Leading a Small Group 101

Icebreakers:

• Consider doing some of these small group icebreakers during the first few sessions to allow for good personal connection.
• Ask everyone to tell the group what animal they most identify with and why. Encourage them to consider the personalities, mannerisms, etc. of animals as they consider.
• Have everyone bring a visual aid to tell something about their background, interests or dreams.

Nametags:

• Essential if you have people new to your group.
• Can aid in discussion in case you blank on someone's name.
• Removes awkwardness when someone in the group can't remember everyone's name.

Preparation:

• As the leader, make sure you’ve looked through the material ahead of time.
• If you’re familiar with the material, you can more easily guide the discussion. For instance, highlighting certain questions or skipping questions depending on the discussion of your group.
• Consider what translation of the Bible will be best for your group.

Guiding the discussion:

• Pause after asking a question to give your group time to process. Silence is not as awkward as it feels to you! If no one has an answer after a few minutes, restate the question in a different way. (For the “any other thoughts” type of questions, it’s okay if no one answers. Just move on.)
• Ask follow-up questions if necessary, to clarify. "Can you share more about that?"
• Consider asking specific people to answer, especially if there are some who remain quiet most of the time or if you have one person who dominates the discussion.
• If someone has an off-the-wall answer or says something untrue, follow-up by asking others in the group to share their thoughts. Or consider asking the person more about their answer. “Tell me more about what you're thinking.”
• If someone asks a question completely off topic, consider setting up a different time to discuss it and politely move on to the next question or section.
• As the leader, be sure you are not chiming in too early with your thoughts. This is a time of exploration and discovery for each member. Keep your answers short and allow the group members to participate.
• It’s ok to not have an answer to every question. Options for handling this situation may include:
  • Asking the group to if they would like to answer. "Anyone else have thoughts about that?"
  • Assign the person who asked to do some research before the next session.
  • Set up a meeting with that individual to dig further.
  • Consider asking a mentor or other leader for input then report at the next session.

Rules of Thumb:

• Listen more than you speak.
• Respect each person for their thoughts. Remember this is a time of discovery.
• Silence often means people are processing or thinking; give them time to think.
• Redirect questions as needed.
• Not every question needs to be answered every session—allow for the Holy Spirit to lead.

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