Lost Name Icebreaker

Lost Name Icebreaker is a fun and entertaining activity, mostly for social events where participants are not familiar with each other, but can be used for teams also. This icebreaker serves exactly the purpose of “breaking the ice” at the beginning of such events – to make people interact with each other – either in microdose if it is their maximum for the moment or by having longer conversations if they wish so.

Time:

• 5-15 minutes, depending on the size of the groups
• The activity is good for filling up all the time between the first participants’ arrival and the event’s start.

The general idea is that people get another person’s name and need to communicate with others until they find their own name.

Lost Name Icebreaker is a good fit for:

1. Social events, where participants don’t know each other, with a number of participants up to 50, Variation 1 and Variation 2 (we have done Variation 2 in agile meetup with 70 participants, too). It helps people feel more relaxed, and start networking in a safe manner to the extent they wish themselves.
2. Smaller events, where participants don’t know each other well, for example, trainings, with up to 20 people – Variation 1 and Variation 3. It provides an energized start to the event and makes people relax.
3. Teams up to 20 people – Variation 3. Just a fun energizer also helping train focus and listening skills.

Variations

Variation 1 – Everybody has arrived

This variation is good when all the participants have already arrived

1. Everyone puts their nametag in a bucket.
2. After every participant blindly selects a random nametag (if they take their own, they need to reselect)
3. Then, they introduce themselves to others by the name written on their new nametag.
4. If their partner has their nametag, they are lucky and can take it back to them, giving the partner their temporary nametag.
5. The icebreaker continues until everyone has their nametag back. 

Variation 2 – WHILE Participants ARE STILL arriving

This variation is good to fill up the time between the first event’s participants start arriving and the event’s beginning, to make people network with each other in an easy and fun manner.

1. Put several nametags in a bucket – those of organizers or “close friends”
2. When participants arrive, ask them to take one of a nametag from a bucket.
3. Then, put their nametag in the bucket.
4. Participants go to mingle and introduce themselves to others by the name on their new nametag.
5. If their partner has their nametag, they are lucky and can take it back to them, giving the partner their temporary nametag.
6. The icebreaker continues until the event starts. Some participants still can stay with the wrong nametags. In this case, they need to continue in a break. Usually, nobody complains 😉

As this variation serves to fill up time before the event starts, the participants can have longer conversations, introducing themselves by their real name and telling more about themselves if they wish.

Variation 3 – TRAIN YOUR FOCUS AND LISTENING SKILLS

For a smaller group and can also be used when people know each other to make people move around and have some fun, and also practice focus and good listening skills

1. Everyone walks around in the room, saying hi to a random person and introducing themselves (in the first round, by their real names).
2. Partners in the pair keep the name their partner presented as their new name.
3. Continue in the same way, swapping the names during each interaction.
4. When a person gets their name back, they are done.
5. The icebreaker ends when everybody gets their name back.

Other icebreakers for social events