The Language of Facilitation

There is such a thing as the ‘language of facilitation’. This kind of language is unique to facilitation and the facilitator uses it to move the conversations ahead without controlling the heading of the conversation. The structure of the language is constructed in a way that promotes the flow of ideas between conversationalists without letting the psychodynamics get in the way. The language is authentic and promotes authenticity within the conversational group since it communicates the exact meaning that does not come across as been critical and judgemental.

There are several language techniques in facilitation, in fact there are eight, but I will share the most popular and well known here – Paraphrasing.

Paraphrasing involves a restatement, using your own words, of what another person has conveyed.

Statement made by a conversationalist:

“I have just bought ten tickets for Ironman – The Movie and they cost S$10.00 each. Could you pay me?

A paraphrased statement looks like this:

“Do I understand you correctly that you have gotten the tickets to Ironman – The Movie for us and you want me to pay for my share now?”

The Science of Paraphrasing

By deconstructing a typical paraphrased statement created in a facilitative mode, we will notice that it is not purely just a description of the original statement in your own words. It is framed in three unique ways, which gives this language technique its character:

• It is worded and sounded tentatively when introduced into the conversation.
• While the paraphrased statement need not necessarily be a question, it does present an invitation to your counterpart so that he/she could enrich this piece of the conversation.
• It also provides your counterpart an access into your cognitive and affective perceptions to the original statement, thereby giving him/her the springboard from which he/she could enrich the conversation.

So, it is not surprising to see the headers of most paraphrased statements begin like this:

“Am I right to say that….”

“Are you saying….”

“What I’m hearing you say is….”

Paraphrasing becomes even more important when the conversation gets stuck or turns heated. The facilitator and his paraphrasing technique becomes a buffer between conversationalists, which serve as an assurance that ideas are still being heard and as a damper to prevent the conversation from spinning out of hand.

This article is written by Anthony Mok on 29 April 2008.
Copyright 2008. Anthony Mok. All Rights Reserved.