Role playing is usually best with informed participants, since they already have some knowledge of the issues and the positions of the various parties. In any case, characters' positions and interests should be reasonably clear and well-defined. Agency staff also participate, provided they do so on equal footing with community members. This helps staff to better understand the positions of participants and break down barriers between them and the community members with whom they need to interact. A trained leader describes the process orally. .
Participants receive a written description of the situation, setting, and characters involved.
The leader reads it aloud, sets time limits, gives examples of how responses might be presented, assigns roles, and begins the exercise. As role playing pro gresses, time checks are helpful to keep participants focused and directed toward presenting their characters' full positions and reaching closure. Props, such as hats or clothes, sometimes help people get into their roles. A news print pad and markers are useful to record comments during the evaluation period. Index cards or pads of paper encourage participants to make notes.