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Moderating a Deliberation

Facilitate Reaching the Goals of Deliberation

Goals of Deliberation

Create collective understanding of an issue Allow people to express their opinions in a safe

forum Uncover the often unheard voices in a discussion Seek common ground among divergent opinions Reveal underlying values of opinions and beliefs Move towards a shared public decision

Structure of Deliberation: Day One

Welcome and introduction to deliberation and topic

Moderator reviews Ground Rules

Everyone watches framing video Moderator asks participants their Personal

Stake

Moderator Explains How to Reach Goals of

Deliberation Try to understand pros, cons, consequences of a choice Learn strategic facts and how they affect the way we

think about each choice Push beyond initial positions Weigh carefully views of others and what they consider

valuable Work through conflicting emotions Consider how issue affects other people, especially the

under-represented

Ground Rules

All participate No one dominates Focus on options Respectful atmosphere Listen to each other

Personal Stake

Do you have experience with this issue? How does this issue affect you? Participants volunteer to share Moderator ensures that all who want to share do

Structure of Deliberation: Days Two, Three, and Four

Moderator introduces Option for the day Moderator begins deliberation with an open-ended

question Moderator encourages quiet participants to join in,

reigns in talkative ones, and diffuses tension Moderator paraphrases comments to simplify,

clarify, and support participants

Questions to Guide Deliberation

What do you like/not like about this approach? What is important to people who favor this

approach? underlying values?

What are the costs/consequences/trade-offs? What view is not represented here?

Structure of Deliberation Day Five: Concluding Reflections

Personal Reflection How has your thinking about

issue changed? What have you learned that

surprised you?

Structure of Deliberation Day Five: Concluding

ReflectionsGroup reflections

Shared sense of direction or common ground?

Tensions What are we still struggling with as a group? What do we still need to talk about? Which trade offs are we or are we not willing to

make? Whose voice was not at the table? What are you going to do with what you learned

today?

Moderator Challenges: The Dominator

Ask: What do others think about this? What ideas have not been expressed? How would you respond to the

concerns just expressed? Could you tell a story to illustrate that? For those who hold that position, what

do they care deeply about?

Moderator Challenges: The Difficult One

Use body language – move closer to the Difficult One

Refer to guidelines > everyone participates

Redirect conversation: “Thank you. What do others think about that?”

Moderator Challenges: The Misinformer

Ask:

Does anyone have a different perspective on that?

Use Issue Book. Point out that “on page xx, it states that…. How does that fit with the information you just shared?”

Would you give us an example?