The talking stick
An exercise giving a tool helping creating focus and a calm atmosphere when reflecting on deeper subjects.
A. As the facilitator, you may interrupt anyone who is taking up too much speaking time.
B. This tool can be used in many different cases and does not need to be an exercise in itself.
Required Material: a stick or any object
None.
The facilitator explains the rules: the person who has the talking stick can speak. The stick will circulate between those who want to speak. The facilitator has the right to cut a person off if the person is depriving other participants from speaking.
The subject of the conversation is presented by the facilitator.
The subject can be anything. It can also be used to talk about an experience the group had, so for example if you have been in different faith rooms, the conversation could be about how it felt for the e.g. Christians to be in a mosque and likewise how the Muslims felt being in a church.
In the same way, it could also be used to talk about culture, politics, etc.
When the person with the talking stick is finished, he/she will put the talking stick in the air to mark he/she is finished. If the other participants wish to have it, he/she will raise their hand and the previous person talking will hand the stick to the person chosen by the facilitator.
When the time is up, the facilitator will say it is time to end, and when the stick is given to another person the facilitator will note that this is the last talking round.
For reflection the facilitator can ask the participants what it was like to have the talking stick.
Why did it give them more time to reflect while holding the stick versus when they didn’t have it?
Thank everyone for their participation, summarize what was learned.
