How to brainstorm

Brainstorming is a great way to get a group involved with expressing their ideas towards a topic. When brainstorming we must first be mindful of others, before anything gets explained or discussed it is good practice to always let the audience know that if at any point someone does not feel comfortable participating in the brainstorms topics, they are free to exit the brainstorm at any moment. One good way to prepare for the brainstorm is to have some examples of methods the audience can apply when brainstorming, not everyone works the same way, so this can help them explore and possibly learn a new method. Be sure to have a time limit for everyone to be able to participate in the brainstorm there might be a great idea being due to a shy or timid person. Lets give everyone an opportunity to present if possible ; if the audience is a big group and the time frame we have is short for the activity break up the group into smaller groups and have one representative for the group but everyone must present their ideas to the representative and the group will decide what gets finalized. During the presentations, lets be respectful to the speaker, the room must be completely quiet and hold all questions to the end of the class. No outbursts. No criticism. No negative remarks. We must be cognizant that tis might be someone's first time speaking in front of a group, lets help them by making them feel at ease and hopefully set a good example that may lead to them gaining confidence. Brainstorming is meant to be for creating ideas and allowing people to express their opinions. There is no right or wrong opinions but the presentation must be respectful to everyone, stay on topic, and respect the time for presentation allotted; when time is up the presentation ends, questions begin, and the next speaker should be getting ready to take the podium. To keep things fun and interesting, while the speakers change and get ready to present, you can allow a small period of time for the audience to quietly interact with their neighbors and discuss freely what they think about the speakers presentation, if anyone has questions for the speaker they can ask during this time. Lastly, to keep the audience engaged and alert, its always good to mix groups up and have them form a new group, still speaking about the same topics but this will bring fresh sets of ideas and point of views to a possible dry group. An example of this would be, at the beginning of the class give everyone a number between 1-5 and start back at once after 5 (seat 1 = 1, seat 5 = 5, seat 6 = 1 seat 7 = 2 etc.), have each 1-5 group gather since they will already be sitting next to each other, then when it comes time to mix them up, you can announce that everyone with the same number must get up and go to their respective numbers (all the 1's gather with the other 1's, 2's with 2's etc.), thus forming new groups. Lastly, make sure whoever is in charge of maintaining good order within the whole audience, is able to speak in front of an audience while having knowledge about the topics being discussed, it can be a manager or teacher, or subject matter expert.

John Spencer. (2016, June 26). A Better Way to Brainstorm: How to Get Students to Generate Original Ideas [Video file].

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