Home/Activities/Agree to Disagree: Blindfold Debate Edition

Debate · A great activity for everyone

Agree to Disagree: Blindfold Debate Edition

Two volunteers debate opposing sides of a topic while the whole room stays blindfolded. Take away the faces, and people argue the point instead of the person.

30–60 min6–20 peopleAverageBlindfolds + topicsIn person
By Jon Zajac · Founder & Chief Icebreaker · Last updated February 19, 2024

What is Agree to Disagree: Blindfold Debate Edition?

Agree to Disagree: Blindfold Debate Edition takes the site's debate format and removes sight entirely — two volunteers argue opposing sides of a topic while blindfolded, and the room listens the same way.

It works because faces and gestures do a lot of unconscious judging in most arguments, and taking them away forces everyone, speakers and listeners alike, back onto the actual words. People argue the point instead of the person, and the group has to listen instead of watch.

It's built for a room that already trusts each other enough to sit blindfolded together and can handle a mildly controversial topic without it turning personal. For a first meeting, a group that's still feeling out its boundaries, or anyone who can't be blindfolded safely, run the base Agree to Disagree instead — same debate, no blindfolds required.

The rules

  1. Everyone wears a blindfold for the whole debate and discussion phase.
  2. Two volunteers present opposing viewpoints on a set topic, each with a timed turn.
  3. Listeners can ask questions during discussion, but blindfolds stay on.
  4. The host moderates — keeping time, keeping turns fair, keeping the room respectful.
  5. The goal is understanding, not winning — end in consensus or an honest agree-to-disagree.
  6. Close with a short group reflection on what everyone noticed and learned.

Before you start

  • Group size: 6–20 participants. Two debate at a time; everyone else listens and discusses. Run as many rounds as your time allows.
  • A quiet room you can dim. Semi-circle seating, an open center, and lights low enough to matter — cutting visual distraction sets the tone before anyone puts a blindfold on.
  • Materials: blindfolds, topics, a timer, something to write with. One comfortable blindfold per person, a prepared topic list, a way to track time, and notes for the host to track how the discussion is flowing.
  • Pick topics before the room fills up. A mix of light-hearted and mildly controversial topics, screened in advance so nothing lands as genuinely upsetting to anyone in the room.
  • Know your group before you moderate. Read the rules, the goals, and any sensitive ground ahead of time — you're moderating a live discussion, not reading off a script.

How to run it

  1. Explain the rules and pass out blindfolds 3–5 min

    Walk the room through what's about to happen and why sight is coming off the table. Everyone blindfolds up together, including the host if you're not the one debating.

  2. Pick a topic and two volunteers 2–3 min

    Announce a topic from your prepared list and call for two volunteers to take opposing sides. Rotate who volunteers if you're running more than one round.

  3. Volunteers argue their side 2 min each

    Each speaker gets an even, timed turn — budget about 2 minutes a side, with a short rebuttal if there's room. No visual aids; the words are doing all the work.

  4. Open the floor for questions 15–20 min

    Listeners ask questions and the group discusses — blindfolds stay on the whole time. The host keeps turns fair and steers things back if the conversation drifts.

  5. Land on a resolution, then reflect 5–10 min

    Push for consensus or an honest agreement to disagree, never a winner. Blindfolds come off for a short group reflection on what everyone noticed.

← about 2 minutes a debater. nobody's watching — that's the point.

Facilitator tips

Pick topics with careLight-hearted and mildly controversial only, screened for cultural sensitivities and generational differences ahead of time. Save the genuinely divisive topics for a group that's already earned the trust.
Offer a way out of the blindfoldSome participants can't or won't wear one — have a verbal-description or tactile alternative ready so nobody sits out the activity itself.
Moderate for fairness, not for correctnessYour job is time and turn-taking, not judging who made the better case. Say it out loud early so nobody's performing for a verdict that isn't coming.
Debrief while it's still freshMove straight from blindfolds-off into the reflection questions. The biases people noticed in themselves fade fast once they can see the room again.

Why it works

Argument over appearanceBlindfolds cut the visual cues that quietly bias a debate — tone and word choice carry the whole argument, and gestures carry none of it.
Active listening, no way around itWith sight gone, listening is the only channel left. People track every word because it's the only information they're getting.
Practice disagreeing without a winnerThe activity ends in consensus or an explicit agree-to-disagree, not a verdict — a rehearsal for the disagreements that don't resolve neatly at work either.
HELLO, MY NAME ISJon

"Take away people's faces and they argue the point instead of the person — that's the whole reason I keep this one in rotation. The reflection round at the end is where it actually lands."

Jon Zajac · Founder & Chief Icebreaker

Reflection questions

A few minutes with these turns the debate into a conversation about how the room actually listens.

  1. How did wearing a blindfold impact your experience during this activity?Surfaces how much of communication people normally lean on sight for.
  2. What strategies did you use to focus on the substance of the arguments while not being able to rely on visual cues?Gets at the listening habits people fall back on when there's no face to read.
  3. Did you find it challenging to discuss or listen without visual cues? If so, why?An honest check-in — the answer is usually yes, and that's useful information.
  4. How did the discussion phase contribute to your understanding of the topic?Names the discussion, not just the debate, as where the real thinking happened.
  5. Did you learn anything new or surprising during this activity? If yes, what was it?Catches the personal takeaway before it fades.
  6. How might you apply some of the lessons learned from this icebreaker in your everyday interactions with others?The graduation question — turns the exercise into a habit.

If this fits, so will these

Activity

Agree to Disagree

Present your side, defend it, then find where you actually agree.

Activity

Agree to Disagree: Switch Sides Edition

Debaters swap sides mid-argument and defend the position they just argued against.

Activity

Agree to Disagree: No-Speaking Edition

The same debate, minus the talking.

Activity

Agree to Disagree: Word Swap Edition

The debate format, with a language twist on how the arguments get made.

Jon Zajac

Founder & Chief Icebreaker

I started IcebreakerSpot because I believe strong connections are the foundation of successful teams. This site exists to make it easy to find and share the icebreakers and team-building activities that build trust, spark collaboration, and help groups do great things together.

XLinkedIn