Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: 7028cc69e3e624e85b45dbd2850f34aa8f90edb13ccb3f958cf36b0fdb9520b1

# Your Personal Narrative

Participants write brief reflections answering three grounding questions about presence, goals, and needed support, then share their responses in small groups.

**Time:** 20 minutes. Source indicates 15 to 30 minutes; structured here as a concise 20-minute session.
**People:** 4 to 24. Individual reflection followed by groups of 3 or 4. With exactly 5 participants, use one group of 5. Every other total from 4 to 24 can be divided into triads and quartets; for example, 13 is three triads and one quartet, and 17 is three triads and two quartets.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Articulate individual intent for a gathering and identify concrete ways peers can assist each other.
**Use it when:** At the start of a collaborative project, cohort kickoff, or planning session where members need clear commitments and mutual support.
**Skip it when:** Brief informational briefings or meetings where individuals have strictly independent tasks and no collaborative overlap.

## Materials and tools

- One sheet of blank paper per participant
- One pen per participant
- A visible timer or clock
- Whiteboard, flip chart, or slide showing the three prompt questions
- Laptop and headset per isolated attendee (for hybrid setups)

## Before participants arrive

1. Write the three core questions clearly on a room display: 1. Why am I here? 2. What can I accomplish? 3. What can other participants do to help me accomplish that?
2. Distribute paper and pens to each seat.

## Say this to open

Take a sheet of paper and a pen. Most of us carry an unspoken narrative about why we join a project or team. Today we will make that explicit. For the next five minutes, write brief answers to the three questions on the board: Why are you here, what can you accomplish, and how can the other participants in this room help you do that? Write only what you are comfortable sharing. For example: I am here to finalize our quarterly schedule, I can draft the timeline today, and I need someone to review my dates before Friday.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce and write individually (5 minutes)

Read the opening script. Display the three questions. Give participants 5 minutes of quiet time to write their answers on paper or their devices. Announce when 1 minute remains.

### 2. Form small groups and share (10 minutes)

Form groups of 3 or 4, or one group of 5 when there are exactly 5 participants. Each group appoints a timekeeper. Groups of 4 allocate 2.5 minutes per person. Groups of 3 allocate 3 minutes per person, using the final minute for follow-up. A group of 5 allocates 2 minutes per person. Speakers share their responses while peers listen and suggest specific support. Timekeepers manage their own 2-, 2.5- or 3-minute turn changes so every group finishes within 10 minutes.

### 3. Conduct brief room debrief (5 minutes)

Bring the full room back together. Ask 2 or 3 volunteers to share common themes or practical support offers that surfaced in their discussions. Do not require everyone to speak. Close the session on time.


## Debrief questions

- What common patterns came up across your small groups regarding why people are in this room?
- What was one specific, practical request for support that someone can act on today?

**Finished output:** Each participant completes personal notes outlining their purpose and mutual aid requests.

## Remote

Display the three questions on a shared slide. Keep everyone muted during the 5-minute solo writing block. Use breakout rooms of 3 or 4, or one room of 5 when there are exactly 5 participants. Timekeepers use 3-minute turns plus 1 minute follow-up for triads, 2.5-minute turns for quartets, or 2-minute turns for a group of 5. All rooms return after 10 minutes for the debrief.

## Hybrid

Pair in-person participants with in-person partners and remote participants into online breakout rooms of 3 or 4. If an isolated participant cannot form a local group, connect them via a laptop and headset to an online room. Call for debrief observations alternately from in-person and remote attendees.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may type on personal devices or sketch notes instead of writing by hand.
- Participants choose their own depth of disclosure and may pass on answering any question during small-group sharing.

## If the session gets stuck

**One person dominates the small-group sharing time.**

Remind groups to designate a timekeeper and instruct internal timekeepers to hold speakers to their 2.5 or 3-minute allocation.

**A participant writes vague answers and does not know what to ask peers.**

Point them to the neutral example: 'I am here to finalize the schedule, I can finish the draft agenda, and I need someone to review my timeline by Thursday.'


## Terms used here

- Peer group: A small group composed of three or four participants.

## Participant material: Personal Narrative Prompts

Answer these three questions for yourself:
1. Why am I here?
2. What can I accomplish?
3. What can you do (the other participants in your group) to help me accomplish that?

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Relationship Makers Handbook, pages 483-484.

Retained the three core reflection prompts and small-group sharing structure from the Relationship Makers Handbook. Standardized the session to 20 minutes (5 minutes solo writing, 10 minutes sharing in small groups, and 5 minutes whole-room debrief). Groups use 3 or 4 participants, with an explicit 5-person exception. Speaking turns are 2 minutes in a group of 5, 2.5 minutes in quartets, or 3 minutes in triads plus 1 minute for follow-up. UWT clarified the five-person exception and matching remote turn limits without changing source prompts or the 20-minute schedule.

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/your-personal-narrative/