How to prepare questions for an anecdote circle

From Regional Knowledge Resource Kit

Return to Stage 3 - anecdote circles
Return to "Developing a Regional Knowledge Strategy" Quick Links Page

Background

The guide How to facilitate an anecdote circle already includes questions that have been designed for the Regional Knowledge Strategy process in regional NRM bodies.

However you may also like to:

• add or substitute your own questions to address particular circumstances; or
• run anecdote circles for other purposes, and you would need to develop your own questions for this.

Facilitation level

No facilitation skills are required to craft anecdote circle questions, although experience facilitating groups and eliciting information from people in small groups will help craft good questions.

Objectives

The objective of preparing questions for anecdote circles is to craft good questions that will call forth enthusiastic story-filled responses.

Collecting anecdotes is at the heart of any narrative-based project. Encouraging people to volunteer their much loved stories hinges on creating a safe environment, establishing trust and asking effective questions.

Materials

Pens & paper.

Time

Approx. 1-2 hours.

Directions

Step 1

Confirm the themes of the anecdote-elicitation exercise.

Keep your themes at the forefront of your mind when developing your questions. Aim to develop two or three story questions for each theme.

Step 2

Use the same language as the participants. Phrase the questions in the language of the storytellers. For example, the project objective might be “How do our leaders really operate?”.

Brainstorm the words that people commonly use for leaders in the organisation. This might include roles such as:

Use these words in your questions. You might also brainstorm examples of what you think leaders do in the organisation.

Step 3

Use emotional words in the question.

Eliciting anecdotes rests on the questioner’s ability to help people remember their past. People frequently link past events with strong emotions, and using emotional words helps people to conjure those memories. Ensure that you include both ends of the emotional spectrum in the question so as not to influence the direction people choose to answer. For example, don’t just ask “When have you felt disappointed?”. Rather, ask “When have you felt disappointed or pleasantly surprised?”.

Here are some emotions you can use in your questions – where possible select the more extreme version. Pose these emotions from a personal perspective; for example, try prefacing the questions with a phrase like “When have you felt...?”.

Step 4

Build the question.

People remember events when they can picture an image reminding them of a specific situation. Combine this idea with the suggestion of adding emotion and you have the two building blocks to create good questions.

First start with an image-building phrase:

• “Think about...”
• “Imagine...”
• “If...”
• “Consider...”

For example, ”Think about a time when you were given advice by your manager.”

Add an additional sentence or two to enhance the image:

“This might have been done formally in the office or perhaps outside the formal environment.”

Then add the open question with the emotive words:

“When have you been annoyed, ecstatic or perhaps just surprised by what you were told?”

Notice there is a spectrum of emotions, which increases the chances of a memory being triggered by the question.

Simply asking people to tell stories rarely results in stories being told. In fact people are often confused when you ask for stories, thinking they might have to concoct an event or perhaps demonstrate Hemingway-level storytelling. Consequently, we suggest you avoid the term ‘story’ and use terms like: examples, illustrations, experiences.

Tips

Use ‘when’ and ‘where’ questions. Anecdote's paper How to use stories to size up a situation points out that ‘when’ and ‘where’ questions are more effective in eliciting anecdotes than ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions, which tend to draw out judgements and opinion. When crafting your open questions, put emphasis on the ‘when’ and ‘where’ questions.

Once you have crafted your anecdote-eliciting questions, try them out on a small group to see their response. This can help further develop your story questions as well as helping you understand how to ask them. Having clearly developed and delivered anecdote-eliciting questions can help to take some of the anxiety out of asking the questions.

Applications

Anecdote circles have wide application - for example they could be used with regional landholders or community groups to find out about their experiences with the programs and initiatives of your region.

Return to Stage 3 - anecdote circles
Return to "Developing a Regional Knowledge Strategy" Quick Links Page