Conversation Guide
Tampa Bay, December 2, 2000
Before you begin your dialogue, take a moment and quickly review
these tips for conducting an appreciative interview. Ø ENGAGE YOUR
CURIOSITY. Use this opportunity to get to know a colleague in a
different way. Be genuinely curious about their experiences, thoughts
and feelings.
- KEEP THE FOCUS ON THE INTERVIEWEE. Let the interviewee
tell his/her story. Don't tell yours or give your opinion about
their experiences.
- DO FIRST TWO QUESTIONS BEFORE SWITCHING. Use the question
form as your script. Please read the questions as written.
- HELP YOUR PARTNERS TO EXPAND THEIR STORIES, TO GIVE AS MUCH
DETAIL AS POSSIBLE. Some will take longer to think about their
answers, allow for silence. If someone doesn't want to, or can't
answer any of the interview questions, that's okay; let it go and
move on to the next question.
- VERY IMPORTANT - PLEASE TAKE NOTES OF KEY PHRASES AND
MEMORABLE QUOTES. We will need these notes in work we may do
together later.
- PACE YOURSELF. EACH QUESTION SHOULD TAKE ABOUT 5 MINUTES.
- HAVE FUN!
RESPONSIBLE IMAGE MAKING: THE FIRST STEP FORWARD
Giving wings to new, generative, responsible stories that make our
world.
We are meeting today to nurture and reflect on Responsible Image
Making: The First Step Forward. This is part of the Images and Voices
of Hope global initiative that was launched in New York City in June
1999 and started in May, 2000 in Tampa Bay.
During this conversation we want to explore the following three
questions: (a) What are the emerging, generative stories, images and
messages for our community and the world? (b) What role can we play in
creating and giving wings to these new images and voices of
possibility, responsibility and hope? (c) How might a living dialogue
such as Images and Voices of Hope ignite dramatic social change?
On the following pages you will find a set of questions which
invite you and your table partners to reflect and look with an
appreciative eye to the topic that we will address during this
Conversation.
The questions are offered to spark and nurture your dialogue. Give
your partners your full attention and draw out the richness of the
stories and images that he or she shares with you. After the first
interview, simply thank your partner, and shift roles.
PLEASE TAKE NOTES IN THE SPACE PROVIDED, BECAUSE YOU WILL BE
INVITED TO SHARE EITHER YOUR STORY OR A STORY THAT WAS SHARED IN YOUR
GROUP IN THE PLENARY SESSION.
1. Think of a time when you were involved in the creation or
dissemination of a story or an image that inspired others- a story
that was told with responsibility that gave you and others a new sense
of possibility and hope. Please tell me this story or image. What
impact did it have on you? How did this story or image affect you or
change the way you experience the world?
2. What values and dreams inspired you to create or choose this
particular contribution to your community and the world?
GROUP DISCUSSION
THE POTENTIAL OF IMAGES AND VOICES OF HOPE TO BRING ABOUT SOCIAL
CHANGE
We are responsible for our words, images and sounds and in turn they
create our world. Through stories and the language we use we construct
and share the images and voices that will guide our actions. We
believe in the potential of a public dialogue to create new guiding
stories for our community and the world, and through the sharing of
these stories to bring about social change
3. Imagine a future world that is guided by generative, responsible
stories, images and voices. Imagine a year 2010 in which the once
perhaps fragile, emerging stories for your community or profession are
now in full bloom. Imagine a year 2010 in which the media describes a
world that in many ways is in the process of being "reborn."
What is your image of a future world that is engaged in a discourse of
possibility with responsibility? When you focus on your future
community or profession, what will people experience as new and
better?
REFLECTION 4. Looking back from the year 2010, how over the last
ten years have you been playing a part in bringing about this
remarkable shift in society?
THE FIRST STEP FORWARD
Now looking back over what we have discussed this morning, please
select one step forward that you personally are willing to take in the
next two to three months to bring about this change, write it on a
note to yourself, put it in the envelope you have been given and
address it to yourself. No one will see it but you because it is
simply a commitment from yourself to yourself about your intention.
Seal the envelope and leave it on your table. We will stamp it and
mail it to you in January as your personal reminder to yourself.
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