Five Effective Ways to Quiet a Room After a Workshop Exercise

Getting a room of workshop participants or students to settle down after a lively exercise can be tricky. But with the right techniques, you can bring focus back to the room smoothly. Here are five methods, tested in different group sizes, that can help you regain attention quickly.

1. Clap If You Can Hear Me A highly effective method for groups of all sizes, even as large as 800 people. You simply say, “If you can hear me, clap once,” then, “If you can hear me, clap twice,” and so on. The clapping spreads as people notice others joining in, and before long, everyone is quiet and paying attention.
2. The Leaky Snake This method involves making a long, drawn-out “shhhhhhhhh” sound. The sound tends to catch on as people hear it, and others quiet down to figure out what’s happening. It’s best for groups of around 50 or fewer because the sound can lose its effect in larger rooms.
3. Countdown: 5–4–3–2–1 A loud countdown from five is another quick way to grab attention in smaller groups (about 25 people). As you count down, people instinctively quiet down, especially if they know the countdown means the next activity is about to begin.
4. “Come Back to Me” Repetition Repeating a phrase like, “Come on back, come back to me, we’re about to go,” can work, but only if you have a naturally loud voice or a microphone. Otherwise, it’s less effective in larger groups, as it may not carry enough authority or volume to get everyone’s attention.
5. Jazz Hands Before starting the exercise, tell the group that when you do “jazz hands,” it means they should stop talking and mimic the movement. This works best if people remember the signal, and it’s particularly effective for more visual learners. It’s also a fun, non-verbal way to call for quiet, but you’ll need to reinforce the gesture throughout the session.

Each method works differently depending on the size and dynamics of the group, so it’s useful to have more than one technique in your toolkit. Try them out, mix and match, and see which ones best fit your teaching or facilitation style!