Skill Development Activity

Engaging your Audience

How Do You Engage an Audience in a Discussion?
You will be meeting with various members of our community not simply to persuade them. You want to engage in a discussion with them.

What makes a discussion inviting?

What makes you want to participate in a discussion?
Elements of an good (inviting) discussion:
o Open ended questions create a discussion that can be carried on, and it creates passion on the topic
o Find people who develop a trusting, positive environment, where you feel safe to speak freely
o A topic that means something to you and affects your life is important and necessary
o Correct information that can be gathered will help to persuade people of your true topic
How would you rephrase the following questions to invite more discussion with someone? How do you get people to say more?

ORIGINAL IMPROVED VERISON

Did you like the movie we just watched? Which information from the movie we just watched was found useful to you?

Did you like the characters? Which characters did you find relatable, if any?

Do you think that it will win an award? If you feel passionately about this movie, which award would you consider recommending it for?

Do you think there was enough action? At which parts did you wish that there was more action?

Would you like to see a sequel? How many more movies would you like to see in the future, based off of this movie?

If someone, perhaps a stakeholder, expressed interest in your passion project, but didn’t know how to engage with you, how
could you engage them? What strategies could you use? What questions could you ask them to invite them to join a
discussion?

o Our project is based off of personal opinion, so we will use pathos persuasion to appeal emotionally to our audience. We will
bring up the fact that our school is missing something, and letting them know that we should be scared about what memories
we are making, and the example that we are setting for our future. This will set feelings of longing, anxiousness, and
hopefulness, inviting any people to discuss changes that we could be willing to make.

What are some ways to handle questions that you don’t know the answer to?
o We can use questions that require opinion, in order to spark a discussion.