see if everyone can feel when to stop.. 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.