The Discussion Book: Fifty Great Ways to Get People Talking - Paperback

by Stephen D. Brookfield (Author), Stephen Preskill (Author)

Build teams, make better decisions, energize groups, and think out of the box

Do you need a resource that you can pull out of your pocket to liven up meetings, trainings, professional development, and teaching? The fifty easily applied techniques in this timely manual spur creativity, stimulate energy, keep groups focused, and increase participation. Whether you're teaching classes, facilitating employee training, leading organizational or community meetings, furthering staff and professional development, guiding town halls, or working with congregations, The Discussion Book is your go-to guide for improving any group process.

Each of the concrete techniques and exercises is clearly described with guidance on selection and implementation, as well as advice on which pitfalls to avoid. All of the techniques:

• Offer new ways to engage people and energize groups
• Get employees, students, colleagues, constituents, and community members to participate more fully in deliberative decision-making
• Encourage creativity and openness to new perspectives
• Increase collaboration and build cohesive teams
• Keep groups focused on important topics and hard-to-address issues

Derived from the authors' decades of experience using these exercises with schools, colleges, corporations, the military, social movements, health care organizations, prisons, unions, non-profits, and elsewhere, The Discussion Book will help you guide discussions that matter.

Back Jacket

BUILD TEAMS, MAKE BETTER DECISIONS, ENERGIZE GROUPS, AND THINK OUT OF THE BOX

"Brookfield and Preskill's discussion techniques eliminate classroom power dynamics and provide equal opportunity for both introverts and extroverts to fully engage in the learning. These techniques will transform how you lead, manage, teach, and facilitate."
--Ruth Gotian, Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program, Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Sloan-Kettering Hospital

"The authors have created a powerful compendium of discussion-based activities that can be used in classrooms at all levels. This book has not only become a staple in my teaching process, but just as importantly in my personal life. The Discussion Book is an important read for educators, students, and groups looking to engage in democratic action in all facets of life."
--Jarritt Sheel, adjunct professor of liberal arts and sciences, Guttman Community College - CUNY

"The Discussion Book is an ideal text for the work in transformative learning used in the leadership seminars of United Methodist Women. With this book, adult leaders and learners are provided 'access' to the teaching skills of Brookfield and Preskill. What a gift!"
--Faye Wilson, director, GeeFaye Associates, and transformative learning trainer with United Methodist Women

"This book launches my practice into a world of possibilities. The candidness of the format and the detailing of how, why, and where each technique will work (or not work) gives me a brilliantly clear sense of each technique's potential to create effective, empowering learning experiences."
--Bobbi Smith, anti-racism consultant and educator, British Columbia

"Brookfield and Preskill's work inspired a Marine Corps-wide movement for more inclusive and participatory training and education. The tools, techniques, and procedures found in this text reach audiences well beyond the typical classroom."
--Captain Shawn McCann, US Marine Corps, Train the Trainer School

Author Biography

STEPHEN D. BROOKFIELD is the John Ireland Endowed Chair at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is the author of numerous books including The Skillful Teacher, Teaching for Critical Thinking, and Powerful Techniques for Teaching Adults, from Jossey-Bass.

STEPHEN PRESKILL is professor emeritus at Wagner College in Staten Island, New York. He is the author, with Stephen Brookfield, of Discussion as a Way of Teaching and Learning as a Way of Leading, both from Jossey-Bass.