Tweet the message! In several facilitated sessions, when participants work in small groups and report back to the entire group, I have asked them to summarize the key message from their discussion in a tweet. My only rule is to keep the tweet to 140 characters.
The summary tweet is met with great enthusiasm! Participants respond much more positively than when they are asked to write a summary statement about their discussion. It’s a twist that is fun and motivational and even a bit challenging as some people know nothing about Twitter.
I usually hear participants say, “What fun!” or “How do we do this?” For the participants that are apprehensive, I find that other group members help them to get into the spirit of the tweet. Age makes no difference. I heard a 16-year-old girl say she had never tweeted and I have had an 80-year-old woman immediately write a tweet.
I have used summary tweets in Open Space Technology, World Café, Technology of Participation and Appreciative Inquiry processes.
Here are tweets from a community development session Connecting Silos: It Takes a Region.
Folks like ourselves need to take a second look at people in community to tap unused resources.
Ask how you can make a difference as an agent of change. #community
Training is necessary for community leaders to move us forward.
And, here’s a few from students at a high school Leadership workshop to foster a welcoming and inclusive community.
Creating opportunities for new people to feel welcome. #committee #survey #clubs
Incorporating all ages from teens to seniors #welcoming #friendly #students #respect #participate #volunteer
Tweet the message! It’s a way of encouraging people to think differently.
My facilitation blog question is: How have you, or could you, use tweets when you facilitate?