How much information should be shared with participants ahead of the challenge?
When planning a challenge, how much detail should be shared with participants beforehand? Is it better to keep some elements a surprise to make the experience feel more authentic, or should organisers prioritise full transparency?
Answer
Informed consent should always come first, particularly for an event that combines physical challenge with emotional intensity.
Participants need comprehensive information about the nature of the event, the physical demands involved, potential risks, and the safety measures in place.
Being transparent doesn’t reduce the emotional or spiritual impact of the day. Genuine empathy comes from meaningful engagement with the experience, not from shock or surprise, and people tend to respond better when they’re trusted with proper information from the outset.
There’s still room to preserve some sense of authenticity without compromising consent: participants don’t need every specific obstacle or exact timing spelled out in advance, and simply knowing they’ll face challenging and varied terrain can maintain a sense of the unknown while ensuring genuinely informed participation.
In practice, this works well as a written information sheet covering the event description, health requirements, specific risks and safety measures, shared well in advance so participants have time to review it, ask questions, and make an informed decision.
A pre-event briefing session closer to the day gives a further opportunity for questions, helps build trust, and ensures everyone arrives with realistic expectations.
Throughout, participants should be told clearly about their right to withdraw at any point without judgement, opt-out options for anything they’re not comfortable with, and how to raise concerns during the event.
Some experiential elements can still be built in, much as with any team-building activity, provided they serve a genuine purpose within boundaries participants have already agreed to.