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Warm up any group without awkward icebreakers
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This book gives facilitators a language and a sequence for what most of us learned the hard way:
Trust is built layer by layer, not broken open in five minutes.
If you care about the people in the room – especially the ‘quiet ones’ – read it, then put it to work.
Mark Collard
Founder of playmeo
About the Book
The Campfire Method is a practical guide for facilitators, trainers, and leaders who want to create sessions where people feel safe enough to speak up and brave enough to take risks, without relying on forced fun or awkward vulnerability.
But this is not a book of “better” icebreaker activities. It is a guide to designing the conditions for human connection, starting small and building warmth gradually, especially for the people in the room who disengage first when connection feels rushed or performative.
Most icebreakers don’t work.
Icebreakers are meant to help us connect, but more often than not, they leave people feeling awkward, pressured, or even more disconnected.
Design for connection.
When the right conditions are present, people stop performing and start showing up authentically.
Lower the cost of participation.
Your job isn’t to push people to be vulnerable. It’s to invite people to take small, meaningful risks.
If you lead groups, this is for you.
Workshop facilitators, trainers, educators, HR professionals, team leads, and managers who care about creating inclusive, connected sessions will love this book.
In-person, virtual, or hybrid. All of it.
The core framework in this book applies to both in-person and virtual groups. The contexts are different, but the underlying dynamics are the same.
Get fresh activity ideas.
This is not just a book of activities. Every activity connects to a specific moment in your session and a clear reason for using it. You will always know what to run, when to run it, and why it belongs there.
What’s inside the book:
- Create engagement without pressure or gimmicks
- Foster psychological safety from the very beginning
- Include participants who aren’t yet ready to speak up, without putting them on the spot.
- Nurture group dynamics that lead to creativity, collaboration, and belonging.
- And, as a result, lead more effective and productive sessions.
By the end of this book, you will know how to get groups to uncross their arms, open up, and connect deeply — without relying on awkward icebreakers.
What Readers Are Saying
Over 150 facilitators read early drafts of this book
and helped shape it into what it is today.
About the Author
I wrote this book because of how I felt as a participant.
The facilitator announces some “fun” warm-up. My shoulders tighten. My heart rate jumps. I start calculating how many people are ahead of me in the circle, how long until it’s over.
I wasn’t just shy. I just didn’t feel safe.
And nobody in the room had done anything to change that.
When I started leading groups myself, I promised I would never do that to people.
But I didn’t have a better way.
Not yet.
It took me 3 years to turn that promise into a framework.
Years of research, conversations with facilitators around the world, testing ideas in real rooms with real groups.
Now it’s a book! 🎉
Jan Keck | Author of The Campfire Method
F.A.Q.
What is the Campfire Method?
The Campfire Method is a framework for designing the conditions for genuine group connection: starting small, building gradually, and making sure nobody gets left behind in the process. The name comes from how a real campfire works: you don’t start with a log. You start with a spark, add kindling, and let the heat build. The book teaches you to do the same thing with a group.
Who is The Campfire Method for?
If you lead workshops, training sessions, team meetings, or any kind of group experience where you need people to actually show up and contribute (not just sit there), this book is for you. You don’t have to call yourself a facilitator. You just have to care whether the room is with you or not.
How is this different from a book of icebreakers?
This book is not a recipe collection. You won’t just find a list of activities to copy-paste into your next session. What you’ll find instead is a framework for understanding why groups warm up or shut down, and how to design the conditions that make real connection possible. There are some activities in the appendix, but they’re there to illustrate the method, not replace it.
Is this book for in-person sessions, virtual, or both?
Both. The principles apply anywhere people gather, whether that’s a room in Berlin or a Zoom call with cameras half-on. The book draws on real examples from both contexts.
Where can I buy The Campfire Method?
The book is available worldwide on Amazon in Kindle and paperback.
I want to buy several copies for my team/ event. What are my options?
Bulk orders are available. Get in touch, and we’ll sort out what makes sense for your group size.
How can I book Jan for a workshop or training?
Jan works with organizations on workshops, keynotes, and facilitation training (in person and virtually).
Get my Book on Amazon Now
The Campfire Method reinforces something I’ve seen play out in rooms again and again – you can’t rush trust.
And you definitely can’t create meaningful connection with awkward icebreakers and surface-level participation. Jan offers a more thoughtful, more human approach to helping people actually engage.
Leanne Hughes
Host of the First Time Facilitator podcast, and author of The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint.
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