- Explain the rules. Each person prepares three short statements about themselves: two true and one false. The group tries to spot the false one.
- Go first yourself, in front of everyone, to show the tone and pace.
- Give everyone two minutes to prepare. Ask for work-friendly facts and a believable lie.
- If you have more than eight people, split them into circles of four to eight. Each circle picks a timekeeper.
- The first person reads out their three statements. On the count of three, everyone votes at the same time by holding up one, two or three fingers. Voting together stops people copying each other.
- The speaker reveals the false statement, then adds one sentence of the story behind a true fact.
- Continue around the circle until everyone has had a turn, about two minutes each.
- Bring everyone back together for a five-minute debrief, using the questions below.
Two Truths and a Lie: Icebreaker for Work Teams
A quick icebreaker where each person shares three statements and the group guesses which one is false. No materials needed, in person or online.
- Goal
- Icebreakers
- Group size
- 4–30 people
- Time
- 20 minutes
- Setting
- Indoor, Virtual, Hybrid
- Materials
- No materials
- Good for
- Onboarding, Meeting opener
Objective
Help colleagues learn something new about each other in a short, low-pressure way. It works well for new teams, mixed departments and meetings where people do not know each other yet. Because everyone guesses together, even quiet staff join in early.
Steps
Example session
Here is how a round might go. A new HR manager opens her first meeting with a 10-person finance team by going first: "I have run a half marathon. I have never eaten durian. I once missed a flight to Kota Kinabalu." Most of the team guess that the half marathon is the lie, but it is the durian. The surprise gets a laugh and starts a chat about favourite local food, and two colleagues find out they studied at the same university. A round like this takes about 20 minutes and leaves the meeting with more energy.
Debrief questions
- Which fact surprised you most, and why?
- What made a lie easy or hard to spot?
- What did you assume about a colleague that turned out to be wrong?
- How do first impressions shape the way we work with new colleagues?
- What is one thing you learned today that you could follow up on this week?
Tips
- Go first yourself. Your statements show people how personal to be and how long to talk.
- Ask for work-friendly facts. Steer clear of race, religion and royalty (Malaysia's "3R" topics), as well as politics, health and money.
- Let people pass or keep it light. No one should feel pushed to share private details.
- Keep a visible timer. About two minutes per person keeps the energy up.
- Watch the mood. If a fact draws unkind laughter, move on quickly and keep the tone friendly.
- With new hires, ask for one fact about their past work. It helps colleagues know who to ask for help.
Variations
- Online: run it on a video call. Everyone types 1, 2 or 3 in the chat on the count of three, then the speaker reveals the answer.
- Large groups: use breakout circles of four to eight people. Afterwards, each circle shares its most surprising fact with the room.
- Work edition: all three statements must be about work, such as past jobs, skills or projects. This suits onboarding.
- Two truths and a wish: replace the lie with something the person hopes to do one day. This suits groups who would rather not "lie", even in a game.