The Focused Conversation Method

The Focused Conversation Method is one of the most important facilitation processes for any facilitators. The process allows the facilitator maintain a conversational focus on a topic with the facilitated while personally remaining content-neutral throughout the facilitated session.

The method, which has four stages, progressively leads the facilitated into a new space of awareness, realisation, learning, and for commitment to action through participation. The method is most useful for causing the facilitated to commit to action without the facilitator coming across as being preachy or instructional to the facilitated.

The Focused Conversation Method has been introduced to many learning communities in many different forms, stages and jargons. However, the root to all these variations can be traced to one of the Institute of Cultural Affairs’ technologies for participation called ORID. ORID stands for:

• Objective Recall



• Reflective Consideration



• Interpretive Analysis



• Decisional Intent

The facilitator begins the session by asking questions to elicit data and information on what is known about the topic. The questions invite the facilitated to participate and share their initial reactions, past experiences, and associations linking other issues to the topic. Usually, the topic is embedded in a stimulus, like a video clip, role play, sound bite, newspaper cutting, or case study, which points the facilitated towards the topic to be discussed.

Following this, the facilitated are encouraged, again through questioning, to considerate the alternative ways to interpret all the information shared and heard, experiences collected, and associations uncovered to form some kind of personal or collective conclusion about the topic. In the process, they gain awareness, realisation and learning. Towards the end, the individual or group makes a decision about how they will respond to the topic.

Let me demonstrate the use of ORID

This is a training video I usually use when I talked about the source of creativity and innovation. Let’s us begin by taking some time watching this short video chip.

Objective Recall – The facilitator asks questions to help the facilitated recall information and details observed and heard from the video clip to re-create and form a collective memory about the event.

• What words or phrases do you recall from the video clip?



• What visual images do you remember?



• What did you observe?



• What did you heard?

Reflective Consideration – Here, the facilitator encourage the facilitated to share their emotional responses and thought associations about the experience they have with the video clip.

• What really frustrated you?



• What was the high-point for you?



• Which part of the video clip makes you excited?



• What do you remember about the reaction from the other participants?



• What past experiences do you recall as you watch the clip?

Interpretive Analysis – The facilitated now thinks about the meaning, value and impact of the issues presented in the event. The purpose is to allow them to put these into perspective.

• What message the video chip attempts to send to you?



• What was the greatest learning for you?



• What was the key insight for you?



• How would you acted differently with this information?

Decisional Intent – In this final step, group or individual conceives a response, in the forms of decisions and actions that are required, and their resolve to see to their implementation.

• What could you do tomorrow to demonstrate that you have internalised the learning gained today?



• What change is needed?



• With whom will you work with to demonstrate your learning?



• With whom will you share the learning gained today?

Preparations for executing ORID are important. Time is usually needed to identify a stimulus that is workable with the topic to be discussed.

In addition, the questions need be developed in advance. I normally create a template to store these questions, which I use to prompt me through the session.

Practice makes perfect. Good luck.

This article was written by Anthony Mok on 14 Aug 2008.

Copyright 2008. Anthony Mok. All Rights Reserved.