Repeat, Reword, Say Why

EXERCISE PREP

Participants should pair up and find an area to work together.  Online this can be done in breakout rooms.  If you are working with an uneven number, it is okay to have one group of three.

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This exercise has three stages.

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STAGE ONE

In the first stage each participant takes a turn sharing a true opinion that they hold.  Once the first person has shared an opinion, the second person repeats that opinion as close to word for word as they can. Encourage participants to capture and repeat every nuance of the original statement.  If person one says, “I have thought since childhood that golf isn’t really a sport,” then it is not enough to say, “Golf isn’t really a sport.”  Participant 2 needs to also capture that they “have thought” this “since childhood”.

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STAGE TWO

In the second stage each participant takes a turn sharing a new opinion.  Participant 2 will repeat the opinion, only now they will do so in their own words.

 

In this stage, “I have thought since childhood that golf isn’t really a sport,” may become “As far back as I can remember, golf has always seemed like something other than a sport to me.”  Again, any words are fine, but all elements of the original statement need to be included in the reworded version

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STAGE THREE

In the third stage each participant takes a turn sharing a new opinion. Now we switch from restating to supporting.

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Participant 2 will agree with the initial statement by saying “Yes,” then restate the original statement, then say “Because” and finally conclude their participation by offering a reason in support of that statement.

 

So, in response to, “I have thought since childhood that golf isn’t really a sport,” Participant 2 might say something like, “Yes, you’ve always thought golf isn’t really a sport because other sports require much more physical activity, youthful vigor and conditioning.”

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As an added challenge you might ask that the “because” be connected to a reason uncovered through empathetic listening.