Purpose: To shake participants out of old communication and leadership styles.

 Time Required: 5 to 10 minutes.

 Size of Group: Unlimited.

 Materials Required: None.

 The Exercise in Action: Near the outset of her communication courses, Karen Shuler, executive director of Humanscope, Inc., McClellanville, SC, asks the entire group (or small groups of 10 if the class is especially large) to line up in ascending order by their birth dates. The catch? They cannot speak to each other.

Shuler allows 5 to 10 minutes for the exercise, monitoring the frustration level as time runs out and jumping in with a GAME or two if need be. Typically, a leader will emerge and realize that the group can communicate via their hands or other tools in the room such as pen and paper.

When time is up, she has the group (or each small group) call out its lineup.

The exercise is a quick means of highlighting topics to be covered in class, such as the need to find new ways of communicating when working in a team environment, how leadership issues emerge, which styles of leadership work or don’t work, and the importance of making sure everyone is communicating the same way.