facilitating snack & chats

Your role as a facilitator is paramount to the success of SIMA’s Snack & Chat events!

You are in a position of leadership Please remember that many individuals

come to these events because its hard for them to ask for help!

Encourage each person at the table to share a thought or idea

Keep the discussion on topic, always! Answer questions by encouraging group

dialogue---you aren’t expected to have all the answers

Make sure no one is dominating the conversation (including you!)

Come prepared: Have several experiences/examples related to the topic ready to share

Engage quieter participants respectfully—tell them you want to hear from them

Ask questions!

Summarize portions of conversation, and use those summaries to move on

Beware of griping—the goal is to have positive, solution-oriented conversation, not political or personal debates

Briefly intro yourself and the topic, set some goals about which areas should be addressed

Try to get each person to speak at least once early on, asking a simple question like ‘How much snow did you get last season’ or ‘What was the winter like last year?’...break the ice!

Establish your expectation that each person at the table should share something by the end of the event

You are in a position of power, use it respectfully

Use phrases like ...’Okay, let’s move on..’ and ‘That’s a good point, but what about...’

If someone is dominating, feel free to cut in with ‘I’d like to hear from some other people at the table...’

Have fun!