The Coordinated Science Laboratory
National Center for Principled Leadership & Research Ethics

Facilitation Preparation Skill Two

Listening as a Facilitator

When listening as a facilitator, your goal is to set an example for other participants to follow.

Asking a good question as a facilitator falls flat without effective listening. Your goal as a facilitator is to guide the conversation but not direct or evaluate it. [2] Listening will help you to see what context is relevant to your participants and what insights they deem most important. Part of your job is to learn how to encourage participation, taking risks, and sharing potentially unpopular ideas without overstepping your bounds. [6]

Consider active listening techniques:

  • Body language. The way you position and carry yourself conveys important details about how you’re engaging.
    • Consider sitting up, leaning in, or otherwise conveying interest and engagement
    • Pay attention to your facial expressions and where you visually focus your attention
    • Use body language to encourage engagement and enthusiasm—as a guide, not a cheerleader
  • Taking notes. You may find that taking notes yourself opens the door for others to follow suit, which may improve engagement and would allow participants the opportunity to follow up on or further explore what came up in the conversation. You should always keep mental notes and additionally, consider taking notes on a notepad: jotting down names, dates, jargon, etc.
    • Some participants may worry that you are taking notes in an evaluative way, which may cause them to hold their tongue or adjust what is said to impress you as the facilitator [6]
    • If you take notes, explain your goal is simply to help you track the phases of the conversation, and that your notes represent your interest and engagement, not an evaluation. For example, you can say:
      • I'm interested/engaged and excited to be a facilitator. I take notes for the sole purpose of helping myself keep track of topics that we may want to dig into more.
      • I will be taking notes because it helps me track the conversation while we are talking today. These are personal notes to help me do a good job as facilitator and will not be used for any other purpose.