Fishbowl

From Faster Than 20
The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.

A fishbowl is a way to have a small group conversation with a large group.

  1. Determine the size you want for the small group. Arrange that number of chairs plus one or two extras into a small circle. For example, if you want a small group of three, create a circle of four or five chairs. This is inside the fishbowl.
  2. Place the remaining chairs in a circle around the inner circle. This is outside the fishbowl.

Anyone can participate in this conversation. The only rule is that you have to enter the fishbowl in order to do it. There are lots of variations on how to manage this. For example, someone from outside the fishbowl could simply go inside the fishbowl and occupy an empty chair. You could have someone inside the fishbowl leave every time someone new enters (a la musical chairs). You could also have people on the outside tap the shoulder of someone on the inside to take that person's seat.