WHAT DO WE TALK ABOUT?
As the host, you get to choose how a topic is generated. Visit our Question Bank. You may want to choose the question ahead of time, so you can include the topic in your outreach. Or you may want to allow it to arise from the group right at the time of the gathering. Some hosts begin the conversation with an open ended question such as, “What drew you here?” or “What’s alive in you right now?”, and by the end of the first round a topic begins to emerge. Some hosts invite their guests to a series of conversations around a topic of inquiry. For example, co-founder Vicki Robin invited a group to a three month series of weekly conversations around questions of “Freedom and Limits” during a time when she was developing a workshop around those issues.
There is an art to framing a powerful question and avoiding building in assumptions or bias, so be sure to check out How to Craft Questions.
ARTICLES FROM LONG-TIME HOSTS:
You’ll also find a rich resource of topics submitted by longstanding hosts, such as Eugene Boeldak, Larry Gaffin, Kat Gjovik, Jim Rough, and John Hartmann, and many more from hosts in varied places.
Topics from Dialogue Café Utrecht, the Netherlands, 2008-2013
Enjoying Great Conversations by Ron Gross
Thirty-One Months of Inspiring Questions by Larry Gaffin
Two Years of Topics at the Pegasus Café by Kat Gjovik
Topics for Dialogue…Not Discussion by Jim Rough
Topic Questions for All Comers by John Hartmann
Questions & Topics From Conversation Cafés Everywhere
YOUR ARTICLES ARE WELCOMED
Conversation hosts and participants are invited to submit their articles for inclusion. Click on Contact Us to send us news about your conversational experience. As an example, read this invitation to a Socratic conversation by Ron Gross, entitled Enjoying Great Conversations.