How to Host a Community Conversation (IF)

3/14/2025

As the world becomes more divided, involvement in community conversations regarding shared public concerns will become increasingly important to bridge cultural divides. Interactivity Foundation’s “How to Host a Community Conversation” includes three guides on how to organize, facilitate, and participate in community conversations with included checklists to break down and simplify each of the three processes. Participants who use these guides will learn to collaborate with diverse perspectives and form more civically involved communities that are better equipped to face local challenges. There is also a link available where facilitators and participants can fill out a form to share feedback on the resource. Read more in the post below.

Read more about the issue guides...

How to Organize: To organize a discussion, begin by defining the topic and purpose, and find potential partners who will help promote, host, and sponsor the event. Other useful tips for planning your event:

Promote the event via email and social media, ideally 3-5 weeks in advance
Communicate regularly with your venue/host partner to guide setup
Arrive early on the day of and try to start the discussion on time
Create a Facilitation Plan/Use the How to Facilitate guide
End on time, and thank your participants and partners for joining

How to Facilitate: To facilitate effective exploratory discussions, thorough preparation is essential. The discussion’s purpose is to deeply explore complex topics, embracing diverse perspectives and generating alternative approaches, rather than focusing on decision-making.

Aim for 6-10 participants per facilitator to ensure interactivity
Establish clear participation guidelines promoting generosity, bold exploration, and connection. Anticipate various topic dimensions and develop discussion prompts
Craft an outline with segments for introduction, content development, and conclusion

As a facilitator, distinguish your role from a leader or bystander, maintaining an exploratory tone, moderating the discussion’s flow, and helping participants explore without imposing ideas. Encourage participation, foster a positive atmosphere, and manage pace and transitions effectively.

How to Participate: As a participant, your role is to listen actively and make meaningful comments that contribute to exploratory discussion. The goal is to expand the perspectives under consideration and to develop divergent possibilities. Try to explore alternative ideas in a generous and cooperative way.

Resource URL: https://www.interactivityfoundation.org/how-to/how-to-host-a-community-conversation/

About the Interactivity Foundation (IF):
We are the Interactivity Foundation, a non-advocacy and non-partisan operating foundation. We are commonly abbreviated as “IF” in part to convey the core motif of exploring possibilities, to ask, “what if…?” IF has been strengthening democracy through discussion for decades by bringing people together around emerging issues of shared public concern.

We bring people together in meaningful discussions that expand imagination, build social trust, and improve discussion skills necessary for everyday democracy. Our discussion design and resources empower people to practice democratic discussions in communities, classrooms, and workplaces. We envision a future where all people have the opportunity and discussion skills to come together to explore emerging concerns for the purpose of co-imagining pathways forward.