Towards the end of a workshop, class, or meeting, facilitators often solicit information from participants about what they learned, questions they still have, etc. I applaud everyone for introducing the questions and welcoming the feedback. The WAY this is done, however, can have a stronger impact on participants when enacted with a transformative facilitation lens.

For example, I can’t count the times I’ve been to a meeting, workshop, or class where, towards the end, the teacher or facilitator asks the group a question (or if they have any questions) and then calls on on the first few hands to respond. This probably sounds familiar. But why is this a problem, you may be wondering?

In transformative facilitation, full participation by everyone is absolutely crucial. In fact, it is the deep underlying purpose of the method. If facilitators or teachers are only calling on the first few people to raise their hands, what is happening to everyone else? I know for myself what often happens is that instead of listening to the people who were called on, my mind wanders to my own half-finished idea that wasn’t quite ready enough for me to raise my hand and share.

What also happens from a facilitator perspective is that you now run the risk of a single voice responding for long periods of time, and/or asking questions that may not be relevant to the larger group, or that are off-topic.

The method I am about to share addresses all of these problems at once! How great is that? It’s generally called, “Ink, Pair, Share,” which has a nice ring to it and makes it easy to remember.

First, pose your prompt. For example, “What question is foremost in your mind right now?” or “What is one important idea you heard during this class that you can incorporate easily into your work?” Make the question prompt very clear and answerable. If you are using a PowerPoint, put the question in there for your visual learners.

Next, invite participants to spend a few minutes responding to the prompt in writing. This is the “ink.” One fun thing to do is provide an index card. This is less intimidating than a whole sheet of paper since it can only accommodate a few sentences. Having the thoughts on an index card also means that you can collect the cards, or have participants exchange them, as I will explain in a moment.

Once you’ve given ample time for participants to finish their thoughts in writing (remind them that they have one minute left, then 30 seconds left, then to “finish up your final thought.”), ask them to turn to a partner, or find a partner who they worked with at some other point in the workshop, and share their response to the prompt with that partner. Remind everyone that each person should have _ minutes to share, and remind them to switch once that time has elapsed.

After the “pair,” it is time for the “share.” There are so many engaging ways this can be done! Here are just a few to get you started:

• Ask participants to share out one interesting idea they heard from their partner, so they are not sharing what they just SAID, they are sharing what they just HEARD. This is critical as it serves as an editing mechanism. Partners will filter out any responses that were not relevant or meaningful! Repeating what they just heard also keeps the response more brief than if the response was shared by the original participant. See how this makes your work as a facilitator easier? Of course, it also encourages active listening, something that is always in need of reinforcement. In fact, you may want to prompt participants prior to the pairing, letting them know that they will be sharing what they hear, so that they know to listen attentively. 
• Invite participants to trade index cards after they have shared and then find a new partner. With their new partner, they now share what their first partner shared. Again, this is similar to the idea above, but now EVERYONE is sharing what their partner said.
• Up the game and make it even more fun by asking everyone to switch cards with their new partner, as above, and repeat the process yet again. Now ideas are flying around the room, everyone is talking, and true “pollination” is taking place. One thing you may hear people say as this is happening is, “Oh, yeah, it’s like another idea I just heard…” So now they are making connections between ideas and all kinds of learning is happening.
• Ask participants to tape their index cards (or, you may want them to write on sticky notes for this one during the “ink” portion of the activity) to the wall. Invite people to stand up and find a response that is similar to what they responded and pull it off the wall. Now invite them to turn to a partner and share the card they pulled. You can also then ask for a few volunteers to share the one that they pulled and why.

I am sure you can think of even more ideas for what to do with those cards! The point is that using “Ink, Pair, Share” in this way helps bring all voices into the room, rather than just a few active participators. Carve out time for this in your agenda – you will need at least 15 minutes. It may seem like a long time to spend in reflection, but the payoff in terms of total participation is definitely worth it.