Role Playing
A learning and exploration technique where participants take on assigned roles and act out scenarios. Role playing develops empathy, communication skills, and behavioural flexibility by letting people experience situations from unfamiliar perspectives. It's widely used in sales training, conflict resolution, leadership development, and design thinking.
How to run it
- 1
Design a realistic scenario relevant to the learning objective.
- 2
Create role cards for each participant — include the character's background, goals, and key concerns.
- 3
Brief participants on their roles. Allow 3–5 minutes for preparation.
- 4
Run the role play for 5–15 minutes. Let it play out naturally; intervene only if it stalls.
- 5
Call 'cut' and immediately debrief IN ROLE: 'How did your character feel? What did they want?'
- 6
Then debrief OUT OF ROLE: 'What did you notice? What would you do differently? What insights does this give you about real situations?'
- 7
Optionally run the scenario again with changed variables or switched roles.
Tips
The debrief is more important than the play itself.
Always de-role participants clearly ('You are no longer playing X — step back into being yourself').
Avoid putting people in roles that are too personally charged without careful facilitation.
Variations
Run a 'fishbowl role play' where half the group plays while the other observes. Use 'freeze and coach' — stop the play at any moment for facilitator coaching.
Where it fits
Plan your next workshop with AI
Workshop Weaver helps you combine methods like Role Playing into a complete, timed agenda in minutes.
Try it freeMethod descriptions on Workshop Weaver are original content written by our team, based on established facilitation practices.