Talk:Speaking Circles

Spam?
I am mystified as to how an editor of your experience could write Speaking Circles and not make the slightest attempt to show that the subject is notable. &mdash; RHaworth (Talk | contribs) 12:11, 29 July 2008 (UTC)


 * No mystery - just a two year old son needing attention and forcing me to either save the stub as written for further work later, or to abandon it. Some of us have lives beyond Wikipedia! Hugh Mason 21:05, 29 July 2008 (UTC)


 * For the record, I have no connection to Speaking Circles International whatsoever but believe the subject is notable enough for inclusion because it appears to have been independently endorsed by informed medical sources to which I have provided references. Accordingly, I have removed the speedy deletion notice but naturally I remain open to discussion regarding notability and invite other authors to expand this article. Hugh Mason 18:40, 31 July 2008 (UTC)  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Infilms (talk • contribs)

Comments on stub from Speaking Circles International
After posting this stub, I received email from Lee Glickstein, the Founder and President of Speaking Circles International, making some suggestions for minor corrections and additional links to independent sources. In the interests of NPOV I cut and paste those suggestions below to put them on the record and I invite other editors to make their own call on my interpretation of them in the rewrite I intend to make shortly. Hugh Mason (talk • contribs 06:00, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

1. Second paragraph under "Relational Presence" -- Delete "techniques." Delete "inward toward themselves." 2. Under "Training Methods" -- First bullet: "Circle meetings last no more than two and a half hours, usually including a tea break." 3. Second bullet: "In a brief introduction, the facilitator reminds participants of the groundrules described below, then every person present stands up in front of the group for a 3-minute "check in" turn, though there is no requirement to speak at all." 4. Third bullet: "In a second go around, each group member takes a five 5-minute turn "on stage" (again with no requirement to speak), cued to finish in 30 seconds when the facilitator raises his or her finger." 5. Fourth bullet: Change "not speaking" to remaining still. 6. Fifth bullet: "Listeners give positive brief appreciations of the essential qualities they experienced in the person." In the next sentence, change "discussing the speaker's life" to mentioning the person's content, and change "talk" and "talks" to turn and turns. 7. Six bullet: Change "speakers" to turns, and change "talks" to turns. 8. Seventh bullet: Delete "do not take notes." Change "talks" to turns. 9. Eighth bullet: "Certified Facilitators of Speaking Circles offer the option to videotape each person's turns,"... At end of sentence, change "talk in" to turn in. 10. Last bullet: Change "spoken" to had their turns up front.

11. Speaking Circles sets natural tone for open arms, The Japan Times Online:

12. Just Don't Say "Um" - Article in the San Francisco Chronicle:

13. Another independent British website re Speaking Circles re speech therapy:

14. This article explores the effectiveness of Speaking Circles in prison - Staying in Focus, The Focusing Institute Newsletter, VOLUME VI, NUMBER 2, APPLICATIONS OF FOCUSING, MAY 2006, Focusing in Prison, By Gena Corea:

15. Speaking Circles is a resource listed among others in this directory - Turning to One Another, World Conversation Initiatives:

16. Web article - Scarier Than Surgery: Public Speaking - MSN Encarta:

17. Global Ideas Bank:

18. Speaking Circles Applied to Adolescents, Leslie Medine and Edd Conboy: