The Idea

Sometimes when we listen to people we only hear the things we want to hear. What we hear might be different from what they are trying to tell us. We can be a mirror to reflect what we hear, and check that we hear correctly what they are telling us.

Inspiration

You will need:

• Just yourselves

Let’s play!

You can play this game with a minimum of two people, but more people are more fun!

1. Let everyone sit in a circle.
2. The person who chooses to start the game thinks up a very short story.
3. They turn to their right and whisper the story in the person’s ear.
4. The listening person takes a moment to think about what they heard, then turns to their right and whispers the story they heard in the ear of the next person.
5. Repeat this process until the last person whispers the story they heard in the ear of the person who started.
6. The starting person tells the original story to the group and also the story as it was retold in the group.
7. It can be very funny when the story is changed as in Broken down Telephone. But it is also important to learn to keep the story true. You might like to try the game both ways.
8. When playing the game remember that for the story to be heard correctly depends on each person both listening well and speaking simply and clearly. When the story starts out too complicated it is very difficult for people to understand, remember and tell.
9. Have a little chat after the game. Was it difficult to understand what the other person was saying? Did you manage to remember all the things to repeat? Where did the story change?

Like playing Empathy? Check out the other games here.