1. Optimize Seating
Sharing and participation occur best when people are organized in a way that promotes discussion. Traditional classroom seating doesn’t do this with everyone facing front. A room that has many open seats and people peppered throughout is also not conducive to sharing. In the latter situation, encourage people to move up or cluster together. No one wants to share their ideas by shouting across the room.
2. Make It a Smartphone-free Zone
I may take a lot of flack for this one, but just as it’s difficult to have a personal conversation with someone when their head is buried in their phone, it is equally inhibiting to have a good dynamic conversation during breakouts if every is virtual “back at the office” getting stressed or checking Facebook.
In order to avoid further push back, it may serve you well to discourage phone usage in break out sessions at the beginning of the day. That way people can get in all their funny quips and cat video watching prior to the breakouts.
3. Provide Good Directions
Many breakouts use poor directions. They don’t have the true elements of engagement mastered. They present concepts, break people into groups, and then use words like “discuss.” That’s about as inspiring as it gets. (Note the sarcasm.) Instead, you have to give people good directions that leave them interested in discussion.
Another way to get people involved is through teasing them, much like you would in a trailer to a film. Give them part of the story, paint a vivid picture, and then ask them to complete it. You’ve gotten them halfway there. They’re able to see a partial vision so completing it is not quite as daunting as slapping down an empty piece of paper and asking them to create a masterpiece with only a yellow crayon.
4. Give Them Some Skin in the Game
In order to be inspired to contribute to the group discussion, some people need more than instructions. Since the problem or concept you’re discussing is a hypothetical one, they may need a reason to care. You can create a reason by offering a prize for the winning group or promising notoriety for sharing. This will be easiest for you if you have some insight into what motivates them. But if you don’t, you still need to give them a reason to want to get involved and solve the problem or join the discussion. Sometimes all that takes is a reminder of why the solution or outcome could be valuable to them.
5. Increase Competition
Some people thrive in competitive circumstances so creating a little friendly competition could invite the type of interaction you’re looking for. Whether it’s competition between groups to solve a problem or find a solution or whether the group is simply racing against the clock, competition drives activity.
6. Make Sure the Interactive Component Is Well Thought Out
There are a lot of speakers who feel compelled to add an interactive component to their sessions. And that’s simply what they do. But adding a “what would you do” question at the end of the session does nothing to facilitate interaction. It will feel like a useless add-on and that’s exactly how the group will treat it.
7. Choose a Dynamic Leader
Speaking of which, if you want to promote better interaction you should start with the word that was just used, “leader.” Discussion happens best around facilitators or guides, not authoritarian speakers. Start with the entire culture of the group and ensure you have assembled a session that does not feel top heavy. Interaction is difficult if attendees feel like they’re being judged or graded by someone who knows everything, coming from an area of knowledge power.
8. Facilitate Introductions
Make people feel welcome and encourage discussion early on. Don’t request quiet. Encourage the noise of sharing from the moment they walk in the door. Facilitators should greet people and immediately begin asking them open-ended, conversation-starting questions. The event is always a safe topic but they could also ask questions about the host city and whether this is the attendee’s first time there. If people know the discussion is valued, they’re more likely to become a part of it.
9. Improve the Event Ethos
While you’re at it, the best way to encourage participation in sessions is to create an entire event around participatory practices. If you want more interaction in groups, you want to create an ethos of interaction throughout your larger event. Otherwise, it feels very compartmentalized. This is where you share. This is where you listen. Those types of edicts don’t improve interaction. They limit it and make interaction feel like it’s something largely inappropriate that needs to be reigned in.
10. Recognize the Introverts
Introverts can make extraordinary leaders and conversationalists when they enjoy the topic at hand. If they don’t, they often feel drained by the whole experience. Be cognizant that as many as half of your audience could fall into this category. Forced group interaction is low on their list of interests. This means you have two options:
Market the session as highly interactive so that individuals who do not enjoy group work will decide to participate in something else or
Ask your introverts to identify themselves as such and proceed from there.
11. Limit Choice
Friends sit together. People who come to events together sit together. It’s just that simple. And while they may feel extremely comfortable sharing with one another, they may also not feel the need to stay on topic or they may accidentally alienate other members of the group because of their closeness.
12. Choose Topics of Interest
Sometimes people don’t interact to the extent you were hoping for because they simply have no interest in the topic of the discussion. In order to avoid these types of situations, you can create areas of the discussion focussed around different topics along the same theme and have people select which one appeals to them.
The upside of this process is that people are engaged from the beginning. They’re not being told what to talk about. They’re asked what they’re interested in. The downside is that, conceivably, everyone could select the same group. If that’s the case, you could break down that large group into smaller ones so that discussion will flow more freely.
13. Set the Tone
Earlier, I mentioned encouraging discussion from the beginning. As a continuation of that, it’s also important to set the tone in the session. For instance, if the leader begins by covering a few concepts or strategies, it’s important during this learning time that interaction is still valued.
Dishank Bhatt