Up If It's You
Stand up if it's true of you. Sit down and look around.
You call statements and anybody they are true of stands up, looks around, and sits. It takes two minutes, needs nothing, and quietly shows a room how much it has in common — the standing is the answer and the looking around is the point.
Stay seated. I'll say something, and if it's true of you, stand up. Have a look around at who else is standing, then sit back down. Nothing here is compulsory — stay seated on anything you'd rather not answer.
A room needs to see itself, and there is no space to move — it works in the tightest seating there is.
Props: None
Run this when…
If none of these is your room, pick another.A packed room with no floor space
Showing a group how much they share
A short opener before a session about the group itself
How to run it
Written to be glanced at mid-room, not memorised.
- Everyone stays where they are.
- Say once, clearly, that staying seated on anything is a normal choice.
- Call a statement. Anyone it is true of stands.
- Tell them to look around before sitting — that pause is the whole activity.
- Start easy and ordinary, then move to the ones that matter for your session.
- Six or seven statements is plenty. End on something everybody stands for.
Running it well
Only the host sees these. Participants never do.
- The looking around is the activity. Without it this is a survey; with it, it is a room noticing itself.
- Start with the ordinary ones — had coffee, travelled more than an hour. The room needs to be comfortable standing before you ask anything that means something.
- End on something everyone stands for. A room on its feet together is a much better finish than a room half-up.
- Never comment on who stood for what, even lightly. The moment there is a reaction, the honest answers stop.
Watch out for
Space, safety and the traps worth knowing before you start.
- Standing repeatedly is tiring for some people. Say that raising a hand instead of standing counts exactly the same.
- Anything personal must be genuinely optional and said so before the first statement, not after.
- Nobody needs floor space, which is what makes this work in rows.
Seated version
“Everybody stand up” is not a neutral instruction. Offer this alongside, not instead.
A raised hand replaces standing and it works identically — which is also the accommodation you offer anyone who would rather not stand.
On a video call
The cards work as they are. This is what changes about how you call it.
Hands up rather than standing, which is the accommodation you would offer anyway. It is better on a call for one reason: in a room people look around at who else is standing, and on a call the whole grid is already in front of them, so the noticing is instant.
Run it yourself
Free for thirty days, no card. Put it on the projector and step through it — nobody in the room needs a phone.
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- Where
- Remote or in person
- Props
- None
- Big screen
- Required
- Teams
- Individual only