ABSTRACT
For the facilitator to be able to hear what is being said, there is an obvious need to elicit contributions in the first place. This is another key skill area and is by no means as straightforward and easy as at first it seems. First there is ability to ask open questions, and to do this normally and naturally. People are taught on training courses value of open questions, but few ever put the learning to any use. Asking open questions is fundamental to the role because it is crucial to establishing where the customer is coming from and where he or she wants to get to. Over 80 per cent of all communication is non-verbal and so if facilitators are not actively working in this area they are seriously limiting their potential effectiveness. There are a number of very useful skills that can be used, such as building in regular non-verbal approbation while the other person is speaking.
