Take the CC Host Quiz!
Do you have all the ingredients?

The Conversation Café Process and Agreements is like a basic cake recipe. It may not be fancy, but it works every time. For a first time conversation host, it's great to know you can cook up a good conversation with a few basic ingredients - a warm welcome, a set of agreements, a simple process, a talking object, a question, a place, a time and attention to everyone having a chance to contribute.

This short self quiz will help you know you have all the ingredients at hand for a delicious Conversation Café. It's a way to check your understanding and pick up details you might have missed the first time through the manual or training. Have fun! And we welcome you as a host for Conversation Cafés and beyond. Select all the answers that apply!

1. The job of the host is to:
   1. run the meeting and keep it on task.
   2. find a place, set a time, invite people, read the agreements, run the process, enjoy.
   3. take careful notes so you can accurately report what happens to your boss.
      
      
2. The best people to invite to a Conversation Café are:
   1. friends.
   2. strangers.
   3. people who agree with you.
   4. people who don't agree with you.
   5. anyone who can keep the agreements and follow the process.
      
      
3. It's good to read the agreements aloud before the conversation so that:
   1. the host makes sure everyone knows he is in charge.
   2. if everyone hears and agrees, everyone is more likely to keep the agreements.
   3. people are so insensitive they need to be taught conversational manners before being allowed to speak.
      
      
4. Acceptance and suspending judgment are important because:
   1. Obnoxious people might come to Conversation Cafés - you need to tell them to be polite!
   2. You might hear something new from someone if you don't judge them.
   3. Everyone feels safer to speak if they know others are suspending judgment.
      
      
5. Open mindedness is important because:
   1. it's good to give people attention even if they are wrong.
   2. everyone has something valuable to say.
   3. every viewpoint contributes to new insights.
      
      
6. Curiosity is important because:
   1. it's good to check if you understand someone before reacting to what they say.
   2. it's actually not important - it's much more important to persuade others of your point of view.
   3. you might find a weak point in someone's argument if you probe a little - then you can attack.
      
      
7. Questioning your own assumptions is important because:
   1. you're so insecure you are sure other people are right and you are wrong.
   2. how will you ever discover something new if your mind is full of what you think you know?
   3. It's impolite to question other's assumptions directly so just act like you are humble.
      
      
8. Sincerity is important because:
   1. people are interested in what YOU think and feel, not what you read in a book.
   2. no one likes to be talked at or lectured.
   3. speaking from the heart moves others to also speak from the heart.
      
      
9. Brevity is important because:
   1. you might be interesting for two minutes but not ten.
   2. everyone needs a chance to speak.
   3. this is called dialogue, not monologue.
      
      
10. A talking object is used because:
    1. it reminds people to listen without feedback to the person speaking.
    2. it reminds the person speaking to "go for honesty and depth, but not "on and on".
    3. people with something to say can pick it up during the open conversation time to indicate, "When you're done, I'm next."
       
       
11. A good question is:
    1. important to answer correctly and concretely by the end of the conversation.
    2. an entry point to lively conversation.
    3. provocative, open, without a right answer, without embedded assumptions.
       
       
12. Paper and pencils are available for everyone because:
    1. there will be a quiz at the end and we all want to get the right answers.
    2. to prepare your next comments while others are speaking.
    3. to jot down distracting thoughts so you return to paying full attention to who is speaking.
       
       
13. The first talking object round includes:
    1. saying your name and perhaps where you are from.
    2. some brief first comments.
    3. the permission to pass if you like, with the option of speaking at the end of the round.
       
       
14. The second talking object round is:
    1. Stupid, can't we just start talking?
    2. A chance to add to your first comments.
    3. A chance to say a new insight based on having heard the first round.
    4. An opportunity to disagree with someone without them being able to argue back.
       
       
15. The host's job in the open conversation time is:
    1. to participate in the conversation.
    2. to listen for and reflect back insights emerging from the conversation.
    3. to gently remind participants of the agreements if someone is consistently breaking them.
    4. to keep the conversation from wandering into interesting related topics because the task is to answer the question correctly and concretely.
    5. to gently redirect the conversation if it is getting argumentative.
    6. to keep time so the final round can start ten minutes before the end time.
       
       
16. The final talking object round is:
    1. a way for participants to feel complete.
    2. a way to hear what people are taking away from the conversation.
    3. a way to signal that the special Conversation Café time is over and people are free to back to judging and arguing if they like.

Answer key: 1) 2; 2) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; 3) 2; 4) 2, 3; 5) 2, 3; 6) 1; 7) 2; 8) 1, 2, 3; 9) 1, 2, 3; 10) 1, 2, 3; 11) 2, 3; 12) 3; 13) 1, 2, 3; 14) 2, 3; 15) 1, 2, 3, 5, 6; 16) 1, 2, 3