Nominate the participants and their roles. Don’t force or push a workshop. Let it flow, let it pause, it doesn’t need talking and noise all the time. Quiet periods are important for reflection. The workshop host should ask provocative questions, and draw drawings that help people envision and visualise what they are thinking. If you ask the right questions and give permission, it’s universal that people step in. No matter where you are on the globe.

Even a very basic diagram of what you think people were talking about, some circles, some boxes, some arrows and a bit of text helps people to think in a more complex way — if you try to understand and to reconstruct what people try to say you can totally amaze them and get their full attention. Use a canvas as big as possible.
Try to entertain with joy, work has gotten too serious the last few years. You can learn more about a person in an hour of play than a year of conversation (Jodi Engelberg). Qualitative collaborative work and dialogues help you to create communities and to focus on the mission — to move the state of the world.

Key takeaways:

• Create an open space with a good energy flow, away from technology and catering tools
• A scribe should be placed somewhere where he/she is visible so that the participants have access to him/her and keep focused on the scribing
• In a workshop with less participants, try to split and distribute the role so that everybody gets involved in the conversation
• Don’t force or push a workshop, quiet sessions are needed for reflection
• Ask the right questions and give permission, then people step in, it’s universal
• Motivate and amaze the audience by giving them attention with your drawings
• Try to act with joy and entertaining elements to make hard topis more easily accessible

Listen to what Alicia Bramlett ( The Value Web/ Art All Along) says: “As a scribe I need the right tools, to have great markers, to have great pens, a great surface to write on, because my job is listening and i can’t have any distration because my pen isn’t working or the surfaces falling off or sliding around. Having a strong environment and the right tools in my hand which sets my mind free to listen.”