What Have You Been Reading?

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Identify shared reading topics and non-work interests across a group through an interactive matching puzzle.

Use it when: Use during team check-ins, retreats, or cohort launches to uncover common interests in a low-pressure format.

Skip it when: Skip when participants do not read recreationally or professionally, or when advance response collection is not feasible.

Group arrangement: Individual work followed by whole-room reveal

Timing: UWT suggested 15-minute live session; the original source suggested an asynchronous bulletin board displayed for 1 to 2 weeks.

Materials and tools

• One printed matching worksheet per participant (or shared digital form)
• Pens or pencils
• Master answer key for facilitator
• Timer

Before participants arrive

1. Before the session, ask each participant to name one book, article, podcast, or magazine they read recently. Provide a placeholder option for anyone who prefers not to share.
2. Prepare the matching worksheet listing all participant names in the left column and all submitted titles scrambled in the right column. Adjust the row count to match your group size.
3. Substantial preparation is required ahead of time to collect titles and format the handout.

Say this to open

Earlier, everyone shared the title of something they read recently. On your worksheet, names appear on the left and all the submitted titles are scrambled on the right. Your goal is to match each person to their title. Keep your own title secret until the reveal.

How to run it

1. Introduce activity and distribute sheets 2 minutes

   Distribute the matching worksheets and pens. Speak the opening script. Clarify that guesses are private and that people can pass or leave blanks without penalty.

2. Individual matching 4 minutes

   Participants work independently to draw lines connecting each name to a title. For example, if Pat submitted a cookbook and Alex submitted a detective novel, guess who read which. Call time at 4 minutes.

3. Reveal answers 6 minutes

   Call on each person in order to state their submitted title. For large groups up to 24, enforce a strict 10-second limit per person to complete the reveal within 6 minutes. Participants tally their own correct matches privately.

4. Debrief and sharing 3 minutes

   Ask the debrief questions to the room. Invite up to three volunteers to share a specific recommendation with the group.

Debrief questions

• Which title or match surprised you the most, and why?
• Which book or article mentioned today would you consider reading next?

Finished output: A completed matching worksheet and an optional compiled list of group reading recommendations.

Remote

Distribute a digital document or poll with names on one side and scrambled titles on the other. Participants mark their copies individually. The facilitator screen shares the master list and calls each person to state their title in turn order.

Hybrid

Remote and in-person participants complete an identical digital worksheet or individual paper copies. The facilitator projects the scrambled master sheet in the room and shares screen online, then conducts the round-robin reveal across both audiences.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may submit non-book reading (articles, blogs, comics) or a pre-selected default entry if they did not read recently.
• Participants may keep their final match score private without disclosing totals.
• Provide digital text files compatible with screen readers upon request.

If the session gets stuck

A participant did not submit an item ahead of time.

Assign them a neutral entry such as 'Daily news' or invite them to act as the official co-facilitator and timekeeper.

Multiple participants submitted the same title.

List the identical title multiple times with distinct letters so the counts remain equal on both sides.

Terms used here

• Matching sheet: A two-column worksheet pairing participant names on the left with randomized submission titles on the right.