I learn lessons with every interview I give.
Jenny Lewis (*1976)
American actress and singer
Newspaper Interview is an icebreaker activity to familiarize your participants with each other.
How does a journalist learn about a person to write his or her story? He does an interview. Play the role of a reporter! Participants interview each other and report to the group.
Thereby you can observe how much they are listening to each other or whether one is dominating the talk. Furthermore, as Workshop Leader you can learn also about the participants’ time discipline as five minutes are quite limited.
Objective of Newspaper Interview
Familiarisation of participants with each other.
Resources
Notepad, pen (Optional: markers and flip chart sheets).
Hint: If you let them write on flip chart, they are better able to present and you observe their skills in dealing with workshop material already.
Time
2 x 5 mins newspaper interviews = 10 mins plus 3 mins presentation time per participant.
Task
Create teams of two participants who interview each other. It’s advisable to mix gender, organisation, and age groups. Everybody takes a notepad and a pen and starts interviewing or being interviewed. After five minutes you give the signal to switch. Results are either presented orally or by means of flip chart (each team standing together at the front).
Phase
Beginning.