Moderator Training

• Secure Funding
  
• Make Lodging Arrangements for Trainers
  
• Make Travel Arrangements for Trainers
• Reserve Space for Training
• Buy Food (breakfast, lunches)
• Contact Moderators (make sure everyone is coming!!)

SDCN requires that SD Moderators undergo a 2-day Moderator Workshop 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 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 facilitation 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.

What does Moderator Training Cover?

• Active listening  
• Asking questions that get participants to “dig deeper”
• Understanding the 5 Stages of Sustained Dialogue
  
• 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
• Debriefing: summarizing the dialogue and agenda setting for the next dialogue
• Preparing for a dialogue: identifying likely issues, good questions, appropriate activities and homework assignments
•  Moderator Tools, Tricks & Tips: 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
• Choosing good dialogue spaces