I find that planning a conversation is a lot simpler than facilitating one. When planning, you often take the success of your questions as a given. I assume that, if I ask a question general enough, that I will be able to garner responses from each of my participants. However, in reality, there are some days when some participants just don't feel like talking - no matter what. So then a question is responded to by maybe one or two people and then silence ensues.
Until recently I had been assuming that my group would continue their record of heavy participation in conversation. Recent weeks have proven otherwise. Occurrences like the aforementioned are becoming more common. Because of this, I have realized that to be a successful facilitator often requires over-planning. You can never be sure how prepared your group will be to engage in conversation on a particular day, so, regardless of a group's propensity to participate, as a facilitator, you must be incite conversation as often as necessary. This requires more topics and more questions - more preparedness.
This is all a learning experience. I only hope that I can grow to become a better facilitator in order to make this a more rewarding experience for all of my participants.
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