The psychologist Todd Kashdan writes, “If you want people to be interested, committed, and willing to devote effort to learning, mastering, and using these skills for the long haul, then you can’t avoid the initial step of stimulating excitement.”

Good icebreakers at the start of a presentation or a conference session can do wonders. They set the tone for your event, boost audience engagement and help people to network.

It’s a valuable first impression you want to make.

But before you dive into planning an icebreaker activity for your conference, keep these three things in mind:

• Set a clear goal
• Know what you want to achieve with your icebreakers. Is it to help people to get to know each other, start collaborating, or engage with speakers?
• Keep it simple but purposeful
• The simpler the activity, the easier it is to engage in it. Just make sure it helps you reach your event objectives.
• Be sensitive
• Remember that people have different values, beliefs, and experiences. Get in your audience’s shoes and be considerate of them.

Here is a list of our most favorite icebreakers:

1. Storytelling
2. Introduction interviews
3. Icebreaking polls
4. Sharing expectations
5. Snowball fight
6. Flying challenges
7. Two truths and a lie
8. Human bingo
9. Prepare the questions
10. Ongoing TOP 10 quiz
11. Coffee break assignments
12. Find the man
13. Question ball
14. Guess my job
15. Penny

We like to use many of these at our own events, while others are