You found our guide on how to do a team building yell.
Team building yells are shouts that teams use to generate motivation and momentum. For example, “Fantastic! Terrific! Great! Juice, juice, juice! Oh yeah!!”. These actions are also known as team chants or team cheers.
This article covers:
- Common cheers for team spirit
- How do you make a good team chant?
- Why is team spirit important?
Here we go!
Common cheers for team spirit
Here are some of the most common team spirit chants.
1. Hold up, wait a minute…
Let me put some spirit in it!
[Team Name] break it down,
Knock this team straight out of town!
2. We’re gonna spell fight in a way that’s better…
So when I say get on up, you just shout the letter,
Get on up, F,
Get on up, I,
Get on up, G,
Get on up, H,
Get on up, T,
What’s that spell?
FIGHT!
What do we do?
FIGHT!
One more time,
FIGHT, F-I-G-H-T, FIGHT!
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3. The S is for super and…
The U is for united
The P is for perfection and you know we are excited
The E is for energetic and
The R is for Rad
so tell the other team
We’re the best and we’re glad!
4. If you want to win…
You’ve got to cheer with all your might
When we say go you say fight
Go (Fight!) x8
5. Stronger than steel…
Hotter than the sun;
[Teammate name] won’t stop,
’til he gets the job done!
(repeat for each teammate)
How do you make a good team chant?
Good team yells are short, simple, and easy to memorize. Overly complicated chants may frustrate and confuse team members. Basic team chants are fun, easy to follow, and help workers feel included in the group.
You can follow the steps below to craft your own cheers for team spirit.
1. Consult the classics
You are not Mozart, and no one expects you to compose a symphony. For best results, find an existing cheer and personalize the lyrics to fit your team. You can use pre-made cheers listed above for inspiration. You can also use a popular song with a familiar melody and write a team-centric parody.
A few song suggestions:
- Don’t Stop Believing by Journey
- We Will Rock You by Queen
- We Didn’t Start the Fire by Billy Joel
- Run the World by Beyoncé
- Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi
- Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves
Choosing an easy beat or a well-known song ensures that all members can follow along and join in the fun.
Here are more team building songs, motivational songs for work and high energy songs for conferences.
2. Generate a cool team nickname
When your chant leader shouts out, “Who are we?!” your team should have a reply besides silence. To maximize the belongingness factor of a group yell, you should select a cool team name. The simplest way to pick a team nickname is to assign each group a color, but you could be as creative as you wish.
Examples of cool and creative team names include The Three Marketeers, The Team Name Procrastinators, Avengers Understudies, or The Dot Com Squad.
Here are more team name ideas.
3. Write your mantra
Once you select your tune and your team name, you can write your actual cheer. You can decide whether you prefer to swap out a few words or concoct a totally new version from scratch. The process can be as singular or as collaborative as you like. Enlisting the whole team to craft the chant serves as a fun and creative team building exercise. Just be sure that all teammates agree on a comfortable level of raciness or cheeky language in the chant.
For best results, choose short and single syllable words, and pay attention to rhymes.
4. Practice, practice, practice
To perfect your cheer, practice when possible. Writing down and posting the cheer in a public area is a good way to include newer or forgetful teammates and to keep the chant fresh in your teams’ minds.
5. Scream your hearts out
Whether you created your team chant for a one time event, or as an ongoing energy exercise, you should perform your cheer with as much enthusiasm and energy as you can muster. You can recall the cheer whenever your team needs a boost, such as pre-presentation or during a sluggish afternoon. You can also use the team yell as a motivator in the morning or a warm up at a team building event.
Final Thoughts
Though cheering a team building yell may feel silly, chanting a unified motivational message promotes positivity in the workplace. As Psychology Today explains, authentic cheering can actually spur a reaction that floods our brains with natural feel-good chemicals.
Feel free to check out these guides to team building attire and team building examples.
