Conversational Moves

Conversational Moves provides an opportunity for people to practice genuinely reciprocal discussion based on careful listening and responding by providing very specific examples of different ways to enact such a discussion. This exercise works well with technique 49, Conversational Roles, because the moves are specific enactments of the roles we suggest people play.

Purposes

• To broaden awareness of what counts as good participation in discussion
• To give participants practice in performing specific discussion actions
• To make discussion a collaborative endeavor in which acknowledging and strengthening connections among group members are emphasized
• To alert participants to underused discussion actions such as expressing gratitude, consciously using body language, and asking for silence

How It Works

• The facilitator prepares a number of different conversational moves and puts these on different slips of paper. Each move is a specific behavior or action someone might enact during a discussion. Typical moves include the following:
  • Ask a question or make a comment that shows you are interested in what another person says.
  • Ask a question or make a comment that encourages another person to elaborate on a previous observation.
  • Make a comment that underscores the link between two people's contributions.
  • Use body language to show interest in what different speakers are saying.
  • Comment specifically on how another person's ideas were helpful or useful.
  • Contribute something that explicitly builds on or springs from what someone else has said.
  • Make a comment that paraphrases and credits what another person has said.
  • Make a summary observation that takes into account several people's contributions and touches on a recurring theme in the discussion.
  • When you think it's appropriate, ask the group for a moment's silence to slow the pace of conversation and give you and others time to think.
  • Use specific examples to express appreciation for the value you have gained from the conversation.
  • Disagree with someone respectfully and constructively.
  • Create a space for someone who has not yet spoken to make a contribution.
• Before the discussion begins, the moves are placed face down or folded over in the middle of the table or room. Group members randomly choose a notecard containing their move, which is an instruction to take a specific action at least once during the course of the discussion. They are told not to disclose their move to the group.
• Participants then hold a discussion about the day's question or topic. They can participate in any way they wish but are told to make their move whenever the opportunity arises. This should not be forced, and people are told that they may never have the chance to make their move.
• When the discussion is over, members are invited to share their moves with the group and to talk about how challenging it was to behave in the way specified.

Where and When It Works Well

1. It expands the repertoire of discussion behaviors. This works well to change discussion dynamics. Asking for a pause in the conversation, showing appreciation for how a contribution has helped you understand something better, or explicitly building on another person's comments all make discussions more reciprocal.
2. When you are trying to introduce discussion. The specific moves help guide new discussants to enact helpful discussion behaviors.

What Users Appreciate

1. It's creative energy. We've used this with a New York City theatre group that escorts low-income youth to Broadway plays and then holds post-play discussions with them. Facilitators reported this to be unusually energizing.
2. Specificity. People like the concreteness of the different moves described.
3. Reassuring structure. Far from being restrictive, participants typically appreciate the direction this technique provides about what is expected of them in discussion-based classrooms.

What to Watch Out For

1. Performance anxiety. Some participants are so anxious about the move they are expected to make that they can't really focus on what is transpiring in the discussion as a whole. Emphasize that making the move is not the point of the discussion. You do this only if an opportunity arises.
2. Gimmicky. Some see this as gimmicky, even as others enjoy its specificity, so don't devote too much time to it. Give people a brief taste of it by keeping the actual discussion to no more than fifteen minutes.
3. Skipping the end sharing. It's important for everyone to share what move they were instructed to make. Hearing about these and the challenge of enacting them reinforces the variety of ways we can add to a discussion.

Questions That Fit This Protocol

This approach can be used with any type of question.