Headlines

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Summarize practical advice into concise, memorable headlines.

Use it when: Use during training or review sessions when participants need to distill guidelines, policies, or advice into clear summary statements.

Skip it when: Skip when participants must learn complex procedural steps in detail rather than summarize short principles, or when competitive selection among peers will hinder group trust.

Group arrangement: Table groups of 3 to 6 participants. Each round has one rotating timekeeper-judge while the others write.

Timing: UWT plan providing 4 minutes per round across 4 rounds plus setup and debrief. The source specifies 4 minutes per round.

Materials and tools

• 1 deck of Practical Advice Cards (or printed prompt cards) per small group
• 1 pad of scratch paper per participant
• 1 pen or pencil per participant
• 1 digital countdown timer visible to the room

Before participants arrive

1. Print and cut one set of advice cards per group from the participant materials.
2. Arrange seating into tables of 3 to 6 people.
3. Place paper and pens at each seat and one stack of face-down advice cards at each table.

Say this to open

In this activity, you will distill practical advice into catchy, accurate headlines. Each round, one person at your table will serve as the Timekeeper-Judge, or TKJ. That judge draws a card, reads it aloud, and sets it in the center. Everyone else has 30 seconds of quiet thinking, followed by drafting a headline. The judge picks the best headline and awards the card to the writer. Then the judge role rotates to the next person.

How to run it

1. Assign initial roles and explain turns 2 minutes

   Form groups of 3 to 6. At each table, ask the person whose birthday is nearest today to serve as the first Timekeeper-Judge (TKJ). Confirm that every participant will rotate into the TKJ role in later rounds.

2. Run round one 4 minutes

   The TKJ draws a card from the deck, reads the advice aloud, and places it face-up on the table. The TKJ times a 30-second silent thinking period; no talking or writing is allowed. After 30 seconds, the TKJ gives participants 90 seconds to write a short headline on scratch paper. Writers read their headlines aloud in clockwise order. The TKJ selects the headline that best captures the advice and awards the card to that author. The TKJ does not have to justify the choice.

3. Rotate and run round two 4 minutes

   The TKJ role passes clockwise to the next player. The new TKJ draws a card, reads it aloud, and places it face up. The TKJ times 30 seconds of silent thinking, then 90 seconds of writing. Writers read their headlines aloud in clockwise order. The new TKJ selects the winning headline and hands over the card.

4. Rotate and run round three 4 minutes

   The TKJ role passes clockwise again. Repeat the sequence: the new TKJ draws a card, times 30 seconds of silent reflection, times 90 seconds of writing, calls on writers to read aloud in clockwise order, and awards the card to the selected headline.

5. Rotate and run round four 4 minutes

   Pass the TKJ role clockwise. Run the final round following the exact same rhythm: draw card, 30 seconds silent reflection timed by TKJ, 90 seconds writing, read aloud in clockwise order, and card award. At the end of the round, players count their won cards to identify table winners.

6. Debrief headline techniques 2 minutes

   Gather whole-room attention. Ask two or three volunteers to share winning headlines and discuss what made them memorable.

Debrief questions

• Which winning headline from your table best captured the core advice, and what made it stand out?
• How did the 30-second silent reflection before writing change the headlines you drafted?

Finished output: A collection of concise headline statements summarizing the practical advice cards.

Remote

Set up breakout rooms of 3 to 6 people. Post the digital advice cards in a shared slide deck or chat. In each breakout, assign a rotating TKJ. The TKJ reveals the card text and monitors the 30-second silent thinking period using their phone or on-screen timer. After 30 seconds, participants have 90 seconds to draft their headlines. When the TKJ calls time, participants post their headlines into the breakout room chat simultaneously. The TKJ reads through the chat entries and announces the winning author.

Hybrid

Keep in-person and remote participants in separate table groups or separate breakout rooms to avoid audio overlap. Provide remote groups with the digital text list of cards while in-person groups use physical cards. Run synchronized central countdown timers for thinking and writing across all rooms.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may dictate their headline to a partner or display it on a tablet instead of reading aloud.
• Any participant may pass on writing during any round and instead assist the TKJ as a co-judge.

If the session gets stuck

Participants start writing immediately instead of reflecting silently.

Remind tables to keep pens flat on the table until the TKJ calls time on the 30-second thinking phase.

A judge hesitates or agonizes over choosing a winner among colleagues.

Remind judges that selections are quick and subjective; the rule states the judge does not need to defend or explain their decision.

Terms used here

• TKJ: Timekeeper-Judge, the designated group member who manages round time and picks the winning headline.