Delivery & Facilitating
The facilitators plays a crucial role in the setting the informal and inclusive tone for the dialogue.
In real dialogue, both sides are willing to change. — Thich Nhat Hanh
Principles for facilitating
The aim is to gently guide the discussion to keep it flowing. Some principles to keep in mind as a facilitator are:
| Principle | Description |
|---|---|
| Connect People | Enable participant with shared interest to get to know each other |
| Peer Learning | Enable learning from multiple peers at the same time |
| Every Voice Counts | No presentation or long monologues from a single person |
| Wiki/Visual Summary | Summarize & capture the discussion in text or graphics |
| Be Inclusive | Provide an inclusive environment to allow open sharing of ideas |
| Informal Environment | Create a setup where participants can see each other & interact |
| No Attribution | Make it like an informal conversation amongst friends |
| Encourage Participation | Facilitate to encourage participation from everyone |
Tips for facilitating the Dialogues
Some additional tips for the facilitator are:
- Ensure everyone has a space to be seated and can participate in the dialogue session.
- Facilitator normally sets the context and share the hygiene rules for everyone to follow as the participant.
- As a facilitator, you should help guide and moderate the discussion as needed but don’t start presenting or imposing your own views.
- As a facilitator, it is your role to balance and limit over-participation, and ensure no single person ends up monopolizing the session.
- Use the prompts you have organized in the concept note to trigger the discussion in empty spaces.
- Participation from everyone should be encouraged, if they are engaged but not speaking. Make your own judgement call on whether and when to do so.