Preparing for a discussion
A large part of a successful discussion relies on the preparation of the person leading it. A good preparation not only helps anticipate potential challenges and make participants feel comfortable, but also helps the facilitator feel confident.
To support you in confidently leading difficult we’ve developed a set of practical resources, including guidelines, collaborative activities, and discussion planners. These tools will help you structure your approach and encourage everyone’s participation.
Create a Discussion-Friendly Environment
Creating a discussion-friendly environment is not always easy, especially when you are discussing a potentially contentious issue. However, there are some steps you can take to help set expectations around discussions while also encouraging open-minded exchanges of ideas:
Discussion, Not Debate: Focus on Understanding, Not Winning
Establish Discussion Guidelines
Share Experiences, Not Just Opinions (or Facts)
Encourage Diverse Voices and Opinions
Know Your Audience (and Yourself)
Setting Boundaries
Download the Better Discussions handbook to learn more.
Establish Discussion Guidelines
Discussions need guidelines. If you’re a discussion leader you may already have an official set of rules in place, but not all rules are suitable for every conversation.
Participants are more likely to adhere to rules they have had input in determining. Co-creating discussion guidelines can encourage respectful and constructive discussion. It is also easier to hold one another accountable for rules that everyone has participated in making.
Check out the Co-Created Discussion Guidelines activity to learn more.
Plan the discussion in advance
Facilitating a discussion on a controversial or sensitive topic requires the ability to capture participants’ attention, foster their engagement, guide the conversation constructively, and encourage deeper reflection beyond the discussion itself. That requires planning in advance from the facilitator, and ideally from the participants themselves.
To help you plan effectively your discussions, anticipate potential challenges, and organize your ideas, download the discussion planners for facilitators and participants.