Today was a training day.

Apparently the one thing you can’t stipulate must not happen is that there shouldn’t be some stupid ice-breaker thing. Today’s was the one where you say a secret. I always think its a bit of a dodgy way to go. There are plenty of jokes about what someone might say in there but ever since a man said he was a recovering alcoholic in one then I’ve not been so sure that anything isn’t possible.

Why have a question like that? Just have an either/or option so people don’t get all confused and make a big deal out of them not being able to think of a stupid example of something no-one cares about.

If you are a trainer and think that people saying their name and their job isn’t enough and feel that some trivial chatter is helping ease people into the room then when not try one of these:

• Which is the worst religion?
• If you HAD to kill one of Girls Aloud which one would you kill?
• Was June Sarpong famous before of after 9/11 ?  (topical)
• How many chips do you think you’ve eaten in your life? (If there’s an American in the room you’ll maybe need to clarify we mean french fries and not what we call crisps.)

They’re all for free. It would be nice if you used one and it goes well if you mailed me a proportion of your fee for the day, perhaps something sensible around the 72% mark.