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Confidence & Flexibility
🧱 Build on the Last Idea
Create something together by making every new contribution connect to what came before.
What you need
Two or more people, or one person writing alternating lines.
How to play
- Begin with one idea or sentence.
- The next contribution must begin from something in the previous one.
- Do not reject the earlier idea; extend it.
- Continue until you have a strange but coherent plan or story.
See one in action
Start: “Our school should have a pet dinosaur.”
Player 2: “The dinosaur could become the school mascot.”
Player 3: “Then it needs a dinosaur-sized sports uniform.”
Player 4: “That means the sewing club suddenly becomes the most important group in school.”
Each person must use something from the previous idea instead of ignoring it and starting over.
Player 2: “The dinosaur could become the school mascot.”
Player 3: “Then it needs a dinosaur-sized sports uniform.”
Player 4: “That means the sewing club suddenly becomes the most important group in school.”
Each person must use something from the previous idea instead of ignoring it and starting over.
10 ideas to try
Choose any one of these prompts and use the activity steps above:
- Start: “Our school should have a pet dinosaur.”
- Start: “Every office should have a nap room.”
- Start: “The city should build a giant slide downtown.”
- Start: “We should invent a holiday for something nobody celebrates yet.”
- Start: “Every neighborhood should have a community pizza oven.”
- Start: “Libraries should stay open at midnight once a week.”
- Start: “The school cafeteria should have a student-designed menu day.”
- Start: “The city should turn one parking lot into a tiny forest.”
- Start: “Every meeting should begin with one ridiculous question.”
- Start: “Apartment buildings should have shared rooftop gardens.”
Make it harder / funnier
Every third contribution must create a problem instead of improving the idea. The next person still has to build from it rather than reject it.
Why it helps
Practices listening, collaboration, transitions, and developing ideas instead of replacing them with your own.
Ready to use this skill?
Try it in Public Speaking →Take the activity into a full SpeakCoachLab practice session.