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In order to engage participants through discussion, it is helpful for you to
keep the terms “instructor led, participant directed” in mind. Putting some
parameters to the discussion helps participants stay on track and meet the
objectives. If you just have them “discuss” a topic, it can be easy for one or
two people to take over the conversation, or for someone to take off on a
tangent.
Some good ways to help participants stay on track include:
Provide participants with the objectives of the discussion (example: identify three to five ways
that discussion is helpful in training) or a set of statements or questions that will guide them.
Organize in groups in different ways so that trainees interact with a variety of people whom
they can get to know through discussion.
When asking questions to a large group, the trainer should ask a question to the entire group,
and then select the person who will answer it. (Sometimes we select the person first and then
ask the question, but there is a good chance the rest of the group will tune out once they know
they do not have to provide an answer.)
Provide people with processing and thinking time. Some people want to answer right away, and
others prefer to think about an answer before expressing it. One way to do this is to give
participants time to write notes or answer questions on paper before they start to discuss the
topic. This gives people who like time to reflect more of an opportunity to enter a discussion.
Respect everyone’s answers and thank them for them. This will encourage people to enter the
discussion.