--- title: "Say Your Name Backward" description: "Participants write their first names spelled in reverse on slips of paper. Groups draw slips, decode the names within a brief timer, and invite each decoded person to introduce themselves." last_updated: "2026-09-07" canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/say-your-name-backward-fun-name-game/" --- # Say Your Name Backward Participants write their first names spelled in reverse on slips of paper. Groups draw slips, decode the names within a brief timer, and invite each decoded person to introduce themselves. **Time:** 10 minutes. Source records list 10 minutes. Fits up to 10 names in a single circle or 4 to 6 names per parallel small group. **People:** 4 to 24. Whole group for 4 to 10 participants; parallel small groups of 4 to 6 for 11 to 24 participants ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Familiarize participants with each other's names and spelling through a brief word puzzle. **Use it when:** Use at the start of a meeting, training session, or workshop where participants do not yet know one another's names. **Skip it when:** Skip when the group already knows each other well, or when team members have language or reading conditions that make backward word decoding frustrating. ## Materials and tools - One index card or slip of paper per participant - One pen or pencil per participant - One bowl or container per group - Countdown timer visible to the room - Digital chat tool or shared document for remote settings ## Before participants arrive 1. Place paper slips and pens at seats. 2. Set one collection bowl on the table for groups under 11, or one bowl per table for larger cohorts. ## Say this to open Write your first name spelled backward on the slip of paper in front of you. For example, if your name is David, write D-I-V-A-D. Do not show your neighbor. Fold it once and drop it into the bowl. Then we will draw them one at a time and try to decode who it is within ten seconds. ## How to run it ### 1. Explain the rules (1 minutes) Deliver the opening script. Explain the writing rule, provide a clear neutral example such as David written as DIVAD, and clarify that palindromic names like Anna should add a middle name or last initial backward. ### 2. Write and collect slips (2 minutes) Participants write their names backward in silence, fold their slip once, and drop it into the designated bowl. For groups over 10, participants place slips into their table's small-group bowl. ### 3. Draw and decode names (5 minutes) In a whole group, the facilitator draws slips one at a time. In parallel small groups, each group designates a drawer. The drawer pulls one slip, reads the letters aloud, and displays the slip. The group has 10 seconds to guess the name. Once solved, the named person confirms pronunciation and optionally shares one brief fact. Continue until all slips in the bowl have been decoded. ### 4. Debrief and wrap up (2 minutes) Bring the whole room together. Pose the debrief questions to reflect on name recall and pronunciation. Take responses from two or three volunteers across the room to conclude within time. ## Debrief questions - Which name was the most challenging to decode? - Did you learn a pronunciation or nickname you did not know before? **Finished output:** Every participant within their group has had their reverse name decoded and their preferred name confirmed. ## Remote For 4 to 10 participants, everyone sends their backward name via private message to the facilitator, who pastes them into the main meeting chat one by one for 10-second guesses. For 11 to 24 participants, create breakout rooms of 4 to 6 people. In each breakout, participants send their backward name via direct private message to a designated room volunteer, who posts them one at a time into the breakout chat to decode. ## Hybrid For 4 to 10 participants, remote attendees send backward names by chat to an in-person co-facilitator, who writes them onto slips for the central room bowl; the reader displays each slip to the webcam and reads the letters aloud while room and remote participants guess together. For 11 to 24 participants, assign remote participants together into their own online breakout group using the remote chat procedure, while in-person attendees work in table groups of 4 to 6. ## Access and participation choices - Participants may ask a peer to write their name backward or supply their preferred nickname instead of a legal name. - Anyone may pass on sharing an extra fact and simply confirm their name. ## If the session gets stuck **A participant has a palindromic name like Hannah or Otto, making the reverse spelling obvious.** Instruct participants with palindromes to include their middle name or last initial spelled backward. **The group gets stuck decoding an unusually complex or long name.** Provide a hint after 5 seconds by revealing the original first letter. ## Terms used here - Palindrome: A word or name that reads the same backward as forward, like Otto or Anna. ## Sources and adaptation Observed in Icebreaker-Games.org catalog as a 10-minute name game. Original author unstated. Retained the reverse name writing and 10-second decoding mechanic from Icebreaker-Games.org. Structured into four clear procedural steps. Added parallel group handling for cohorts over 10 so all names get decoded, along with dedicated remote breakout guidance and hybrid grouping instructions. [Icebreaker-Games.org](https://icebreaker-games.org/say-your-name-backward) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/say-your-name-backward-fun-name-game/