Activity 22
Get Your Phone Out: The WhatsApp Challenge
10–15 minutesCreativity & storytellingCommunicationIndividualSmall groupsIn personVirtualHybrid
What is this activity?
Practise expressing a complex update in a short, memorable message and then saying it aloud.
Preparation
Ask participants to use their phone's notes app or a draft message to themselves. Choose a real update, request or proposal; do not send it.
How to run it
- 1Write the message as a short WhatsApp-style text.
- 2Decide what the recipient most needs to remember.
- 3Remove jargon and details that can wait until later.
- 4Read the message aloud to a partner.
- 5Ask what the partner remembers and refine the message.
Example in Action
You're teaching people how to communicate clearly and concisely. Ask participants to get their phones out and write a WhatsApp-style message explaining a complicated workplace update, such as introducing a new policy or changing a process. Challenge them to communicate the main point in no more than three sentences. They read their messages aloud to a partner, who explains what they understood.
Make it your own
Adapt the topic, scenario or materials to suit your audience.
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