Participants listen to understand and gain insight into the beliefs and concerns of the others. Questions are asked from a position of curiosity. Statements are predictable and offer little new information. New information surfaces. Success requires simple impassioned statements.
Success requires exploration of the complexities of the issue being discussed.
Debates operate within the constraints of the dominant public discourse. Participants are encouraged to question the dominant public discourse, that is, to express fundamental needs that may or may not be reflected in the discourse and to explore various options for problem definition and resolution. Participants may discover inadequacies in the usual language and concepts used in the public debate. However, dialogue facilitators do not look for or highlight areas of common ground, nor do they push parties towards settlement. Rather, they structure the session in a way that encourages mutual recognition.