How to handle a “talker”

• Overtalkers are often “not heard” at home now or they grew up in a home where they felt their voice didn’t matter. Because of this, it can actually be really helpful to engage with a “talker” by reflecting back what they say, asking clarifying questions, and making eye contact. Help them wrap up by asking questions like “What are the next steps?” “What is the #1 action item you need to take after our call today?” If you need to set a time limit, it’s ok to interrupt! “Let me interrupt because I want to make sure everyone gets time to talk. I need to wrap up in 2 minutes to move to the next person, so what action do you want to take…?”

How to handle a quiet group

• If you have a quiet group who is still showing up, it’s not because you’re not a bad group leader, it’s because they need a little help opening up! Gaining trust is the first step to getting your members to talk more, and vulnerability can jump start this process. It can be helpful to bank a few topics or stories to speak on if you’re hearing crickets, so keep a running list (I love the Notes App, but whatever works for you!) of potential topics on hand! Here are a couple of examples:
  • You heard a podcast on controlling your reality, and it made you realize that while you can’t control what is happening TO you, you can control your thoughts and your thoughts control everything else. You give an example of how this showed up in your own life recently and it made you think of the group because of XYZ, so you wanted to share. Then, ask how this resonates with other members or if they have thoughts that came up.
  • You read an article about the difference between women and men’s body compositions and it was interesting to hear the differences as well as how we as women cannot follow traditional “weight loss” guidelines that have been set by men because our bodies are different. 

How to handle a topic that shouldn’t be discussed in an M3 group

• “Let’s discuss this topic briefly after the call today so that I can help send you to the right place/connect you with the person you need.” (and if you don’t feel confident here, you can defer and let them you’re going to talk to the team for additional resources)

• How to handle a topic that is outside of the scope of the person leading the group
  • Defer to the team. Let them know you’ll be checking with Megan for additional resources or an answer. 
• There might be a situation where a leader needs to share with the MM team something that happened.
  • If this occurs, Slack Helena and Cierra.