ZOOMFOOLERY
We've learnt to work online - making it engaging, lively and energised (but not draining) is vital! Here are some ways to use Zoom actively and creatively in your facilitation, presented at the Creative Bridges Conference 2021. I call them Zoomfoolery techniques because they are playful and can have serious aims too
MOVING ON ZOOM
PLAY MUSIC – breath and gentle movement building to larger gestures and freer movement in seat
TUNING IN
THINK about where you are in your physical room, location in a country, continent, world, back to you in your physical room, chair, body. Next TUNE IN TO the people you are meeting on screen. Consider their different locations along roads, perhaps across hills or oceans. THINK about the big distances and then GENTLY allow a sense of bringing each person you see on the screen a bit closer.
Adopt an attitude of WELCOME to those you see. Imagine offering them a welcome into your room, and give time to experiencing what it feels like to be welcomed by them.
LIVE COLLAGE
Participants find random objects near them and bring close to their camera – this is done fairly rapidly
MAGIC FOREST Find something green or blue or foresty
ENERGY Find something vibrant or exuberant or bright
CUPBOARD OF DELIGHTS Find something you like or love
Facilitator can take SCREENSHOTS of the COLLAGES and show them to the group
Variations:
REACHING OUT
ONE PERSON MOVES A HAND towards side or up or down edge of screen AND SAYS ‘I’m reaching up/down/right/left to [NAME]’. They KEEP their HANDS in the position on the screen
Whoever is named (wherever they are on their own screen) responds by saying ‘Thank you – AND I’m reaching up/down/right/left to [NAME of another person] and moving their hand to the relevant side/up/down
FACILITATOR NOTICES who has been reached out to and ensures everyone has a turn
INVITES all to LOOK at the pattern of hands/arms on the screen
Variation:
VOICES ‘ON MUTE’
ALL ON MUTE except facilitator to begin with, who invites participants to
VOICES AND CHOICES
Some participants are READERS, the others are LISTENERS
READERS read verses of a POEM or OTHER TEXT (SCREEN-SHARED) SLOWLY and feeling EACH WORD
LISTENERS simply listen, lowering their eyes from screen
Second read through – listeners ON MUTE can REPEAT key words they hear in any tone or however they like (No-one hears! You can shout! You can whisper! You can respond however you want!)
Variations:
TRACING THE EDGES OF THE ‘SMALL STAGE’ (the screen)
(this is the ‘visible screen’ rather than the edge of your physical laptop)
ATTITUDES TO THE SCREEN
FIND A CLOTH or something made of FABRIC (eg socks!)
Dust the visible screen (not the physical laptop or device) with different attitudes:
ENJOY ZOOMFOOLING and please let me know if you devise any exercises or enjoy these ones!
We've learnt to work online - making it engaging, lively and energised (but not draining) is vital! Here are some ways to use Zoom actively and creatively in your facilitation, presented at the Creative Bridges Conference 2021. I call them Zoomfoolery techniques because they are playful and can have serious aims too
MOVING ON ZOOM
PLAY MUSIC – breath and gentle movement building to larger gestures and freer movement in seat
TUNING IN
THINK about where you are in your physical room, location in a country, continent, world, back to you in your physical room, chair, body. Next TUNE IN TO the people you are meeting on screen. Consider their different locations along roads, perhaps across hills or oceans. THINK about the big distances and then GENTLY allow a sense of bringing each person you see on the screen a bit closer.
Adopt an attitude of WELCOME to those you see. Imagine offering them a welcome into your room, and give time to experiencing what it feels like to be welcomed by them.
LIVE COLLAGE
Participants find random objects near them and bring close to their camera – this is done fairly rapidly
MAGIC FOREST Find something green or blue or foresty
ENERGY Find something vibrant or exuberant or bright
CUPBOARD OF DELIGHTS Find something you like or love
Facilitator can take SCREENSHOTS of the COLLAGES and show them to the group
Variations:
- Find different colours or types of object representing different emotions or states
- SMALL GROUP go into breakout room while others create a screen collage. SMALL GROUP returns and says what they notice, what it reminds them of, how it makes them feel. Rotate groups.
- CREATIVE WRITING from any of the collages
REACHING OUT
ONE PERSON MOVES A HAND towards side or up or down edge of screen AND SAYS ‘I’m reaching up/down/right/left to [NAME]’. They KEEP their HANDS in the position on the screen
Whoever is named (wherever they are on their own screen) responds by saying ‘Thank you – AND I’m reaching up/down/right/left to [NAME of another person] and moving their hand to the relevant side/up/down
FACILITATOR NOTICES who has been reached out to and ensures everyone has a turn
INVITES all to LOOK at the pattern of hands/arms on the screen
Variation:
- Participants could rename themselves to ‘street or pet’s name’ + ‘household or natural world object’
- Reach out to someone and then appear to PUSH at the SIDE of the screen until it gives and then you appear to push through it
VOICES ‘ON MUTE’
ALL ON MUTE except facilitator to begin with, who invites participants to
- make the following sounds:
- make an animal noise while gesturing towards screen
- as people get more confident, they can choose to UNMUTE and continue the sounds
- make a sound scape such as the sea
- half of group listens, the other half makes the sounds, then swap
VOICES AND CHOICES
Some participants are READERS, the others are LISTENERS
READERS read verses of a POEM or OTHER TEXT (SCREEN-SHARED) SLOWLY and feeling EACH WORD
LISTENERS simply listen, lowering their eyes from screen
Second read through – listeners ON MUTE can REPEAT key words they hear in any tone or however they like (No-one hears! You can shout! You can whisper! You can respond however you want!)
Variations:
- READERS read to everyone and all LISTEN and repeat key words AND jot them down, then make into another piece of writing
- With jotted words, write 3 new SHORT lines incorporating one word into each line, not having to make sense
- TYPE into CHAT a new piece of writing
TRACING THE EDGES OF THE ‘SMALL STAGE’ (the screen)
(this is the ‘visible screen’ rather than the edge of your physical laptop)
- with a hand/arm (oblong, both ways, quickly, slowly
- ‘rest’ a hand/arm on one side of screen
- place hands on both sides of screen. Push outwards giving impression of strength. Give sense of sudden breakthrough (hands push past edges of screen)
- positioning head in different places in relation to the screen (eg half off-screen, horizontal, upside down!)
ATTITUDES TO THE SCREEN
FIND A CLOTH or something made of FABRIC (eg socks!)
Dust the visible screen (not the physical laptop or device) with different attitudes:
- with care and appreciation
- with frustration and annoyance
- subversively – behave as Zoom doesn’t expect you to
- with any attitude you wish
- with AUDIO OFF speak or make sounds to go with the attitudes (growl, yell, tell it something)
- half group can watch other half then swap
ENJOY ZOOMFOOLING and please let me know if you devise any exercises or enjoy these ones!
