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: 840a981b3be15212a9a76d3257047b7f8fb1ca344a6b9ddc5023bc55814cbfbf

# Cocktail Party

Participants pretend to balance a favorite drink in their non-dominant hand while circulating around the room to greet as many colleagues as possible by name before a short timer expires.

**Time:** 5 minutes. Source specifies an arbitrary timer such as 43.5 seconds; UWT allocates 5 minutes total to cover framing, the timed run, and debrief.
**People:** 4 to 24. Whole group mingling individually in open space

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Exchange names and short greetings across the entire group within a tightly bounded time limit.
**Use it when:** At the start of an in-person session when participants need a low-stakes physical warm-up to learn or refresh names.
**Skip it when:** When physical space is too tight for walking, when participants require quiet focus, or when mobility constraints make rapid circulating impractical.

## Materials and tools

- Timer or stopwatch

## Before participants arrive

1. Clear a central floor space large enough for the entire group to stand and circulate safely.

## Say this to open

We will do a quick greeting exercise called Cocktail Party. Please stand up and gather in the open area. Raise your non-dominant hand and imagine you are balancing your favorite drink. Keep that arm steady so you do not spill it. Your other hand stays free for greetings. You can shake hands, wave, or offer an elbow tap. With each person you meet, greet them directly and say their name out loud. For example, 'Great to see you, Alex.' You will have 45 seconds to greet as many people as you can. Ready, go!

## How to run it

### 1. Explain pose and greeting rule (1 minutes)

Speak the opening script. Check that all participants have one hand held steady in the imaginary drink pose and have clear walking space before calling go.

### 2. Circulate and greet (1 minutes)

Start the timer for 45 seconds. Participants walk around the open floor, greeting partners one by one while keeping their imaginary drink steady. Announce when 15 seconds remain, then call stop when time expires.

### 3. Check greeting totals (1 minutes)

Ask everyone to pause where they stand. Ask for a quick show of hands: who greeted at least three people? Who greeted five or more? Acknowledge the counts without declaring winners.

### 4. Debrief and transition (2 minutes)

Facilitate a short debrief using the prepared questions. Take two or three quick observations from volunteers, then invite participants to take their seats.


## Debrief questions

- What helped you recall names quickly as you moved through the room?
- How did keeping one hand occupied with an imaginary drink affect how formal or relaxed the greetings felt?

**Finished output:** Every participant completes several brief, name-based greetings across the room.

## Remote

This activity requires physical co-presence and freeform spatial mingling. Standard video calls cannot replicate simultaneous room mingling without changing the mechanic into a sequential turn-taking call. Run this exercise in person only.

## Hybrid

Hybrid delivery is not supported because remote participants cannot share the physical floor to mingle simultaneously. Run an entirely separate verbal warm-up if part of your group is remote.

## Access and participation choices

- Touch is entirely optional: participants may choose a wave, slight bow, nod, or verbal greeting instead of a handshake.
- Participants who prefer or need to remain seated may stay in place while standing participants circulate past them.
- Participants who choose not to circulate may act as timekeeper or score recorder.

## If the session gets stuck

**Participants bunch into static circles and stop circulating.**

Call out a gentle prompt at 20 seconds: 'Keep moving, greet one person, then find someone new!'

**A participant forgets someone's name during an exchange.**

Remind everyone in the setup that it is completely acceptable to ask, 'Remind me of your name?' during the greeting.


## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Playmeo, where it is attributed to Mark Collard.

Retained the core Playmeo mechanic of holding an imaginary beverage in one hand while greeting people by name during an arbitrary brief countdown. UWT structured the 5-minute schedule, added touch-free options, clarified the non-dominant hand mechanic, and stated explicit delivery limits for remote and hybrid settings.

[Playmeo](https://www.playmeo.com/activities/ice-breakers-get-to-know-you-games/cocktail-party)

[Playmeo](https://www.playmeo.com/activities/ice-breakers-get-to-know-you-games/cocktail-party/)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/social-mingling-exercise-builds-fun-connections-cocktail-party/