Lesson Plan

This role play is from the ESL Role Plays book.

This role play was adapted from ESL Role Plays.

Description – Students meet and greet their classmates’ imaginary personas then choose who gave the best first impression. (Note to teacher – This activity works best with eight or more students, but if you have a small class, students can use their real identities and not choose the most popular person.)

Preparation – Make a copy of the “Identity Sheet” for each student (optional).

Warm up

Put students in pairs or groups of three. Write this question on the board: “How does a person make a good first impression?” Have the students brainstorm some ideas and then ask each group for some of their ideas.

Ask groups to brainstorm topics people talk about when they first meet, i.e., name, job, sports, etc. Then, elicit ideas. Write students’ ideas on the board. Ask them to brainstorm what types of questions people ask about each topic. Encourage them to come up with more than one question for each topic. They can write them down or just discuss them, depending on the teacher’s preference.

Note – Depending on the teacher’s preference, the discussion questions can be used during the warm up, wrap up, or as a supplement.

Set up

Choose an outgoing student and ask their name. When they tell you their name, say, “No. Your name is [make up some ridiculous name]!” Then, ask the class what the student’s new job is. Encourage outrageous ideas. Go through some of the topics on the board and elicit ideas for the student’s new persona.

Now tell students they will create a new persona for themselves. Hand out the “Identity Sheet” or have students make notes about their identity on a scrap piece of paper. Give students time to brainstorm their new persona based on the topics on the board. When they are finished, divide the class into two lines facing each other. One line will be trying to make a good impression, and the other line will be judging who made the best impression. If there is an odd number of students, make two students be a team.

Role play

Rotate the students clockwise once so they know how they will be rotating.

1st Round

The students trying to make a good impression will have two minutes to make a good impression. Encourage lying and creativity when making a good first impression. After two minutes, tell the students trying to make a good impression to rotate to the next person. Repeat this for four turns or until students get back to their original partner. Then, rotate once more but don’t give them time to talk. (This ensures that the person they just finished talking to isn’t obliged to choose them). Ask each student judging first impressions who they thought made the best first impression and why. Then, announce the most popular person with the most votes.

2nd Round

For the 2nd round, the people who were trying make a good first impression will now be the people judging first impressions. After switching roles, repeat the instructions from the 1st round. Try to switch rotation direction so students talk to new people.

Discussion Questions

When you look at someone, what makes you think they are…?
Dangerous, greedy, intelligent, kind, not smart, crazy, generous, etc.
Do you like to meet new people or do you prefer to hang out with people you already know?
When and where did you meet most of your friends for the first time?
Have you met someone who you hated right away even though you didn’t know them?
When are the most important times to make a good first impression?
Do you make first impressions based on what people wear?
What kind of impression are you trying to make with your clothes?
Do you try to make a different first impression now than you did in high school?
Have you ever tried to make a great first impression but completely messed it up?
In what jobs do people have to make very quick decisions based on first impressions?

Identity Sheet

You can view and download a PDF of the Identity Sheet here:

Identity Sheet

I hope you find this role play useful in your classes. You can download the full Microsoft Word version of this role play or the full PDF version of this role play. If you liked this role play please consider purchasing the book it came from “ESL Role Plays: 50 Engaging Role Plays for ESL and EFL Classes“