Facilitating discussions that elevate possibility is harder than it looks, but easier than it seems. Make sure you have these basics down—remember that *you* are mirroring and modeling with your participants the ways you want them to work with their participants.

1. Active Listening and Paraphrasing

When participants are speaking, make eye contact, don’t interrupt, and give signs of listening like nodding, and encouraging phrases like “uh, huh” and, “yeah.” Also, reflect what a participant is feeling and saying by restating comments or asking for clarification.

2. Open-Ended Questions

Ask questions that don’t have yes/no or right/wrong answers. Open-ended questions also don’t try to lead the group to a specific answer but instead ask them to explore their feelings and ideas.

3. Follow-Up Questions

As the facilitator, you can help participants explore and expand their ideas and feelings by asking follow-up questions. Follow-up questions can ask participants to give examples of personal stories, compare and connect ideas, or simply say a little more about the topic.

4. Stacking

When several participants wish to speak at once, it is useful to “stack” them by simply calling on one participant, and then saying who will speak next, and who will speak after that. When people know that their desire to participate has been acknowledged, they can relax and listen while they wait their turn.

5. Wait Time

After asking a question of the group, it is important to wait three to five seconds before accepting answers; this eliminates competition to be first with an answer and allows all participants to assimilate the question and consider a response. For those times when participants are reluctant to speak, waiting patiently is more useful than filling the silence with the sound of your own voice.

Want to help your team become better facilitators? We’ve.got.you. ❤️