I'm afraid I'll look stupid. I'm afraid I'll be withdrawn and passive. Characteristics of Initial Stage Silence and awkwardness. Confusion about what everybody is supposed to be doing. Storytelling, a tendency to talk about others and focus on people and situations outside of the group.
Central issue is trust vs. mistrust.
Testing of each other and the leaders. Requests for greater leader involvement. Cocktail conversations, safe levels of conversation. Vying for informal leadership. As leaders, share your thoughts about where the group is at, how it is progressing, ways the group might be getting stuck, etc.