On September 26th, the Arizona Interfaith Movement held its second faith forum using the Talking Circles method. The surveys collected and individual feedback have shown this method to be effective at managing meaningful group dialogue and active listening, especially with divergent points of view.
Discussion Topic
Thank you, Mark, for your leadership in the Talking Circles event. A very special, inspiring evening.
Nancy Splain
The Talking Circles went very well. The wonderful people in my circle honored the process and opened up their hearts in the conversations. It was truly an honor to play a small role in this. Hats off to Mark, Albert, Anne and anyone else who helped make this event a success.
Mike Wold
I truly enjoyed meeting everyone at my table. The conversations at our table were great. Though we were all from different faith traditions, races, cultures, and ethnic backgrounds, every one was respectful and kind …. actively listened, shared thoughts, and pondered to understand, before responding to the prompts. Everyone contributed well and the conversations were thoughtful, meaningful, and engaging. It was good to see some heads nodding in agreement as comments were being made. Of course, Rock was a wonderful moderator! Madhav also thought that the “passing the stick” at his table worked very well. He enjoyed Annalisa’s discipline to adhering to the process, so everyone could contribute…and their group still managed to end ahead of time.
Anita Rangaswami
Survey Results
In an anonymous survey collected after the event, one participant said they “tend to jump ahead to think about what to say while people are talking.” This person is not alone. Thinking of a rebuttal rather than active listening is a common tendency and a leading cause of general miscommunication. Talking Circles is effective in bringing light to that well known human weakness. When a participant was asked how they demonstrated active listening they said: “by not interrupting, and experiencing the speaker’s truth from my heart.” Another answered: “by leaning in, focusing on the speaker and keeping my mind quiet.” Finally, “kept my mouth shut and my heart opened as each person spoke.”
The talking stick was a group favorite. The surveys contained the following comments when asked how the talking stick contributed to the effectiveness of communication in this setting: “The quiet ones spoke! Yay,” “The talking stick helped give us the discipline required to maintain the process,” and ” helped me know that who has the stick does the talking and I don’t interrupt.” Another wisely pointed out that there is freedom not only in knowing you are the only person speaking, without distraction, but also freedom to actually listen when it isn’t your turn because you aren’t expected to give an instant response, and you know you will have a turn when the stick comes around.
A majority of the participants said they gained quite a bit of knowledge from this experience and believed it has a great deal of practical application, even among those who had participated in Talking Circles before. Practicing communication can be a lifelong pursuit and old communication habits are difficult to break. Practice doesn’t make perfect. Practice makes permanent. Only perfect practice makes perfect. So we intend to keep practicing, as perfectly as we can. We hope you will join us for our next Talking Circles event.
