Similarly, most pro-choice advocates do not want the result of their position to mean that abortion will be casually used as a form of birth control. In dialogue, new implications of a position may be uncovered which will cause the position to be re-examined for coherence. Thus, the dialogue sends participants deeper into themselves in order to explore their positions and their implications more carefully. Written by Joseph Phelps for Conciliation Quarterly, a publication of the MCC US Mennonite Conciliation Service, Vol. 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 behaviour of the participants tends ot conform to stereotypes. Their behaviour is likely to vary in some degree and among 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.