Download now: Enjoy a democratic conversation

Dialogue on democratic talks

Download instruction and dialogue cards: Here is a tool you can use when you want to focus on ‘democratic conversation’ in a way that makes use of the conversation itself. The exercise can be used with groups, with individuals or with oneself.

The tool consists of 50 questions, which are placed on separate pages. They can be printed individually or eg 4 on each A4 page and then cut to size. In this way, the democratic conversation is spread out over 50 ‘points of view’. This makes it easy to talk about.

A democratic dialogue takes place between two or more parties who, with the same or different views, either reach a common position or accept that one cannot be reached. But there is more to this type of conversation.

When many people have talked for eg 10 minutes, the ‘leader’ can pick up the ‘discoveries’ and make them clear to everyone.

Remember that the 50 questions should be sorted according to the participants and the situation at hand. Maybe some questions need to be removed.

Method 1: Distribute one question to each participant and ask them to find a partner who asks each other their questions and listens carefully to the answers. When they have heard both answers in a couple, they raise their questions and find a new partner. The method can be repeated five to seven times.

Method 2: Distribute two questions to each participant and ask them to find a partner who asks each other 1 of their questions (choose one or the other) and listens carefully to the answers. When they have heard both answers in a couple, they exchange questions and hand them up in the air and find a new partner. The method can be repeated five to seven times.

Method 3: Distribute one question to each participant and ask them to find a partner who reads their own question aloud and answers it before the partner also answers. Once they have heard all the answers in a couple, they swap questions and raise their questions in the air and find a new partner. The method can be repeated five to seven times.