Verbal problems
Verbal problems are the easiest to give your team because they don't require any set up or additional materials. You can just ask them a question and they have to respond. For instance, you might ask "Name all the lights you can." Common responses would include light bulb, a lamp, or sunlight. Creative answers would be light beer (although that wouldn't fly with Div I kids), Buzz Lightyear, or pretending to have a heart attack and saying "I'm going towards the light!!!!"
General setup for verbal problems in competition
In competition, most of the time a verbal problem would have five chairs against a table, or five desks in a circle. A copy of the problem will be in the center of the table. There are generally 7 response cards in front of the five team members, and they respond in a circle by saying their response and putting the response card in the container. Once all the cards have been used or time has run out, they are done with the problem. However, this is not always the case. They could have no response cards and answer as many times as possible, they could have to act out a story, they could have no order and skip around. All of those factors are dictated by the problem.
Generally, they'll have one or two minutes to think of their answers and four or five minutes to respond. During the thinking time, they can usually ask questions to clarify the problem, or to hint to their teammates a good way to solve the problem if they find a loophole. Sometimes the think time will be a plan time, this is usually if they are creating a story or acting out their solution.
I would recommend practicing a formally set up problem with your team several times before competition. However, verbal problems are great to practice during snack time or driving to the meeting. There's a great list of problems here, you should practice doing them often. Creativity is learned, and the more your teams practice, the better they'll be at thinking outside the box.
Generally, they'll have one or two minutes to think of their answers and four or five minutes to respond. During the thinking time, they can usually ask questions to clarify the problem, or to hint to their teammates a good way to solve the problem if they find a loophole. Sometimes the think time will be a plan time, this is usually if they are creating a story or acting out their solution.
I would recommend practicing a formally set up problem with your team several times before competition. However, verbal problems are great to practice during snack time or driving to the meeting. There's a great list of problems here, you should practice doing them often. Creativity is learned, and the more your teams practice, the better they'll be at thinking outside the box.
Maximizing verbal scores
- Practice often
- Ask questions if you need clarification
- If you think of a good response, "pin it" to an item around the room. That means, look at the TV in the corner and think of the response a ton. Then when you look back at the TV later, you'll remember your response.
- Figure out the order that works best for your team. If two team members always play off of each other, sit them next to each other.
- If there are experienced teams in your area, practice spontaneous with them. Seeing another team do spontaneous is eye-opening, you'll learn a ton, and you can give each other tips - which is allowed, because you're allowed to coach spontaneous.