The Talking Pictures Activity

Talking Pictures is a playful activity and an agile technique to share life experiences, strengthen relationships and promote empathy.

In advance, you need to gather a bunch of different images, as large as possible to make it easy for a group to see them. Assemble your group in front of you and display one random image to your group for about 5 seconds, and then hide it from view.

Immediately invite someone to volunteer and respond to this image by sharing a quick story that evokes a memory of a real experience you had. Allow up to 30 seconds for their story to be shared.

Help your group understand that they can’t get this wrong. Focus on participation, sharing and interaction, and less on the articulation of their story.

Show your next image for 5 seconds, and again, invite someone to share their story.

Resist the temptation to allow more time for sharing, or to display the image for too long. Keep the action moving and the momentum high because this will engage your group more successfully.

Continue to show all of your images, or until you are ready to move on.

Moment of Reflection

• How evocative were these images for you?
• Which images were the most impactful to you? Why?
• Why do you think that images evoke some memories and others do not?
• How many different ways could you interpret any one image?
• What do these different perspectives say about you and our group?
• Did you hold back saying something at times? Why? What was your fear?

The topics of this publication: integration, interactions, empathy, reflection, self, foster relationships, active listening, public speaking