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Where Do You Stand

Pick two extremes, mark them at either end of an open stretch of floor, and ask a question — the group answers by walking to the spot that matches how strongly they lean. It works because a body in space says more than a raised hand ever could.

15 min5–30 peopleEasyNo materialsIn-person onlyClassroom ✓
By Jon Zajac · Founder & Chief Icebreaker · Last updated February 19, 2024

What is Where Do You Stand?

Where Do You Stand — also known as the Extremes game — turns an opinion into a place to stand. Pick two extremes for a question (coffee or tea, mountains or beach), mark them at either end of an open stretch of floor, and ask: everyone walks to the spot that matches how strongly they lean, dead center for genuinely neutral, the far edge for someone who's picked a side and isn't moving. No materials, no props — just space and a question.

It works because a body in space says more than a raised hand. A show of hands sorts a room into two camps; a line shows the actual spread, and the person standing three steps off center is telling you something a plain yes or no never could. Ask question after question and you'll map the room's actual opinions faster than a debrief ever would.

Skip it for a room that isn't ready to be watched holding an opinion — a brand-new group, or a topic close enough to a live disagreement that standing on the wrong side of the line feels risky. It also needs real floor space to work: a cramped room, or a fully remote call, has no line to stand on.

The rules

  1. Mark an imaginary line at the front of the room, one extreme at each end.
  2. Leave enough open floor for everyone to stand anywhere along it.
  3. Ask a question with two contrasting options.
  4. Everyone walks to the spot that matches their opinion — the stronger the lean, the closer to that end.
  5. True neutrals plant themselves in the middle.
  6. Keep the questions coming, from light-hearted to genuinely deep.

Before you start

  • Group size: 5–30 people. Fits a mid-sized team through a full room of thirty — the range where individual spots on the line are still easy to read.
  • An open stretch of floor. Clear a line at the front of the room — tape, chalk, or just a pointed-out stretch of floor — long enough for the whole group to spread out along it.
  • A set of questions, ready to go. Bring your own list, from coffee-or-tea to genuinely thought-provoking, and have it ready before the group settles in.
  • Explain the scale before the first question. Say it once, upfront: closer to an end means a stronger opinion, the middle means neutral. Skip this and the first round turns into confused hovering.

How to run it

  1. Set the scene 1 min

    Show the room the line and say what each end means before asking anything. One clear sentence beats a long explanation.

  2. Ask a question 15 sec

    Pose something with two sides — coffee or tea, winter or summer — light or deep, your call.

  3. Everyone finds their spot 30 sec

    The group walks to wherever matches their opinion. No coaching mid-walk — let people find their own spot.

  4. Ask a few people why 2–3 min

    Invite two or three people, especially the ones near either end, to explain their spot. The explanation is where people actually get to know each other.

  5. Reset and ask the next one 30 sec

    Everyone returns to neutral, then walks again for the next question. Repeat until you're out of questions or out of time.

← 15 minutes, nothing but space. the room answers before it speaks.

Facilitator tips

Rephrase for common groundSwap references that only half the room can access — "a sporting event or a performing arts show" instead of "a football game or a ballet" — so everyone has a real stake in the question, not just the answer.
Ask for the why, not just the whereStanding at a spot says what someone thinks; explaining it is what the group actually remembers. Invite a few people to say why they landed where they did before moving to the next question.
Watch who's dominating the lineIf the same few voices explain every stance, call on someone quieter directly, or set a norm upfront that every spot on the line gets heard.
Trade "would you rather" for "what does it mean"Swap a flat either/or ("rich or famous") for an open one ("what does success mean to you, and how do you measure it") when you want reflection instead of a quick pick.

Why it works

Movement keeps the room awakeStanding and re-positioning for every question breaks the stillness a meeting or a long class settles into — built into the mechanic, not tacked on as a stretch break.
You see the spread, not just a headcountA show of hands sorts a room into two camps. A line shows how strongly each person leans — the person three steps off center is telling you something a plain yes or no never could.
Every question forces an actual stanceThere's no ambiguous middle-ground answer to hide behind — the middle of the line is itself a stance. Questions ask people to locate what they think instead of defaulting to "I don't know."
HELLO, MY NAME ISJon

"I like this one for how little it needs — just space and a good question — and how much that space returns. You watch the room organize itself in real time, and where people choose to stand often says more than they would in a debrief."

Jon Zajac · Founder & Chief Icebreaker

Reflection questions

For classrooms and trainings that want the debrief — these turn a few rounds of standing on a line into an actual conversation about what the group thinks.

  1. What was your favorite question of the round?Surfaces which prompts actually landed — steal the good ones for next time.
  2. Did you end up standing near people who see it the way you do?A quick, physical gut-check on where the group's opinions actually cluster.
  3. Did anyone's answer change your mind as you watched the room take a stance?Names the influence of the group out loud — did the room move you, or just interest you?
  4. Did anything come up that you hadn't considered before?Pushes past agreement and into what actually surprised someone.
  5. How did it feel to plant yourself on a spot everyone could see?Checks the comfort level — worth asking before you run a heavier topic next time.
  6. What did you learn about someone here that you didn't already know?The real payoff — this game finds it by watching, not by asking.

If this fits, so will these

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Line Up

The group arranges itself in a line by a single quality, no facilitator help allowed.

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.

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