Source — M. Kipnis, “We train the ability to lead, be a motor and inspirer” (AST, Prime Eurosign).
Objectives:
- to master an active style of communication and develop partnership relations in the group;
- to practice in defining clear and precise goals of the activity;
- improve leadership skills to manage a group;
- practice rhetoric — the science of persuasion.
Band size: whatever big.
Resources: flipchart and markers for recording the discussion, notes indicating hidden roles: «Discussion leader», «Debater», «Skeptic», «Associate», «Philosopher», «Diplomat», «Alternative leader», «Indifferent».
Time: half an hour to an hour.
Course of the game
Leading a meeting, discussion, discussion is a special art. A leader in this role requires a lot of skills:
- be friendly and tactful towards the audience;
- own the audience, the attention of listeners;
- limit the activity of screamers, involve the passive in the discussion;
- clearly formulate questions and skillfully summarize the stages of discussion of the topic.
In this role-playing game, group members will be able to test their skills in public discussion in practice. First, notes are distributed to the group. By unfolding them so that no one sees what was written, each of the participants in the training will understand what role he has to play in the upcoming discussion. Then a topic is identified that really occupies all those present. After a brief discussion related to the definition of the topic of discussion, the version accepted by the majority is written on the board or flip chart. Only now the training leader asks the discussion leader to discover himself. From that moment on, all power passes to the one who, in his note, discovered the role of the leader of the discussion.
A three-minute break is announced, necessary for preparing the class, arranging chairs; so that all players gather their thoughts both about the topic chosen for discussion and in connection with the role they have received.
The discussion usually lasts 15-20 minutes. The group then moves on to discuss the game.
Completion
The discussion is built on several levels.
First level: everyone speaks about how the group, each of the speakers managed to reveal the topic of discussion.
Second level: self-presentation and self-assessment of participants who got specific role-images. First, the group tries to independently determine who was the debater, who was the alternative leader, and who was the bore. The players then «reveal their cards» and announce their respective roles. They analyze their behavior, style of play. Did they get the role? At what point did the discussion cause them to get carried away and forget about the proposed role?
Third level: introspection and group discussion of the role of the discussion leader. What worked and what didn’t? Did he own the audience? Did you manage to shake up passive listeners and make public the opinion of the minority? What do you see as the leader’s mistakes, and what is his undoubted success? Did the presenter’s «body language» and the content of his speech match? Was there visual contact with the audience, what encouraging signs did the presenter use to encourage listeners to express their own opinions?
Additional material: How to prepare for a presentation
[Category: Leader_as_effective_communicator]]