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SAVE THE DATE!
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| by Vicki Robin |
CCs are Empowering Oregon Citizens In Oregon , Ashland 's Constitution Project www.ashlandconstitution.org wanted to make the voice of "We the People" count in local governance. Their strategy for empowering the people as decision makers has three parts: Heal the Hurt - heal the anger, fear, distrust, disgust and disconnect with city government by offer a safe space for all to be heard. Connect the Divided - articulate common values and facilitate emerging agreement Empower the Decision - develop consensus ballot amendments to the city charter and make the product of dialogue the law of the land. To Heal the Hurt, they hosted over 20 Conversation Cafés, and have one ongoing location still where people can speak, listen and learn among others in the safe structure of the CC process and agreements. This mirrors my experience. Through years of hosting Conversation Cafés I've learned that they are an important way for citizens who've lost hope in having a voice to reengage. The first step is simply being heard without interruption or feedback in the opening talking object rounds. Yes, I have a voice! I am heard! Then, in the open dialogue, people see what they say shaping the conversation without having to push their point or agenda. Yes, I have influence! My voice matters to others! This is the soil needed for new ideas to sprout and the will to make them happen grow. Once people get up from the table and out in the community, they're citizens again. Ashland had the wisdom to start with the CCs in their quest to make the voice of the people count. |
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| from Susan Partnow, Co-founder Conversation Café and Let's Talk America | 
Conversation Café is pleased to announce that Susan Partnow will be facilitating Conversation Café host trainings. The next training will be held on September 28th at 5:30 pm PDT (8:30 pm EDT). Please see the announcement below for registration information. Why Use a Talking Object? The talking object is a deceptively simple yet powerful tool for transformation. It creates the space for deep reflection - as it creates the capacity to hold the floor while in silence, without concern or possibility of interruption. It invites deep listening from the rest of the circle which in turn invites a higher quality and greater depth of expression, yielding new levels of thoughtfulness and wisdom. Further, it is a powerful tool for creating equality: everyone in the circle (which in itself is a powerful tool/symbol of non-hierarchy) has an equal voice, an equal turn. This is the essential expression of democracy. It equalizes power differences that arise from rank, class, ethnicity, age, gender, as well as personality and communication styles. I recall a Conversation Café at the Green Festival in San Francisco where a woman became tearful and in awe as she held the talking object -- she said, "If only I had known about this... all those years in all those meetings where I could never have a voice." So if you find yourself or your circle tempted to dispense with the talking object. Please resist! It is a key element in the shift into Big, Deep Talk, beyond our typical conversations. (note: we refer to the talking object rather than a talking stick - In Native American traditions the talking stick is a sacred object, and we want to honor that we may not handle and hold it with proper reverence, nor use it in the way their spiritual practices require.) |
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If you haven't already read THE WORLD CAFÉ; Shaping Our Futures through Conversations that Matter by Juanita Brown, The World Café (TWC), like the CCs, is grounded in the deep conviction that conversation can change the world. Like CCs, TWCs have a simple structure that moves people and ideas to greater depth, intelligence, wisdom and heart. Like CCs, TWCs arose out of a co-founder's awakening through conversation. Juanita Brown was a young woman during the Farm Worker's movement and experienced, with amazement, how heartfelt conversations in people's homes about their lives and working conditions gave farm workers and their families the courage and commitment they needed to start a movement for social change. My background was in dialogue - I had learned through a decade of sitting in evening council with others who wanted to know 'the truth of existence' how deep listening and reflective, honest speaking can be a way to call forth understanding beyond any one person's knowledge. The differences between TWC and the CCs mostly come from how they are used. TWC is useful for groups of people, from 12 to 2000, who in some way share work or a core interest. They are used in workplaces, conferences, municipalities and more. When such groups understand that the intelligence they need to go forward isn't only at the top, it's in everyone involved, they use TWC to get coworkers or co-participants all in the same conversation about the pressing issues of the group. They are often one-time events, though some corporations now consider conversation a core business practice. The CCs are designed to be regular conversations in public places where citizens can gather to make sense together of the times we are living through. Explicit in CCs is that they are NOT purposeful (no committees will be formed) and NOT marketing (no point of view or way of being is promoted). This allows people to be refreshed by inquiry in the midst of busy lives where everywhere else, someone wants a piece of them. The main difference in structure is that at TWC, 12-2000 people sit in groups of 4 begin a conversation for 20-30 minutes, and then move to a different table to cross-pollinate ideas as the conversation continues (very stimulating). They often move twice, meaning everyone by the end has talked to a dozen people! At CCs 3-8 people stay together for 90 minutes, allowing the conversation to spiral deeper (very satisfying). At the end of TWC, considerable time is taken to harvest ideas, because the fresh insights will be important in the shared enterprise ahead. In CCs, we do a closing round to move us out of the depths and back out into ordinary life. TWC practitioners have played with the form in a variety of settings (usually more than 12, often 3 rounds, always a core question or questions that are important to everyone in the group) and developed a set of principles to keep TWCs around the world true to the essence. Juanita Brown and I discovered that her core principles apply to CCs as well. • Set the Context - clarify the purpose of the meeting • Create Hospitable Space - set up the space so that it is conducive to the kind of warm, deep connection you seek • Explore Questions That Matter - express the topic in an open-ended, inquisitive way. • Cross-Pollinate & Connect Diverse Perspectives - the diversity of viewpoints, expressed, increases the likelihood of breakthrough thinking • Encourage Each Person's Contribution - make sure everyone has a chance to speak, and no one speaks too much • Listen Together for Patterns, Insights and Deeper Questions - attend to the wisdom that is arising in your midst • Share Collective Discoveries - harvest together each person's unique insights, looking for collective patterns When working together on Let's Talk America , TWC and CCs developed a blended form that pulls on the strength of both. It's an extraordinary resource, especially of you have a particular interest in hosting conversations that bridge a polarized issue. I hope you will buy and read THE WORLD CAFÉ by Juanita Brown (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., SF 2005). As a CC host, you will surely have many insights that make your hosting deeper and better. As a participant, you'll feel part of a global movement of making meaning through conversations that matter.
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_____________________ Hello Vicki and Fellow Coaches, I, for one, have found the experience of hosting Conversation Cafés in a local coffee shop let me practice and enhance many of the coaching skills I learned. I started conversation café when I was first starting out in coaching and I love the way it helps people get into deep conversation quickly. That is what part our job as coaches is. Creating the safe space and allowing people deep experiences. I loved the format so much, I used the format in a conference in Northern California called 'Women Seeing Beyond Today'. We did three conversations cafés during the day and the conference participants thought it was the best part of the conference as it encouraged every voice to be heard that day. We're into our third conference this year and plan to use it again. I am currently working with another group that is planning to use the Conversation Café format at a four-day event that will draw hundreds of women to be in conversation around women in sports. This is to encourage sharing of experience and opens up the heart to heart connection that makes networking easy. This is an excellent tool for coaches to use. Cheers to you all! Pat Obuchowski , MBA, CPCC, ACC A Bigger Game Player and Coach _____________________ Community Conversations:
"I was a reluctant recruit, shrinking away from the image of my politically and religiously conservative neighbors sitting in my home having a conversation about electoral politics. In fact, I wasn't yet prepared to take that dramatic step. But I had to do something to live into my youngest son's expectations that his mother could make a difference for the 'good'.for the 'common good'. " Having already registered for the October 2004 NCDD conference, when the opportunity to volunteer to be a "table host" at the event arose, Heather signed on. "My first baby step. I took the telephone training one evening, with 18 other people from all over the country. Ignoring my performance anxiety, I embraced the Conversation Café process at the NCDD event with enthusiasm and trepidation. I was hooked! I returned home passionate about the transformational and connective power of conversation and determined to create opportunities for civic dialogue in my community." Fortunately, Heather had two 'institutional' settings from which to venture forth with some 'credibility' into this new territory: as a board member of the Co-Intelligence Institute and as a member of the advisory board for the Make Democracy Work project of the Fort Vancouver Regional Library (FVRL) in southwest Washington . "With the support of these groups and my friends, I began to host conversations at every opportunity that presented itself."
Currently in planning
_____________________ One of the greatest challenges English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers find in their classrooms is getting their students to communicate in English. Lorie Wood (our new CC Coordinator) came across the CC website a few years ago when she was looking for discussion topics and communication strategies for her classes. "I was ecstatic when I found the website because the conversation café methods worked on so many levels. I am always trying to get my students to talk in a more One of her students came to her and said he and some others were really concerned about the environment and asked if they could talk about that in class. "I was thrilled -- a real topic that the students generated. What more could I ask for? And then there was silence." After struggling through the first effort, she knew they needed a better way, something that would 'force' students to talk, but within a format that would make them feel safe enough to take risks with their language use. So Lorie began her search, and found Conversation Cafés. "I knew this would work as soon as I saw it. First it moved us away from the classroom environment. Actually we had our conversation café classes in the classroom, but I had sofas and tables brought in so it looked like someone's living room. Then everyone was instructed to bring their favorite cup of coffee or tea." Since the students had already generated the topic, Lorie had them each come up with a few questions that were more purposeful, which she then organized into a unit plan so that they could study the vocabulary targets, learn more about the topics in preparation for their conversation cafés, and learn questions and strategies that made their questions go deeper. The Conversation Café Process was the key for Lorie. "It gave the students a 'safe' starting place, and the organization of the rounds gave students time to prepare their thoughts into communicative language. I also discovered the power of the talking object in the conversation café format. Lorie explained that her students listened more intently when someone was holding it, and it also gave students a confidence she hadn't anticipated. "I'm guessing that the students were more willing to take risks with their English since they knew they could pass it on if they needed more time to formulate their ideas." "In our classes, we truly went from small talk to BIG talk!" _____________________ We'd love to here YOUR stories! What has happened at your Café that inspired you, informed you, helped you "bridge the gap" in your community? Email us at [email protected].
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Talk to the Pro!
Join our own Susan Partnow, professional trainer and CC co-founder,
for a telephone training on September 28th at 5:30 Pacific Time/8:30 Eastern Time. Sign
up yourself, or (and!) forward the newsletter along to other folks
you know who would enjoy a jump-start into CC hosting. $12 for 90 minutes.
By Online Movie, and DVD Watch Conversation Café's host training video, featuring 27 wonderful minutes of everything you need to know to host a Conversation Café, brought to you by CC's personable co-founders, Vicki Robin and Susan Partnow. You can view or download the movie for free on the CC website here. Host training on DVD: If you would like a copy on DVD, you can send a donation of $15 ($10 plus $5 shipping and handling) to Conversation Café c/o New Road Map Foundation, PO Box 15320, Seattle, WA 98115. |
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Your tax deductible donation is important to ensure that we can continue to build a culture of conversation through Conversation Cafés. We thank you! We also would love your help and talents! Please contact [email protected] if you're interested in volunteering. |
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please do. Conversation Café hosts and guests alike have so much to learn from this wonderful book about a very similar conversation method. 
"Mom! You need to do one of those things.one of those Let's Talk America things in our neighborhood." Thus the adventure began in the fall of 2004, at the insistence of Heather Tischbein's 14-year-old son who fervently believed they needed to set their neighbors "straight" about who to vote for in the presidential election.
communicative manner, but most textbooks don't encourage it. So students talk about their favorite hobbies, sports or food, but that kind of "small talk" doesn't carry a person very far in the real world. What I found is that students have a lot to say, but are insecure in their English skills, so even if we find a topic they want to talk about, they freeze. That's where the conversation café methods really came in to play for me.