Pre-meeting contacts and preparation of participants are essential elements of the full process. Participants tend to be leaders known for propounding a carefully crafted position. The personas displayed in the debate are usually already familiar to the public. The behavior of the participants tends to conform to stereotypes. Their behavior is likely to vary in some degree and along some dimensions from stereotypic images others may hold of them.
Participants speak as representatives of groups.
Participants speak as individuals, from their own unique experience. Participants speak to their own constituents and, perhaps, to the undecided middle. Participants speak to each other. Participants express unswerving commitment to a point of view, approach, or idea. Participants express uncertainties, as well as deeply held beliefs.