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: 1881528175cb6f20461efd9636ab5ce2723f555bf1148089a3e872c038a3c512

# Start Empathy

Participants receive an assigned persona card, silently analyze that person's reactions to a common situation, and compare notes in matched persona clusters.

**Time:** 30 minutes. Relationship Makers Handbook suggests 30 to 60 minutes. This run sheet sets a 30-minute standard baseline.
**People:** 4 to 24. Individual reflection followed by matched persona clusters of 2 to 4 people

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Compare how different roles and people perceive, feel, and react during the same shared event.
**Use it when:** Use when a team needs to examine a complex problem from multiple outside viewpoints before deciding on next steps.
**Skip it when:** Skip when the group needs objective factual data or lacks basic familiarity with the personas being examined.

## Materials and tools

- One pre-printed persona card with prompts per participant
- Blank note paper and pens for each participant
- Timer
- Shared digital document or physical wall board for debrief points

## Before participants arrive

1. Select a focal topic or shared situation relevant to the session.
2. Select 2 to 6 distinct persona profiles based on total headcount.
3. Pre-sort cards so every persona has at least 2 and at most 4 recipients. For example, for 7 participants, use 2 personas (one group of 3, one group of 4) or 3 personas (two pairs, one trio). Never create singletons.

## Say this to open

Empathy means examining a situation through another person's eyes. Each of you holds a card describing a specific person affected by our topic. For the next six minutes, reflect silently on how this person experiences the event. Answer the three questions printed on your card: What was their perception of the occurrence? What was troubling about it? What emotions did they feel?

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce scenario and distribute cards (5 minutes)

State the shared scenario clearly. Hand one pre-sorted persona card to each participant. Read the opening script to set expectations.

### 2. Silent individual reflection (6 minutes)

Participants read their card and write silent notes answering the three questions: perception, troubling aspects, and emotions. Stop when the timer sounds.

### 3. Matched persona group discussion (11 minutes)

Participants holding identical personas gather into their pre-assigned clusters of 2 to 4. Each person shares their answers. The group records shared points and differences in interpretation.

### 4. Whole-room debrief and application (8 minutes)

Reconvene the full room. Ask one spokesperson per persona cluster to summarize their main viewpoint and identify one clear implication for future action.


## Debrief questions

- Which aspect of your assigned persona was hardest to imagine or understand?
- Where did people holding the same persona disagree on their reactions?
- How does viewing the situation through these personas change what we should do next?

**Finished output:** Written individual reflection notes and a captured list of persona viewpoints and action implications on the main board.

## Remote

Distribute persona profiles via direct message or shared slides before the timer starts. After silent reflection, move participants with matching personas into video breakout rooms of 2 to 4. Have each breakout write their summary points into a shared online document, then call everyone back to the main room for debrief.

## Hybrid

Keep remote attendees in online breakout rooms and in-person attendees in physical table clusters, grouping by persona within each setting. Provide in-person clusters with a designated laptop or tablet to log findings into the same shared online document used by remote groups. Project the shared document in the room and screen-share it online while alternating spoken comments between remote and room groups.

## Access and participation choices

- Provide large-print and digital screen-reader versions of all persona cards.
- Participants may sketch, type, write bullet points, or simply reflect silently without submitting private notes.
- Participants may decline to share personal stories and focus entirely on the fictional persona text.

## If the session gets stuck

**Participants create caricatures or dismiss their assigned persona.**

Remind the room to focus on reasonable human motives and the specific pressures defined on the card.

**An unexpected arrival or departure disrupts persona counts.**

Absorb an extra person into an existing pair to make a trio, or merge a lone participant into another group with the same or related persona.


## Terms used here

- Persona: A short written profile describing a fictional person representing a key role or community member.

## Participant material: Sample Persona Cards and Reflection Prompts

CARD A: FRONT-LINE WORKER
You have worked for the organization for five years. Recent policy changes occurred without prior notice. You worry about workload and losing flexibility in your schedule.

CARD B: MID-LEVEL MANAGER
You must implement the new policy with no extra budget. You want your team to be supported, but senior leadership expects immediate metric improvements.

CARD C: NEW CLIENT
You started receiving services last month. Communication has been slow and inconsistent, leaving you unsure of what steps to take next.

REFLECTION PROMPTS (PRINTED ON EACH CARD):
1. Perception: What was this person's perception of the occurrence?
2. Trouble: What was troubling or risky about this occurrence for them?
3. Emotion: What emotions did they feel at the time of the occurrence?

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Relationship Makers Handbook, pages 383-384.

Retained the core mechanic from Relationship Makers Handbook: persona cards, silent reflection on three specific prompts (perception, trouble, emotion), clustering duplicate personas into small groups, and applying insights to a shared theme. United We Transform added cluster sizing rules of 2 to 4 people, pre-session balancing rules, a standard 30-minute timing breakdown, sample persona cards, and explicit hybrid reporting mechanisms.

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/start-empathy/