Moderator Training

Moderator Training

Student Leader Responsibilities

 

- Secure Funding  (see moderator training section in sample budget)

 

- Make Lodging Arrangments for Trainers

 

- Make Travel Arrangements (if necessary) for Trainers

 

- Reserve Space for Training

 

- Purchase Necessary Supplies (flip chart, markers, nametags, etc)

 

- Buy Food (breakfast, lunches)

 

- Contact Moderators (make sure everyone is coming!!)

SDCN requires that SD Moderators undergo a 2-day Moderator Training by professional SDCN Trainers, either on campus or at IISD’s Washington D.C. office. Sustained Dialogue is an open-ended process, but by no means should it lack structure and focus. Moderator Training, which usually lasts for two days, grounds new and returning moderators in Sustained Dialogue’s 5-stage process and its focus on transforming relationships.


Trainers lead theory and practice sessions on the faciliatation skills required to moderate a dialogue, as well as practical workshops that guide moderators through the logistics of planning the first dialogue meeting and subsequent dialogues. An additional component of Moderator Training focuses on how to go about creating and maintaining a sense of group ownership, cohesion, and enthusiasm, both during and between meetings. 


Click Here for a Sample Agenda (.pdf)
 

 

 

When can Moderator Training take place?

 

It's great to realize that when mod training is really flexible!  Look below:  the dotted lines represent all of the different moments during the group formation process that moderators can be trained.  All you have to do is figure out which is most convenient for you!!

 

 

 

What does Moderator Training Cover?

 

Sessions specifically emphsize:

 

  • Active listening as a moderator


  • Asking questions that get participants to “dig deeper”

 

  • Moderating through the stages

 

  • Recruitment: identifying who should be in the room

 

  • Opening a dialogue: summarizing the previous dialogue’s themes and introducing the agenda set in the previous dialogue

 

  • Closing a dialogue: summarizing the dialogue and agenda setting for the next dialogue

 

  • Preparing for a dialogue: identifying likely issues, good questions, appropriate activities and homework assignments

 

  • Troubleshooting: when dialogue falls flat

 

  • Thinking like a moderator: utilizing the concept of the relationship

 

  • Who’s in the room: knowing your group members

 

  • Working with a co-moderator

 

  • Logistics: dialogue space

 

 

 

 

 
Morgan Mirth
Moderator
School: Dickinson
Year: 2007
Major: Neuroscience, with a Pre-Health focus
"Sustained Dialogue has challenged me to step out of the boundaries set by my own surface assumptions about other people. I have become comfortable talking about issues of race, gender, religion, and the relationships that are encompassed by these issues. Without Sustained Dialogue it would have taken me many more years to arrive where I am today. It has been an amazing experience, and has only fueled my determination in creating an environment where issues can be discussed at the dinner table rather than swept under the rug."


 Interested Students | Interested Administrators | Student Leaders | Dialogue Moderators | Group Participants
Website Development by JDT Technologies