Dialogue Practice: Hints for the success of your group

 Their are lots of rules, suggestions, and hints for effective dialogue dialogue practice. Let's call the few below hints:

~ In the very beginning it helps to have 7 or 8 interested persons willing to commit to 3 or 4 consecutive meetings.

~ During practice a person practices directing her words to the group as a whole and not to one or a few members at a time.

~ Remember that the speaker is likely to be doing his best to be honest.

~ You will have more than one turn. Avoid interrupting another. It uses the speaking time of others and reduces the effectiveness of your practice.

~ Keep expenses to a minimum. Everyone helps to take care of necessary expenses. Do your part.

~ Listen well to that which another is saying. Try to hear what she intends to say. Improved understanding is your aim.

~ Practice listening well and gain more powerful skills for hearing and understanding.

~Encourage each member to use his opportunity to say something at each meeting. The words of each member are gifts to each of us.

~ Usually limit speaking time to one or two minutes. It is great to have time to be heard more than once at a meeting. And, with your help there will be more meetings.

~ Remember that focusing your words on the topic and on your personal experience is good practice.

 

               These hints are for keeping your practice pleasant and effective. 

                Thank you for reading.

                                                            RCS

Dialogue Practice: what it is about and what it is not about

DialogueWithRCS, Dialogue practice is a way to:

~  peace and good will.

~  see our words as gifts to others.

~  an activity which helps us to be us.

~ better understanding and cooperation through the meaning of word.

~  an honest, supportive activity.

~  greater awareness and enhanced consciousness.

~  develop new listening and speaking skills.

~ practice more effective methods of communication. 

~  preservation, growth, and creation of culture.

~  make a healthy, effective society more likely.

~  meet and know interesting persons.

~  put honest thoughts on the table where we can look them over an begin to find their meaning.

~ be heard.

~ find pleasure in speaking up.

~ understanding among us and within us.

~  exchange views and opinions.

~ satisfying relationship.

~ practice a "second" language.

~ more effective communication outside the group.

~ share experience.

 

Dialogue practice is not is not a,:

~  not a place to make a particular point or idea prevail.

~ not a debate or discussion.

~ not a game to win or lose.

According to Dr. David Bohm, dialogue practice is:

~ participating in a flow of meaning between us, through us, and among us.

~ a activity out of which emerges new and renewed understanding.

~ an activity which helps us to be us.

                There is more to learn, understand, and practice, but with these few sentences we have made a good start.

                Thank you for reading.

                                                    RCS

Benefits of the Dialogue

Dialogue With RCS: more meaning in you your life, better understand others, a way to a better world, being listened to.             

                On this new blog I intend to continue a number of posts on a kind of dialogue with which you may be becoming familiar. Some churches, corporations, civic organizations, and others have been this sort of dialogue for years, so it is not brand new.

               

                For those who may not be certain of what I mean by dialogue, In brief, it is meaningful talk within groups.

                

                Below I will begin to note a few of the dialogue's benefits. As we are now on the internet I will say now that, I do not know of cases of the dialogue's being used successfully online. However, I believe that it is now possible to do so, but am not sure how. If you would like to suggest something the "comments" window below is for your use.

                

                As I know it the dialogue is best used face to face, in person. And seems most effective in groups of between 20 and 40 participants. Groups of 15 and less have been please with it. Much of it can be used to good effect between husband and wife. It has been used with groups with groups much larger than 40 with professional facilitators and more as a demonstration than as well functioning group. I would like to see it use online. 

                The following list is far from inclusive and not completely representative, but can serve to introduce something of the dialogue.

I am calling it the dialogue now, have called it Magic Table Dialogue and Dialogue For Peace.

                    

 Benefits include:

~ learning to make yourself heard.

~ being heard.

~ being listened to.

~ coming to enjoy being heard.

~ an opportunity for the practice of listening.

~ learning that dialogue is more than talk.

~ gaining motivation to listen.

~ improving your use of language.

~ practicing a language new to you.

~ learning new listening skills.

~ the possibility of getting in touch with traditions of knowledge new to you. 

~ getting to know yourself better.

~ getting to know an interesting other.

~ knowing new people.

~ having fun while realizing that the dialogue is a serious activity.

~ experiencing the creation of culture. 

~  increasing your word power.

~ Seeing how better dialogue can be a way to a better world.

~ sharing meaning and understanding.

~ the possibility of beginning an interesting new exploration with safe, comfortable "baby steps." Still there might come a time that you will want to take a step beyond your comfort zone.

~ improving your ability understand others, even those quite different from you.

~ learning more of the effect of assumptions in our lives.

~ the possibility of increased meaning and understanding in our lives.

                                     

                 More to come.

                There are about 50 little essays here. It's okay if you read a couple.

                Thank you for reading!

                                                                                                              RCS