The Gallery Walk:

An Opening, Closing, and Review Activity.

By Sharon L. Bowman, MA
Professional Speaker and Corporate Trainer
Bowperson Publishing and Training, Inc.
P.O. Box 564, Glenbrook, NV 89413
Phone: 775-749-5247 Fax: 775-749-1891
E-Mail: SBowperson@aol.com Web-Site: www.Bowperson.com

One of the most versatile learner- General Instructions: Before

centered activities, the Gallery the training, tape a number of
Walk, has been called by a lot of large sheets of chart paper to the
names and has many variations. walls of the training room. Space
You can use it as an information- the chart pages so that learners
rich, opening (connection), clos- have to walk from one chart to
ing (celebration), or review ac- another.
tivity.
Label each chart with a question,
The Gallery Walk connects statement, or issue related to the
learners to each other and learn- topic.
ers to the training topic in a
number of interesting, interactive While upbeat music plays (op-
ways. tional), learners walk around the
room writing their responses on
the charts.

You can assign a direction to

move or they can move ran-
domly. They can do the activity
as individuals or in small groups
of two to four.

After they’ve written on all the

charts, learners take a “gallery
walk” or tour of the room, read-
ing the charts and jotting down
their observations on a work-
sheet.

Sharon Bowman 775-749-5247 SBowperson@aol.com www.Bowperson.com © 2005 1

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The Gallery Walk: An Opening, Closing, and Review Activity.

Participants then spend a short * What is one assumption you

period of time in small groups have made about this topic?
discussing their observations.
* What do you plan to do with
Finally, you discuss the activity what you learn during this
with the whole group, having training?
them share their small-group dis-
cussions. Examples of whole Set-Up and Materials: You’ll
group discussion questions are: need to prepare the chart pages
and tape them to the walls around
* What interesting things did you the room before the training be-
notice as you read the charts? gins. Make sure you print the
questions large enough, with
* What written items were listed dark felt pen, so that they are
on more than one chart? readable from a few feet away.

* What was something that you Learners need enough walking

expected or didn’t expect? space so that they can move from
chart to chart with ease.
* What were some apparent pat-
terns? Each learner will need a broad-
tipped, dark felt pen for chart
* What is a question you still writing, a note-taking worksheet
have? and regular pen or pencil. You
can have them use the note-
If you use the Gallery Walk as an taking worksheet attached to this
opening (connection) activity, article, or you can make up your
some of the chart questions you own.
might post are:
The activity will take from 10 -
* What is one thing you want to 30 minutes depending upon the
learn in this training? size of the group, the number of
chart pages (a good rule-of-
* What is one fact you already thumb is to have one chart page
know about this training topic? for every 4 - 6 learners), and the
length of the class discussion.
* What is your strength (related
to the topic)? Examples: At a change man-
agement training. the opening
* What is a topic-related ques- charts included: “Organizational
tion you want answered? changes that affect you now.

Sharon Bowman 775-749-5247 SBowperson@aol.com www.Bowperson.com © 2005 2

 3

The Gallery Walk: An Opening, Closing, and Review Activity.

Your strengths in handling and then discuss the charts as

change. Your challenges in han- part of the closing.
dling change. One thing that
would help you and your co- Final Thoughts: For a more in-
workers handle change more ef- depth look at the Gallery Walk,
fectively. One change you would and for more variations to the
like to see happen in your com- activity, see Sharon's newest
pany." book The Ten-Minute Trainer.
The Gallery Walk is one of ten
At a train-the-trainer session, short, quick activities and games
eight charts represented eight described in the book - activities
steps in a training design model that can be done in 5 - 10 min-
and the activity was used as a utes.
review of information learned
earlier in the training. The Gallery Walk honors your
learners, gives you a rich source
At a customer service training, of information about what your
the closing charts were labeled: learners know or are learning,
"What is the most important and is a great jump-start to any
thing you learned? How do you training opening, closing, or re-
plan to use what you learned? view discussion.
What do you want your co-
workers to know about customer
service? What do you need from “The Gallery Walk” is described in
management to ensure that your How To Give It So They Get It, and
detailed in The Ten-Minute Trainer!
service skills are topnotch?" 150 Ways to Teach it Quick and Make
It Stick. Please cite the source when
Variations: Learners can write downloading this material.
their chart responses during the
opening, and then read the charts You can log onto www.Bowperson.com
for more information about Sharon's
during the break. books. You can also find all her books
on www.amazon.com.
Learners can add to the charts at
various designated times during
the training, or use the questions
as a pre- and post-assessment of
what they've learned.

Learners can write one response

to each chart during each break,

Sharon Bowman 775-749-5247 SBowperson@aol.com www.Bowperson.com © 2005 3

 4

The Gallery Walk: An Opening, Closing, and Review Activity.

Author and traveling teacher Sharon

Bowman helps educators and business
people “teach it quick and make it
stick,” - fine-tuning their information-
delivery skills and turning their passive
listeners into active learners.

Over 60,000 copies of Sharon’s 7

popular teaching, training, and moti-
vation books are now in print.

For more information about Sharon

Bowman and her books and training,
log onto www.Bowperson.com, or
email her at SBowperson@aol.com.

For book orders, go to

www.trainerswarehouse.com,
www.amazon.com, or call Bowperson
Publishing at 775-749-5247.

Sharon Bowman 775-749-5247 SBowperson@aol.com www.Bowperson.com © 2005 4