Breakout sessions turn passive listening sessions into engaging attendee experiences. They allow your guests or participants to delve deeper into specific topics, build relationships with fellow attendees, brainstorm new ideas, and add an element of fun, all of which boost event engagement.
This guide will go over innovative and fresh breakout session ideas that will not only bring excitement to your virtual event but also create a memorable experience for your audience.
What are Breakout Sessions?
Breakout rooms are short-term sessions that are designed to help event attendees engage in in-depth discussions on specific topics. It creates an interactive experience and sparks conversation among smaller groups of attendees. Breakout rooms are an important part of any large event because they allow you to segment your attendees into small groups and encourage them to discuss the event’s topics in depth, in a relaxed atmosphere.
Breakout sessions can take place in a hybrid format, virtually, or in person. Whether you want to engage your remote audience, encourage them to connect with peers, brainstorm ideas on specific challenges, or just give the attendees some time to relax and network among themselves, breakout sessions are the perfect solution.
What is the Purpose of Holding Breakout Sessions?
Breakout sessions aim to foster more intimate and focused discussions. They allow event participants to form a small group and dive into the conference topics more deeply. When you divide a large group of participants into smaller groups, it helps increase active participation, which leads to richer discussions, better exchange of ideas, and easier problem-solving.
Breakout rooms facilitate knowledge sharing, focused talk, and networking that are often difficult to achieve in larger and more crowded events. They create an interactive environment where team members are encouraged to participate and contribute to the conversation.
18 Fresh Breakout Session Ideas For 2025 Virtual Events & Conferences
1) Virtual Escape Room
A virtual escape room can be an excellent addition to your breakout session. It encourages teamwork and motivates team members to think outside the box and work together to win. An online escape room usually involves escaping a given crisis scenario using clues within a set time limit. A wide range of virtual escape room themes is available online, catering to different interests and group sizes. You can choose one that best suits your occasion.
2) Speed Networking
Speed networking is a highly engaging and dynamic breakout session activity that can inject energy into your virtual conferences. It allows teams to connect and interact with other event attendees in a virtual setting. If you want your audience to get to know their peers and fellow attendees in a short amount of time, speed networking is one of the best breakout activities to include.
3) Ask Me Anything (AMA)
‘Ask Me Anything’ is a type of interactive activity that allows individuals to openly ask questions about a topic they are interested in or want to learn more about. This is an amazing breakout session idea that will readily engage virtual guests. You can host an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session and allow your attendees to ask the keynote speaker questions about their experience in the industry, a pressing challenge that they face, their career journey, or their interests.
4) Discussion On A Famous Books
Unlike casual games or icebreakers, book discussions can foster genuine engagement and increase the quality of conversations at an event. It provides a common ground for conversation, allows for diverse interpretations, and sparks engaging debates about themes, characters, and the author’s intention. Importantly, this does not require any specific skills for participants to express their thoughts and opinions about the book.
Here are some famous management and leadership books for interesting discussion and debate in the breakout room:
- Start With Why by Simon Sinek
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
- The 5 AM Club by Robin Sharma
- Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
- How to Talk to Anyone by Leil Lowndes
- Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
5) Two Truths and a Lie
“Two Truths and a Lie” is a simple icebreaker game in which a person shares three “facts” about himself, two of which are true and one is false. The other participants have to then guess which statement is false.
This is a super engaging activity that will not only build excitement but also a sense of bonding among audiences. It actually gives attendees an opportunity to learn about each other in a fun manner.
6) Walking Tour
It’s a great idea to take your team for a few minutes of outdoor walking. If you have organized your in-person event in an outdoor venue that has a garden, park, or beach nearby, encourage participants to go on a relaxing walk there, to take their minds off the meeting. Walking, getting some fresh air, and experiencing nature together will bring the teams together.
7) Meditation
A meditation is an amazing breakout session idea that will not only help team members maintain their mental well-being but will also improve the team’s ability to concentrate. Whether it is a virtual, in-person, or hybrid event, a 10- to 15-minute meditation session can help your team refresh, refocus, and be more present in the moment.
In an in-person conference, you can provide your team with yoga mats and invite a meditation guide to lead a ten to fifteen-minute mindfulness session. In a virtual event, you can ask your virtual team to bring their own mats, and follow the instructor’s tips on how to meditate.
8) “Shark Tank” Style Session
We’ve all seen Shark Tank on TV and OTT platforms where budding entrepreneurs pitch their unique business ideas to the Sharks, i.e, judges.
Including a Shark Tank in your breakout room will not only bring out your audience’s creativity but also encourage collaboration and communication among them. Participants will be encouraged to think outside the box and learn how to generate ideas, present presentations, and figure out how a business model works.
Steps to conduct a Shark Tank
- Divide event participants into 2-3 teams
- Ask each team to come up with an innovative business idea
- Give each team 10 minutes to prepare their pitches
- Allow each team to present their pitch to the Sharks (investors/judges)
- Once all teams have presented their pitches, the Sharks will share their views on each of them.
- The team with the most exciting and promising business idea will be awarded an exciting prize.
9) Treasure Hunt
Treasure hunt, or scavenger hunt, is an entertaining game where teams work together, solve clues, and find the hidden treasure. It can be one of the most engaging activities to include in your breakout session. The competitive nature of this game can help to refocus and energize participants in a remote setting.
10) Drawing or Art Competition
Holding a drawing competition is a great way to encourage creativity among remote event attendees. Everyone loves to draw and paint, so adding this activity to your breakout session will definitely add a different level of excitement and fun.
11) Team Trivia
Trivia games are a quiz where participants answer questions on a variety of topics or guess an object. The goal of this game is to encourage participants to give the correct answers and earn points. In order to enhance interaction and communication among event guests, trivia is an interesting game to add to your breakout room.
12) Virtual Coffee
A virtual coffee break can be a great breakout session activity to boost audience engagement. It can promote team-building, too. The best thing about online coffee breaks is that they’re informal, allowing attendees to get to know one another beyond their professional roles. Even a 15-minute coffee break can encourage attendees to warm up, ask each other casual questions, chat, and spend quality time getting to know one another.
13) Discussion on Role Models
Everyone has someone in their life whom they admire, look up to or aspire to be like. If you have a session where each team member talks about their role model, the discussion is bound to be lively, creating a great atmosphere.
To make this session interesting and engaging, here are some questions the moderator can share:
- Who is your role model?
- How have they influenced you?
- What specific quality do you admire the most about them?
- What about their contribution to society do you admire the most?
14) Goal-Setting Session
Breakout sessions are not just about fun and games. You can hold goal-setting sessions where you can help team members move forward in their professional lives. If they want to develop a specific skill, you can guide them by suggesting different courses that can shape their future. Plus, you can understand their short-term and long-term goals, and create a detailed plan to meet those goals on time.
15) Murder Mystery
Murder mysteries are a thrilling game that requires players to investigate and discover how a fictional murder occurred, making them the perfect breakout room activity. Typically, in a murder mystery game, players take on the role of detectives to solve the case. You get clues that make it a little easier to find the murderer. Murder mystery would be an ideal virtual breakout game to connect your remote audiences, foster teamwork, and develop their problem-solving skills.
16) Skill Demonstration
Breakout rooms are designed for focused group interactions, so skill demonstration can be a great activity to include. Everyone has some skills in which they are proficient, such as public speaking, app creation, communication, indoor games like chess, singing, mimicry, etc. Encourage participants to tell something about that talent, share stories about how they mastered it, and provide steps for someone who wants to learn the skill.
17) Virtual Photo Booth
If you want to create a fun and memorable experience for your remote attendees, then a virtual photo booth can be a wonderful team breakout idea. Participants can take pictures online just as they would with an in-person booth. Plus, they can create a funny animated GIF and snap cool photos using props or simple effects and filters to share on social media. Participants can capture moments with their peers and colleagues, making it a memorable experience.
18) Sharing a Personal Funny Anecdote
This is one of the best breakout session ideas that can bring lots of laughter and joy, boosting team engagement and the overall energy of the session. Ask each participant to recall a funny anecdote from their lives and share it with everyone. It will make attendees eager to hear each other’s humorous stories, and the teller will also get a little laugh while reliving the moment.
Final Thoughts
Breakout sessions provide attendees with a much-needed break from long meetings, events, and conferences. Participants can relax, connect with peers, network, brainstorm ideas, and have fun.
To re-energize the virtual event audiences, breakout rooms work as a morale booster. Whether it is a conference, meeting, or webinar, our breakout session ideas will effectively boost the engagement levels of your remote event.
From virtual scavenger hunts, speed networking, to murder mystery, virtual coffee, and goal setting, every breakout session idea will encourage participation, enrich discussion, facilitate meaningful connections, and build strong relationships among attendees, making your event unique and unforgettable.
Frequently asked questions
The ideal duration for a breakout session is considered to be between 15 and 20 minutes. However, you may increase it, depending on the scope of your topic.
You would know whether your breakout session was effective by noticing a few things during the session, such as whether attendees participated in group discussions, interacted with peers, shared any innovative ideas on specific issues, asked any questions, and more. Next, you can collect feedback from participants after the session ends to know the effectiveness of your breakout room idea.
