Public Listening Project
As heard on Weekend America, the premise of the Public Listening Project:
We have been going regularly to the local train station for almost two years wearing t-shirts bearing questions: one always reads, "What's Your Opinion?" and the other might be, "Should We Have Gone to War?" or some other provocative question.
Such questions are a non-threatening invitation to people who are ready to approach us and share their views on policy issues and how they came to hold them. As we listen with interest and respect, people vent feelings and, then, often become more free to think anew.
People appreciate being listened to without interruption. If their opinion is listened to with respect, then their "suspicion" of talking to someone who may have a differing viewpoint quickly evaporates.
It sounds fascinating from a sociology experiment sort of standpoint. Here's how they do it:
Wearing our t-shirts about once every two weeks, we typically stand in a public area waiting for people to approach us to offer their opinion.
People "select themselves" to talk to us. Once approached, we generally encourage them to discuss their viewpoint as much as they would like to, always listening respectfully, and asking other questions whenever it is appropriate.
Depending on their schedules, people will talk to us for varying lengths of time and usually leave feeling appreciative of the opportunity to have expressed their opinions. They will also almost always talk to us again if they see us another time.
If you saw someone on the street wearing a t-shirt with a provocative question on it, would you approach them? Personally, I'd probably hang back and watch them a bit first, if I had the time. I might think it was some sort of MoveOn initiative or something. Unless it was on a campus, in which case I would probably assume it was somebody's Intro Psych project.
The explainer says they ask other questions when appropriate, but in the interview they said that they generally don't ask very many. They just kind of smile and nod, actively listen, and people will go on and on and on of their own volition.
They also do training, in case you want to employ some of their communication techniques or evern set up your own PLP where you live.
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Public Listening Project.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.swirlspice.com/mt4/mt-tb.cgi/3781
