Learning objectives: To develop confidence to speak about yourself and present yourself.
Description of the method/nr. of persons of the group for which the method is suitable: Up to 15 people. Each participant in the circle (sitting on chairs) should stand up, go behind the chair and present themselves within 2 minutes in third person. Being really honest and sharing personal stuff. For example “She is really hardworking, sometimes she even neglects her home chores and family responsibilities because of that. Not she is happy about it, but she still hasn’t found a way to solve all the questions that hang around….”, “He has been having it tough when searching for a job, because people refuse to accept that despite his handicap, he is perfectly able to do all the tasks the others are doing. It is as if the ‘normal’ people are refusing him the right to be as good as they are on the job. He finds this so unfair” … And so on. It is a form of personalized verbatim theatre – speaking about yourself in third person helps you detach yourself from the issues and from any difficulties you would like to share with the rest of the group and disclose about yourself. It is a great activity for a new group, which needs to get to know each other and bond before the other tasks that will have to be implemented. Whoever cannot move behind a chair should simply change their position by moving slightly to the back – leaving their previously taken space, empty – as if they leave themselves there and distance themselves.
Materials: chairs for the number of group members
Time: 2 minutes for presenting the exercise, 2 more for the facilitator to give an example and then 2 for each group member.
Questions for discussions/Debriefing:
- Was the objective achieved and how?
- How did you feel when you had to speak about yourself?
- How did you feel when the others were sharing?
- How do you feel within the group now?
Source: Tsveta Baliyska, 2017