exercise · all tools
Sentence Stems
A sentence stem is a deconstructed question — 'If you really knew me, you would know…', 'Something I really love about myself is…', 'What scares me most is…' — completed around the circle. The manual calls stems the backbone of most authentic relating games and one of its two most adaptable tools; a resource sheet of more stems is linked from the page.
- The stem sets the depth — 'I'm really passionate about…' and 'What scares me most is…' are different exercises wearing the same form; choose for the room you have, as the Open Sentences record says of the same device
Practical
- Time
- 10-30 min
- Group
- ?–∞ · small-group, large-group
- Settings
- in-person, online
- Mechanisms
- dialogic-encounter, narrative-identity
- Change scope
- state → skill · repeatable
Instructions
- Where
- authrev.org/ar-games-manual — Authentic Relating Games Manual, paid
- Availability
- In the source document — the instructions live inside the material linked, on its terms
- Licence
- CC BY-SA 4.0 (Authentic Relating Games Manual)
Source link checked 31 Aug 2026 — unchanged since we recorded it on 29 Aug 2026
This directory describes and points home; the instructions stay with the people who made them.
Origin
Not attributed in the manual; a core authentic relating form — Authentic Relating (Authentic Relating Games Manual, 2025 edition)
In this directory via Authentic Relating Games Manual
Related: Open Sentences (alternative-to) · Mad Tea and Calm Tea (alternative-to)
Variations in the manual: Gauntlet (two lines, a stem each side, one minute), and Social Stems, where each person chooses a stem for the others and answers it last.
status: checked · added 2026-08-31