Best Conference Icebreaker (Game) - Conversational Lottery | Part 1: Connecting Possibilities

So, our theme and our time together  is focused on this idea of connecting possibilities. Any of you ever played the  lottery? Buy a scratch ticket, Powerball, something else.

I didn't even won the lottery,  right. So, let me get really crystal clear about my intention for this time. My intention during  our time together is to help you win the lottery.

The conversational lottery, right? What makes  a lottery ticket addicting is possibility, right? I had an aunt and an uncle that picked me  up one time when I was about seven years old and the back seat was filled with hundreds of scratch  tickets.

Not going to say they had a problem, but they had a problem. It was that idea that the  next scratch or the next pull or the next number could be the big one, right? I think conversation  is actually a bit like that.

When you meet people, there's a chance that you'll like have a nice  chat. Ask where you're from, find out you don't live anywhere near them. Then figure something  else to do, right?

And there's also a chance that while you're here, you're going to meet somebody  who's solved the problem that's been driving you insane, right? So, there's the magnitude you can  win 20 dollars in the lottery or you can win 100 million dollars, right? You could meet a mentor  that's going to help take you to the next level.

You could if you're nearing retirement, you could  meet your successor in this place. You could have a conversation that's like oh, that's interesting,  and you could have a conversation that's changes your perspective so much that you can't  see the world in the same way. So, what I'd like to do is a little experiment and what happens when  we crank up our chances of winning the lottery.

And so, in a moment, I'm going to invite you to  grab your lottery ticket. It looked a little bit like this. There was a question on a seat and  before any of you like I know that no introverts go into finance whatsoever.

So, before you get  nervous just take a deep breath, it's all good. So, if you don't have a card like this find one  within arm's reach. In a minute, what I'm going to invite you to do is pair up with somebody and  ask the question on your card.

Now, some of you, I'm assuming are like oh, new questions people  I haven't met yet. I'm in, and some of you are like the exit is right there okay, right? So,  before you finish rolling your eyes, let me frame up how this is going to happen.

We're going to  play a little bit of a conversational lottery, and some of you, in the next handful of minutes  are actually going to win really big. There's a percentage of you, I don't know what percentage.  But there's a percentage of you that are going to have an amazing conversation that will make  your entire trip to San Diego worthwhile, and there are some of you, that are going to have  some really great chats.

There are some of you, that are going to win in the future. You're going  to meet somebody who you're going to end up maybe going out to dinner with later on, and then  they're going to solve that problem that's been keeping you up at night, Etc. Right?

So, here's  how it's going to work. In a moment, I'm going to invite you to stand up, pair up with somebody  who you haven't met yet and ask the question on your card. Now, you can see, by the question on  my card.

These are not the typical questions that you ask when you meet someone for the first time,  not by a long shot. And so, I want to infuse two very important ways you have choice in the types  of conversations that you're about to have. So, the first way, this deck is called a deck  that I created called We!

Connect Cards and the cards are color coded. So, those of you who have  a green card. Those questions tend to be fun and light.

Blue cards tend to be a little bit deeper.  They're the kind of questions you don't really roll up to a bus stop and sit down next to someone  and ask them. What is life teaching you right now?

But some of you might have this question, which  means some of you might get asked this question, and then purple questions to give a  little love to the introverts in the room. Purple questions encourage  some level of self-reflection. So, they're the kind of questions that when  you're asked.

You might not have an immediate answer for because you may never have been  asked that question. and so, that's just invitation and permission to think as long as  you need before you answer a question. Alright, so, the first way that you have choice is in a  moment, when I invite you to stand up and pair up with somebody.

Toss your hand in there and pair up  with somebody. If you see somebody walking toward you with a blue card and you're not in a blue  card kind of mood, you can just duck and cover. True, but it's a little bit playful.

The second  way you have choice. I think cuts way deeper to our humanity, and it's one of my absolute favorite  features of questions. It's one of the reasons I think questions are one of the most underutilized,  but most powerful tools to build relationships of trust in a very quick period of time and that  is every single question.

When you are asked that question. You have 100 percent choice and  autonomy in how you answer that question. So, if you paired up with me and said Chad, what  is life teaching you right now?

I could say for me moving around on stage is warm enough in  here, I could probably ditch the suit jacket, and that'd be true. You could also pair up with me  and ask Chad, where's life teaching you right now? And I could tell you that the co-author of Ask  Powerful Questions and my co-founder and partner in crime passed away back in November after  a fight with cancer.

And so, life is teaching me to be really freaking present. Because  each moment is very fleeting. Same question two very different levels of responses.

So,  you get 100 percent choice on autonomy and how you answer any given question. And so, if  you're like oh, you can choose the easier path, right? My invitation is just to choose something  that's true for you.

So, the way this is going to work and some of you are going to come up to  me and be like how are we doing this again? So, tune in. The way this is going to work is I'm  going to invite you to stand up, fill in the aisle space if you need to take up some room.

Pair up  with somebody, ask them the question on your card. They'll ask you the question on their card, you'll  have that little moment a little conversation. You will then swap cards, toss your hand in the air  signaling that you're looking for somebody new to pair up with.

So, you'll have a handful of  exchanges, and then I will jump in and interrupt you to add a lens that will help increase  the chances that you win the conversational lottery. Alright, the way that I'm going to  bring you back is by putting my hand on your shoulder and asking you. Are you present?

And  I'm going to invite your response. So, let's practice real quick. You ready?

You get to say  yes, no, maybe, so in response. Are you present? I'm not one of those speakers that's going to  make you go louder that's good enough.

Okay. Go ahead and stand up, pair up with somebody  who you have not yet met yet and ask them the question on your card. If you don't have a  card because you're standing in the back or something.

Come to the front and find one  or just use the other person's question.