Communication Challenges Dice Game

Communication Challenges Dice Game
Instructions

1

Choose one of the situations below and decide how you will communicate to sort that
situation out, for example:



Write an email (to the person involved, a different person or a group of people)



Send a text (= a text message = an SMS, from your mobile phone)



Phone someone



Leave a phone message/voice mail message



Go and speak face to face



Leave someone a note (e.g. put a Post It note on their computer screen)

2

Your partner will try to think of as many possible problems as they can in that situation
and assign a number on the dice to each one. If they can’t think of six possible prob-
lems, the other numbers on the dice will be “No problem”.

For example, for the “Quit your job” situation card, the problems could be:


Throw a 1: Your boss won’t accept your resignation



Throw a 2: Your contract says you have to continue working for 3 months after quitting



Throw a 3: Your boss is angry with you



Throw a 4: Your boss offers you a promotion if you stay



Throw a 5: No problem



Throw a 6: No problem

3

Throw the dice and roleplay that situation with your partner, with a problem to sort out
if your partner thought of a problem for the number that you rolled. If you can deal with
the situation successfully, play passes to the next person. If you can’t find a solu-
tion, do the same thing with another card and throw of the dice, continuing until
you find a successful solution to one. Even if there is no problem, you should still role-
play the situation.

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2014

Communication Challenges Dice Game
Cards to cut up
Cut up one set per group of two or three students, or cut up one set and give them to
students as they need them.

Invite a foreign

guest to a

restaurant

Invite a foreign

guest to a bar

Book a hotel

Try to arrange a

time to meet

Go up the

reception desk of a

company

Book a train ticket

Introduce yourself

to someone

Order a rare

antique book

Quit your job

Apologise for

being late for a

meeting

Contact a potential

customer for the

first time

Change the time of

a meeting

Contact someone

famous

Tell smoker(s) they

can’t smoke in the

building anymore

Tell someone how

to get to this room

from the station

Find out how to do

something with

your new mobile

Stop someone

reading a mail you

accidentally sent

Ask someone to

proofread

something for you

Warn a colleague

that your boss is

angry with them

Try to get a job in a

company which

your friend set up

Tell a friend their

boy/girlfriend is

cheating on them

Ask for permission

to use your boss’s

car

Chase up a

package that was

due last week

Get an untrue story

deleted from a

newspaper website

Try to get a longer

summer holiday

this year

Tell a colleague a

client didn’t like

their presentation

Suggest tourist

spots for a foreign

guest

Decide on the

menu for a staff

party

Ask for a lift (ride)

early tomorrow

morning

Tell colleague(s)

they do something

people in your

country don’t like

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2014