Telephone Pictionary

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Demonstrate visually how details change, drop, or get added as information passes through successive handoffs.

Use it when: Use when examining team communication handoffs, assumptions, or listening gaps, or as an active icebreaker for small to medium groups.

Skip it when: Skip when participants are uncomfortable with quick, unjudged drawing under time pressure or when working on high-stakes, analytical alignment tasks.

Group arrangement: Circles of 6 to 8 participants. Larger groups split into multiple parallel circles of 6 to 8.

Timing: Based on 15 to 20 minutes suggested in ESL Active and Teampedia sources.

Materials and tools

• One piece of standard A4 or letter paper per participant
• One pair of scissors per 2 participants (or pre-cut slips)
• One paper clip or small binder clip per participant
• One pen or pencil per participant
• One countdown timer visible to the room

Before participants arrive

1. Seat participants in circles of 6 to 8 people.
2. Distribute one sheet of paper, one clip, and a pen to each person.
3. If scissors are not used during the session, pre-cut sheets into stacks of 6 to 8 equal slips beforehand.

Say this to open

We are going to play Telephone Pictionary. We will alternate between writing a sentence and drawing what we see. Each round, you look only at the previous person's slip, turn to the next blank slip, interpret it by writing or drawing, and pass the stack. Let's make our paper booklets first.

How to run it

1. Prepare booklets and write opening sentences 4 minutes

   Have participants fold their paper into 8 portions, cut or tear along the creases to make 8 small slips, and clip them into a booklet. Say the opening script. Ask everyone to write one original, complete sentence on the top slip (page 1), such as 'A giraffe riding a skateboard into a bank.' Once written, everyone places the booklet face down and waits for the signal to pass.

2. Pass and draw initial sentences 2 minutes

   Everyone passes their entire stack to the person on their left. Participants look at page 1, flip to page 2, and spend 90 seconds drawing an illustration of that sentence. They must not write words or letters. When time is called, they place page 2 face up so page 1 is hidden underneath.

3. Alternate writing and drawing rounds 8 minutes

   Run alternating rounds with passes to the left. On an odd page, participants look only at the previous drawing and write a single sentence describing it. On an even page, participants look only at the previous sentence and draw it. Keep turns to 60 seconds for writing and 90 seconds for drawing. Continue until the booklet returns to its original author (usually 6 to 8 passes total).

4. Reveal booklets and share highlights 3 minutes

   Original authors flip through their booklets from page 1 to the final page. In their circles of 6 to 8, invite 2 or 3 volunteers per circle to read the original sentence, show the intermediate drawings, and read the final sentence to their subgroup.

5. Debrief handoffs and interpretation 3 minutes

   Bring the room together. Ask 2 or 3 participants across the room to share one specific moment where a key detail transformed or dropped out during handoffs.

Debrief questions

• Where did the biggest shift in meaning happen, and what caused it?
• What details were hardest to preserve without adding your own assumptions?
• How does this chain resemble the way project requirements or messages pass across teams?

Finished output: Completed paper booklets showing alternating written and illustrated interpretations of an initial prompt.

Remote

Use a shared presentation file (such as Google Slides) where each participant owns a slide deck. Person A types a sentence on slide 1. Person B adds a drawing or digital sketch on slide 2. Person C types on slide 3. Alternatively, run in a dedicated online browser-based party game designed for Telestrations/Drawphone mechanics.

Hybrid

Keep in-person participants in a physical circle with paper booklets, and place remote participants in their own dedicated virtual breakout room using a shared digital slide deck. Do not mix physical paper passes with remote participants.

Access and participation choices

• Drawing skill is not evaluated; stick figures and basic shapes are encouraged.
• Participants who prefer not to draw can use simple diagrammatic symbols or pass without disclosure by notifying the facilitator in advance to pair with a partner as a team.

If the session gets stuck

A participant peeks at earlier slips instead of just the immediate previous slip.

Remind the room to keep the clip fastened and fold back or cover preceding pages so only the single preceding entry is visible.

Circles have differing numbers of participants (for example, one circle of 6 and one of 7).

Each circle simply stops passing when their own original booklet returns to them, even if one circle finishes one turn earlier.

Terms used here

• Handoff: The transfer of information, responsibility, or work from one person to another.