Hi 👋Jack here again, Toasty’s Head of Product.
I have a super exciting product update to share with you today. I think it will be useful in so many use cases – building new connections and strengthening existing relationships.
We’ve just launched our new feature, called Conversation Cards. Conversation Cards is a simple, fun and effective activity that can be added to any Toasty session, available now.
How does Conversation Cards work?
After your participants answer your ice-breaker questions and find their assigned group, you can have them play a round of Conversation Cards. Here’s how it works:
- One member from each group is randomly assigned as the first Conversation Leader.
- On their device, they’ll choose a card, which will reveal a question or prompt.
- Then, they’ll lead a conversation with the group responding to that question or prompt. For example, they might need to share a personal story or talk about their goals.
- After the time is up (1, 3, or 5 minutes), it’s the next team member’s turn to pick a card. The game keeps going until every team member has had a turn to lead the conversation.
The Conversation Cards your participants choose from are set by you, the host! You can choose from our pre-made cards – we have 5 categories that can be used in all different types of events. Or, you can write your own custom cards to keep focus the conversations exactly how you like it.
How to use Conversation Cards at a community networking event
One of the biggest challenges for many people attending your community event is “How do I start a conversation with someone?”. Conversation Cards skips the small-talk, eliminates awkwardness and builds instant rapport between strangers in a community.
Here’s how you can use it at your next networking event:
- Instead of starting unstructured “networking time”, replace it with something better: have everyone in the room join the Toasty session and answer the multiple-choice ice-breaking questions you set.
- Then they’ll be matched with the other people in the room they should meet, and use the colors on their phone to find their group members
- Now it’s time for Conversation Cards! As the host, you can start the game when everyone is ready.
- The first group leader will be chosen at random, and the game will begin! Expect instant meaningful conversation that allows your community members to form bonds quickly 🙌
We’ve designed a set of Conversation Cards especially for this purpose, so make sure to try the category Fun Ice Breakers at your next community event. These are fun, sometimes silly, sometimes thought-provoking questions especially for forming new connections. Here’s some examples:
- What do you spend too much money on?
- In what way are you a “rockstar”?
- If you could instantly become an expert in something, what would you like it to be?
How to use Conversation Cards in a team bonding session
When colleagues have deep connections and understand each other, amazing things can happen to your company. Communication and alignment becomes easier, great talent sticks around, and employees are engaged and happy.
We’ve designed some sets of cards especially to strengthen the bonds between team members and improve communication, even across departments and seniority levels.
We recommend adding a Conversation Cards category near the beginning of any event that has a goal of team bonding. The honest sharing will set the tone for the following activities and create a safe space.
Here’s some example cards from the categories Share Personal Stories and Find shared values and interests:
- Tell a story about a time you “saved the day”
- What’s something that people might be surprised to learn about you?
- If you had an extra 2 hours each day, how would you spend it?
Or, add your own cards that you think will work best for your team!
Conversation Cards is available on all Toasty plans including our Free Plan, so try it out today.
If you ever have feature requests or ideas, I’d love to hear them. Get in touch and let me know your thoughts at [email protected]