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JIMINY SELF-HELP HANDBOOK 31

3.6. Exercise 6 (for learners)
Communication Activity - Drawing Twins (from Salt Lake County - Employee’s University)

Objective: This exercise should illustrate how hard it is to give clear instructions as well as how hard it
is to listen, and can also show how things are easily misunderstood and misinterpreted. Equipment:
pencil, paper, simple line-drawn pictures

Method: Divide participants into pairs.

Round 1
• Give one member of the pair a picture which must not be shown to their partner.
• The person with the picture must give instructions to their partner so that they can draw it,
but must not say what it is, e.g., ‘draw a circle’. The person with the picture cannot watch the
person drawing it.
Round 2
• Hand out another picture and ask participants to swap roles.
• The person with the picture can now give instructions in a similar manner as in part 1 but this
time the person drawing can ask yes/no questions. The person with the picture can watch as
the partner draws
Results - Round 1
• Why most of the pictures don't look like the original? (Interpretation: everyone has a different
interpretation, directions were not clear, not able to give or get feedback).
• What were your frustrations as the source of the message (giving instructions), as the receiver of
the message?

Results - Round 2
• Did it help to be able to watch the person
drawing?
• Did it help to be able to ask questions?
• Did it help to know what the object is …your
clear goal?
Relate this process back to communicating with your
peers. Is your message always clear? Is there a channel
to give and receive feedback? What noise is present
that affects the message?

Sit back-to-back with your partner
One person will describe what to draw
The other person draws what is being described
The drawer should ask questions if they don't understand the instruction

Sample picture form https://www.phillip-keddy.com/