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Exercises/Relationship Mapping/Three Levels of Conversation
Relationship Mapping

Three Levels of Conversation

Do you engage in conversation at level oneh tactical, efficient and static? Or do you move up to level three where relationships can co-create formerly impossible solutions. Follow 3 steps to help every group move up the quality of conversation ladder

5 to 15 minutesTIME
Pairs, Small group (4-8)GROUP SIZE
ActiveENERGY
In personSETTING
High cognitive loadCOGNITIVE LOAD
Strengthens Network Design This relationship mapping exercise strengthens Network Design, one of the eight Gathering Effectiveness pillars.

How to run it

  1. 5 % of you have already made up your mind if you are going to listen to me!
  2. These parts are much faster than the rest of our brain and decide how we respond to smiles, frowns and more before you even know anything about me!
  3. Ask participants to join their assigned People Science team focus of teams should be similarities for ease
  4. Ask participants to discuss the weather and the tactical reasons of why they are together for the■ JDWKHULQJ In this phase, people tell and ask
  5. This is generally an area of low or unknown■ trust and most people start as resistors or skeptics
  6. Ask participants to take the conversation to level two
  7. People advocate and inquire versus tell and ask
  8. They try to build consensus and compromise and negotiate
  9. Most people here have conditional trust and are still in the wait and see mentality
  10. Does anyone have any reservations 418 with this?
Live facilitator

Run this exercise live

The facilitator console stays in this browser. Its QR handoff is a short-lived participant snapshot containing only public exercise instructions, phase, prompt, and timer state.

Prompts to use +

5 % of you have already made up your mind if you are going to listen to me!

These parts are much faster than the rest of our brain and decide how we respond to smiles, frowns and more before you even know anything about me!

Ask participants to join their assigned People Science team focus of teams should be similarities for ease

Ask participants to discuss the weather and the tactical reasons of why they are together for the■ JDWKHULQJ In this phase, people tell and ask

This is generally an area of low or unknown■ trust and most people start as resistors or skeptics

Ask participants to take the conversation to level two

Run this with your AI assistant +

Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Adapt this exercise for my exact room. Exercise: Three Levels of Conversation. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: 5 % of you have already made up your mind if you are going to listen to me!; These parts are much faster than the rest of our brain and decide how we respond to smiles, frowns and more before you even know anything about me!; Ask participants to join their assigned People Science team focus of teams should be similarities for ease; Ask participants to discuss the weather and the tactical reasons of why they are together for the■ JDWKHULQJ In this phase, people tell and ask. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.

Origin unverified

  • Where we observed it: The strongest current observations come from Relationship Makers Handbook; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including Relationship Makers Handbook.)
  • What that means: we track where an exercise has been observed in public sources. We do not claim to know who created it, or how popular it is.
  • No efficacy claims: appearing in this library is not a claim that the exercise is proven effective. Facilitator judgment and context decide whether it works for a given room.
  • Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.

Pairs well with