The Potato Poke

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Demonstrate how a counter-intuitive physical technique and swift execution can accomplish an apparently impossible task.

Use it when: Use as a short physical demonstration during discussions on tackling stubborn challenges, testing assumptions, or practicing precise technique.

Skip it when: Skip if handling raw food is undesirable, or if participants lack the grip strength or mobility to strike an object safely.

Group arrangement: Demonstration with 3 to 5 volunteers at the front while remaining participants observe.

Timing: UWT 15-minute plan based on the 15 to 30-minute range in Relationship Makers Handbook.

Materials and tools

• 1 bag of large raw potatoes (at least 6 clean, firm russet or baking potatoes)
• 1 box of rigid, straight plastic drinking straws
• 1 cutting board or protective plastic tray
• Disinfectant wipes or paper towels for clean-up

Before participants arrive

1. Place a demonstration table at the front of the room with a wipeable surface or cutting board.
2. Set out 5 clean raw potatoes and a small container of straight plastic drinking straws.
3. Prepare one pre-pierced potato out of sight if you wish to show the target result immediately.

Say this to open

We need up to five volunteers for a quick physical challenge. Your task is simple: push a standard drinking straw completely through a raw potato without breaking or crumpling the straw. You have two minutes to test your approach.

How to run it

1. Introduce challenge and recruit volunteers 3 minutes

   Explain the goal to the room. Ask for 3 to 5 volunteers to step up to the demonstration table. Give each volunteer one raw potato and two or three straws. State the safety rule clearly: keep your supporting hand completely clear of the exit side of the potato to avoid stabbing your own fingers.

2. Attempt the task 3 minutes

   Give volunteers 2 minutes to attempt pushing the straw through the potato. Allow them to replace crumpled straws. Observers watch the different angles, speeds, and grips used. Stop the attempts after 2 minutes.

3. Demonstrate the technique 4 minutes

   If no volunteer succeeded, demonstrate the mechanic. Hold the potato firmly by its sides, ensuring no fingers sit directly behind or below the target exit point. Grip the straw about two-thirds of the way down. Crucially, seal the top opening of the straw with your thumb to trap the air inside, turning the straw into a rigid pneumatic column. In one swift, straight motion, stab the open end firmly into the narrow end of the potato. Allow volunteers to try this specific technique once more.

4. Debrief the room 5 minutes

   Gather everyone's attention for a brief discussion. Take two or three observations from the volunteers and two from the seated observers. Ask: What assumptions did you make before seeing the technique? How did trapping air or changing your speed alter the result?

Debrief questions

• What assumptions did people make about the strength of the straw versus the potato?
• How did shifting the technique, such as capping the end with your thumb, change what was possible?
• Where do team members rely on brute force when a specific technique or change in angle would work better?

Finished output: A shared observation of the physical demonstration and a list of group reflections on how technique replaces force.

Remote

This physical demonstration cannot be run identically online without participants supplying their own raw potatoes and rigid straws. To run remotely as a visual demonstration, the facilitator performs the steps on camera, asking participants in chat to predict the outcome and suggest modifications before showing the thumb-capping method.

Hybrid

Perform the live demonstration in front of a wide-angle camera. Remote participants post their predictions in chat while in-person observers watch live. Remote participants are called on first during the debrief.

Access and participation choices

• Volunteers may choose whether to physically attempt the strike or act as timekeepers and observers.
• Anyone may pass on volunteering without explanation.

If the session gets stuck

Volunteers hold their hands directly underneath the potato, risking finger injury.

Pause the action immediately. Remind volunteers to hold the potato solely by its sides, keeping the bottom and top strike paths clear.

The straws are too flimsy and buckle immediately regardless of technique.

Ensure you supply thick, rigid fast-food style plastic straws. Very thin biodegradable or paper straws often bend before entering dense raw potato.

Terms used here

• Pneumatic column: Trapping air inside the straw by sealing the top opening with a thumb, which reinforces the plastic tube against lateral buckling.