18/08/2026
Love them or hate them... let's talk icebreakers! 🧊 Do they still have a place in your current meetings?
Whether it's sharing a fun fact, finding someone with the same hobby, or the classic "post it on your forehead!", icebreakers have been a staple of meetings, conferences and team events for years.
Many meeting planners and trainers have their favourites and they can be a great way to get conversations flowing and help people feel more comfortable in new surroundings and connecting with fellow delegates. Others would happily skip straight to the coffee break!
At ExecSpace, we know every event is different, and the best icebreakers are the ones that suit the audience and feel natural rather than forced.
We asked some expert friends of ExecSpace to comment… Andy Williamson, Founder of Welcome Brain and an advocate for accommodating Neurodiversity in meetings said: "Our research at Welcome Brain found that 73% of people—both neurotypical and neurodivergent—dislike networking that's simply unstructured mingling. Icebreakers can be a fantastic way to provide a little more structure, but it's important they're designed thoughtfully. Rather than putting people on the spot, simple conversation cards placed around the room with prompts like 'What's the worst film you've ever seen?' or 'If you could do any job in the world, what would it be?' can help conversations start naturally and lead to genuine, meaningful connections. Most importantly, give people the choice of whether to use them or not. That flexibility and personalisation are at the heart of truly neuroinclusive networking."
Rebecca Maxwell, Director and Perception Insights training commented: “Icebreakers can be ‘marmite’ but often that's because they're not well thought through. Perception Insights uses icebreakers intentionally - to introduce participants to each other so they understand the context of everyone's comments, to make networking easier, or to build trust in the room. We're also big believers in re-energisers on full day sessions, to keep attention focused and energy levels from dropping - especially straight after lunch! Our advice to meeting planners? If you're going to use them, make them have a purpose beyond just ticking a box on the event checklist.”
Do you still use icebreakers at your events? And if you've got a favourite, we'd love to hear it in the comments.
