Silently raise one hand to bring the group’s attention back to the facilitator after an engaging activity done in pairs or small groups. Effective when the facilitator practices “wait time,” modeling warm silence and a raised hand until everyone has stopped talking and has raised their own hand.
When and Why
Back to topA well-practiced and consistently implemented attention signal is essential in group-learning situations. Whether adults or students, any gathering of engaged participants is going to be deeply immersed in meaningful, task-oriented conversations during which you will need to get their attention. This signal works well because it is respectful of each person’s sense of agency while creating an opportunity for group collaboration. It engages participants in a multi-sensory experience: moving their hands up in the air, seeing others raise their hands, and hearing the gradually increasing silence in the room.
How to Facilitate
Back to top- Reflect on the current contexts, demographics of participants, and the purpose of this engagement, to determine the group’s readiness to participate in using this signal.
- When you introduce the signal for the first time to a group, explain that there will be times when everyone is talking and working and you need to get their attention. They can help each other get in and out of lively conversations seamlessly and quickly by following these two steps. When they see you raise your hand, they’ll have two jobs. One is to raise their hand, too. That gives others around them a visual cue that they should quietly look your way. The other is to bring conversations to a close. That will help the room quickly become silent so everyone can hear the next direction or announcement. After the first time you use this attention signal with a group, ask them what they noticed about the process. Any surprises? Any insights?
- MODEL: Raise your hand in the air and wait for everyone else in the room to raise their own hand and be silent before you proceed with directions or information.
- If you consistently wait for complete silence, the group learns your expectation and will become quiet more quickly after a few experiences.
- If you begin to talk while some participants are still talking, they will believe that it’s okay for some people to continue conversing and are much less likely to meet your stated expectation for the attention signal. (It’s not necessary that every hand go up, but it is necessary that all are quiet.)
- Refrain from restating your expectations or from singling out participants with requests that they become quiet. Let your silent raised hand be the only signal they have to attend to, and soon it will become the only signal they need!