1. Start by clarifying what the overall objectives for the Dialoogle course are. What do the group and you as a facilitator need to know?
2. Consider the background of the participants and adjust language and questions accordingly.
3. Compare the different types exercises and their qualities: a one-on-one conversation is a great icebreaker; several small teams may enhance the competitive spirit; changing locations from indoors to outdoors may give variation and new inspiration. There are a lot of possibilities.
4. Have an icebreaker exercise ready. This is a good idea if the participants don’t know each other. For instance, ask the participants to choose a picture card to introduce themselves from.
5. Adjust the expectations for the day by asking: “If we only had one hour at our disposal, what would be the main outcome you hope to take with you?”
6. Remember to ask open questions that generate discussion.
7. Ask the participants to find picture cards that illustrate their individual strengths in relation to the challenge at hand. For this to succeed, it is important that they know each other.
8. Rather than dwelling on past problems, get the participants to think positively, look forward and seek active solutions.
9. Pitch ideas with picture cards, for instance: “What is your first thought when you see this random picture?”. Show more cards and place them next to each other, so you can combine and prioritize the ideas during the course.
10. You can clarify replies and make ideas more concrete with a question like: “Can you give me an example?”
11. Involve the whole group continuously with questions like: “What do you think about this?”
12. Circumvent problems that obstruct the larger picture with hypothetical questions like: “What if this issue didn’t exist?”
13. Use scaling exercises to prioritize ideas that are difficult to compare, for instance: “Choose three ideas and prioritize them.” Develop the replies by asking: “You have put this idea in third place – what would make it the best idea?”
14. End the session by going back to the initial expectations of the course by asking: “Which picture card describes best what you take with you from this exercise?”

In Dialoogle´s books about Visual Inovation, you can get more inspiration for innovative processes from start to finish in schools and corporations.