Guidelines for Discussion

  1. Only one person should speak at a time. Avoid splitting into separate conversations.
  2. Make sure everybody gets a fair share of opportunities to speak
  3. Avoid any one contribution (other than the introduction) taking a long time. Two minutes might be a good guide for a maximum length any one person should speak.
  4. Try to stay on topic. It's easy to inadvertently head off on a tangent with thoughts like “that reminds me of ...”. It can be hard to bring the discussion back to the topic if it strays too far or for too long.
  5. Avoid personal anecdotes unless they are very short and give an interesting perspective or demonstration of the topic being discussed.
  6. The introductory talk should be around 20 minutes. If it runs beyond 30 minutes we'll need to curtail it so that we can start the general discussion.
  7. Avoid asking questions (other than asking for simple clarifications) or starting discussions during the introduction, as that can make the introduction take much longer and generate confusion about whether we have moved from the introduction to the general discussion. If we each bring a pencil and paper to the meetings, we can note down ideas we want to discuss during the introduction, and come back to them once general discussion starts. If however, anybody simply wants to say things like “Amen sister!” or “Tell it like it is, Bro!” during the intro, probably nobody will mind.
  8. It may help the discussion if the topic starter can pose a number of questions arising from the topic, both in the preparatory materials and at the end of the introductory talk. That may help to focus the discussion and get things moving. In the general discussion the topic starter could move the discussion on from one question, once it has been satisfactorily discussed, by posing the next one.
  9. When a person has something they'd like to say in response to what somebody is currently saying, they can indicate that by briefly holding up a pencil or similar implement (wiggling said implement is optional). We'll try to turn attention to somebody that has done that after the current speaker finishes what they say.
  10. Currently we do not have a formal chair person and it seems to work OK. We'll periodically review how the discussions have been going to see what people think.