#22

jfc! :grin:

#23

once had a meeting to plan some training i was involved in delivering. the manager in charge insisted on doing a ‘tell us something about yourselves’ ice breaker at the start of the meeting (despite the fact that we all already knew each other).

the anecdote she chose to use was that she’d once killed a budgie. :grimacing:

now i can just about get that in one of those ice breakers you might panic and accidentally share an anecdote that’s unintentionally bleak, but she planned this in advance!

2 Likes
#24

How did she do it?

#25

i typically lie during these sorts of things as I don’t want people I barely know to know actual things about me.

usually say something like, ‘I can beat the world record for most jaffa cakes eaten in a minute’ or ‘I went to new york last year’, none of which are remotely true.

#26

I can’t remember any of the details, annoyingly. If i remember later in the week I’ll ask my colleague who was in the same meeting if she knows

#27

Do you ever get caught out? Has anyone later made reference to your jaffa cake habit or asked you where to go in new york?

#28

never been caught out. usually never meet people you meet at ice breakers again anyway.

#29

IT software type training is normally a good thing but the issue is timing because it’s so rare I’ve gone from a course on something and then be able to use it, and if you don’t immediately get some practical time using whatever you’ve been trained in you’ve basically wasted your time.

The worst thing about training will be the trainer’s personal quirks, the way they keep saying the same phrases over and over again or else pronounce one key phrase/name unlike anyone else ever, sort of like:

#30

had to do icebreakers all through my induction week last year which is fair enough, but we had to go for an hour training session in something recently, surrounded by people from my shift and PRESENTED by people from my shift, and they STILL MADE US DO AN ICEBREAKER. after working with these people for a year already (alright i only properly know a couple of them but if i cared about getting to know the rest of others i’d have done it by now)

#31

When doing my training today I have had a bad cold/flu/throat and started coughing so much and I didn’t have a bottle of water and had to stop presenting and go down 2 flights of stairs to the water fountain!

  • Hahahahahaha
  • What is this, amateur hour?
  • Aww, were you ok?

0 voters

#32

Epimer’s ‘you can leave work now if…’ thread just reminded me of my former colleague and her budgie killing ice breaker anecdote, and thereby this thread.

i asked my other former colleague who was in the same meeting. she didn’t remember the details either but she still works with the manager so she asked her. apparently she let the budgie out of its cage and it flew into a window.

apparently when asked about it she said something like “but why would i have shared that in a meeting? that’s really inappropriate”

#34

I’ve just voted for it. Our industry conference is now big into live polling so often participate/present with it. I think it’s quite a nice way to get some audience participation and guide a presentation/discussion, but also easy to get it wrong.

1 Like
#36

i remember being at a conference with something like that but just choosing random nonsense options for the questions as I was leaving the month after.