Hosting Remote Crescendo Conversations

Setting a code of conduct. When facilitating discussions, you have the responsibility to create a safe space for all participants to feel they have a voice, are being respected and respectful. This can be done by identifying a code of conduct with all participants at the beginning of an event. This way if someone does not follow the code of conduct, you always have something to reference back to. See examples in the Crescendo Conversation Guides Below.

As a facilitator focus on continuing the conversation. Encourage participants to respond to each other instead of directly everything towards you, the facilitator of the conversation. If you find comments are being directed towards you consider asking participants these questions.

• What does everyone else think of that?

• That’s a really good point can you explain more?

Send out a question ahead of time. To break the ice and encourage conversations from the beginning, send out the first question in the guides found below, and ask people when they join your remote meeting to post their response in the chat or through anonymous portals.

Have a place for written comments and anonymous questions. Remind participants at the beginning that they can contribute to the conversation by typing in the chat in the meeting or if they prefer to stay anonymous they can ask questions through an anonymous platform such as WooClap or Sli.do.

Test that everything is working ahead of time. If this is your first time hosting a Crescendo Conversation remotely make sure you test ahead of time that the content sound works through your video software to reduce any hiccups during the conversation. We recommend having a volunteer have a meeting with you beforehand and present as you would to test that everything is working properly.

Review all the content in advance. Some DEI content can be hard to digest. Make sure you review all content ahead of time to make sure it is appropriate for your workplace. When advertising the virtual event make sure everyone is aware of the topic and any trigger warnings.

Create a policy for all cameras on. It is so important to make sure when talking about these topics, the space is safe for participants to share their experiences and questions without judgement. This is directly related to trust. By creating a cameras on policy for the session it can help build that trust and lead to more authentic conversations.

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