What do the phrases once upon a time and they lived happily ever after have to do with creating a quality design? Everything. Think about those childhood stories we delighted in hearing over and over again. They all had an opening that set us up and made us want to hear the whole story. They also had some sort of contrived closing, usually a happily ever after that drew all the story elements together and had us smiling at the wonderful ending. As designers, we too have to create our enticing openers and fulfilling closers in much the same way.This important introduction to our design has been referred to as an icebreaker. But its intention should be much more than to break the ice at the beginning of an event. According to Bob Pike, an effective opener is a critical “piece of retention real estate”. We are more likely to remember best what we see and hear first and last. An opener should: break preoccupation (alleviate personal tension), facilitate networking (connect learner to learner and reduce relationship tension), relate to the content (connect learner to content), maintain or enhance self-esteem, be fun for the trainer and participant and create curiosity.
An effective closer is also a must have for content retention. Not only do we usually remember what we see and hear first, we also remember what we see and hear last. In that case, a good closer should be designed to provide these purposes: tie things together (revisit content, highlight and reinforce the key concepts), form a basis for making action plans (allow for reflection) and celebrate the close of the event.
Of course designers are not writing fairy tales and the content that you stuff in between the opener and closer is the meat of the design. Just think how much tastier your design will be with the addition of that delicious once upon a time and happily ever after.
6 comments:
“Contrived” definitely describes the version of the tales that you mention. The original tales did not always have the pat Disney endings that forced smiles and created wishes of a better life. If I remember correctly the Grimm’s Red Riding Hood was devoured at the end of the story. Why was the authentic ending changed for contrived happiness?
That being said, one of the best event openers I have experienced had the participants immediately involved with each other with a relevant content driven experience. It wasn’t a contrived activity for “activity-sake”, but established the participant need, self-assessed participant goals, established purpose and urgency. Then the nuts/bolts were addressed. This was a refreshing change since quite often the first 30 minutes is usually constant ramblings by the trainer.
Perhaps the best openers and closers exist when the participants engage in an authentic experience and not a contrived one.
It seems to me that the Brothers Grimm were certainly given the correct surname. However, the version I am familiar with had the woodsman rescue the fair Red Riding Hood (Little Red Cap)and her ailing grandmother by snipping the wolf's belly with a scissor. The wolf, of course, died.
Thank you for sharing a memorable opener and communicating its affect on you. They do set the stage so well.
If I wanted to find icebreakers, where could I find them?
Event openers and information about creating an opener can be found on the Web (you can do a Google search). You can also find great material at Ashmore Media Center. Just go to browardschools.com/hrd and on the left-hand side navigation window chose Ashmore. Type in openers or icebreakers and you will get a list of reference books on the topic. Ashmore will pony the book to you too!
What you have written reminds me of what a friend told me about theatre - the opening act and the finale' are vital and lots of attention must be given to them....as one who is not crazy about "energizers" particularly those silly games that have nothing to do with the content, context or process of the event being attended - the idea of an opener to introduce and reinforce ideas makes perfect sense - and to go off on another tangent - ever read the book "Teachng As a performing Art" - if we look at teaching/training in that definition the idea of an opener/opening act and closer/finale are reinforced
Seymour Sarason has 45 years of teaching experience under his belt. He is indeed perceptive and uses the theatre as a metaphor for teaching. It can easily be translated to designer/trainer-speak. This book can be found at the Ashmore Media Center.
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