Two Truths and One Lie

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Exchange lightweight personal background facts to establish basic rapport in a newly formed group.

Use it when: Use at the start of a workshop, cohort, or team meeting where participants are new to each other.

Skip it when: Skip when participants already know each other well or when the group prefers to avoid personal disclosures.

Group arrangement: Subgroups of 3 to 5 people run in parallel. A group of 6 or 7 stays together as a single group.

Timing: Participatory Methods records 10 to 30 minutes; UWT standardizes 15 minutes by using concurrent small groups and timed turns.

Materials and tools

• One index card or scratch sheet per person
• One pen or pencil per person
• One countdown timer for the facilitator
• Optional shared digital document or meeting chat for remote groups

Before participants arrive

1. Arrange seating into clusters of 3 to 5 chairs.
2. Place index cards and pens at each in-person seat.
3. If running online, set up breakout rooms and confirm chat permissions.

Say this to open

Take an index card and write down three statements about yourself: two facts that actually happened, and one believable lie. Keep them light and everyday. Do not mark which one is false. You have two minutes to write quietly before your group guesses.

How to run it

1. Introduce and write statements 3 minutes

   Distribute cards and pens. Facilitator speaks the opening script and shares a neutral example: '1. I have run a marathon. 2. I have never eaten an avocado. 3. I speak conversational Japanese.' Remind participants to choose neutral topics like hobbies, transit habits, or food. Everyone writes silently for two minutes.

2. Form groups and set order 1 minutes

   Direct participants to turn to their table group of 3 to 5 people. Groups of 6 or 7 remain together as one circle. Ask the person whose first name begins closest to the letter A to start, or take an immediate volunteer.

3. Share, question, and guess 9 minutes

   Each person takes up to 75 seconds. The speaker reads all three statements aloud without revealing the lie. Group members may ask one quick clarifying question, then hold up 1, 2, or 3 fingers to vote on the lie. The speaker reveals the lie and shares a single sentence about one true statement. Play passes clockwise until everyone finishes.

4. Debrief as a whole room 2 minutes

   Bring the full room back together. Ask one debrief question to the room and collect two or three volunteer responses before moving to the agenda.

Debrief questions

• Which statement surprised your group the most?
• What made a false statement easy or hard to spot?

Finished output: Each participant shares two factual personal statements and one lie with their immediate small group, which then guesses the lie. The speaker reveals the lie and briefly elaborates on a true statement.

Remote

Participants write their statements on personal scratch paper or in a private digital note. Split participants into breakout rooms of 3 to 5 people. In breakouts, participants read their statements aloud or paste them into the breakout chat. Peers vote by typing 1, 2, or 3 into chat or holding up fingers on camera. Set breakout rooms to close after 9 minutes to return for the whole-room debrief.

Hybrid

Keep remote participants in a dedicated remote breakout room and in-person participants in physical room clusters. Do not pair one remote person with an in-person table. In-person tables vote with raised fingers. Remote breakout rooms vote with on-camera fingers or chat numbers. Both cohorts follow the same central timer.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may pass entirely or participate solely as guessers without submitting statements.
• Participants may use low-stakes trivia like food preferences or daily habits instead of personal history.

If the session gets stuck

One participant tells long stories and uses up the group time.

Remind groups to keep post-reveal explanations to a single sentence until every member has finished their turn.

A participant cannot think of an unusual fact under pressure.

Offer common topics like pets, favorite foods, mundane summer jobs, or transit routines.