Sharing Circle Hosting Guide Updated! 🌸
We've had a bit of a spring clean for our Hosting Guide which was a little out of date. Not much has changed but there are some link updates, especially for the teen SC and a small change to the time you should wait for a member to begin their share, due to the 'x is typing' feature that was added to the rooms.
Something that isn't new but isn't stated in the script, is that we shouldn't be welcoming new people joining the room in the middle of a share as it can cause excessive interruptions. Instead, welcome them after the sharer has concluded.
We're inviting everyone, from our most experience hosts, to brand new hosts, to review the
and comment below when you have done so 😊
Thank you to all of you for continuing to facilitate and support our Sharing Circles!
If anyone has any questions, feel free to private message me or your Teen PAs @MagnificentSunrise or @SirenofSerenity
Tagging all hosts (please tag anyone else that may be on-spot hosting)
@Aura47 @cancun @Elle5319 @Hawaii968 @help127 @Josh3889 @Lou73 @MagnificentSunrise @Marich @Mustafa97Ee @Oceanpullsmeclose @richuyulin @SolaceCares @VictoriaLove7 @VioletVeritas @AvaFoxy @HealingBeams @Lovelylilies12946 @Marje @selfconfidentHickory2238 @soothinggrace83 @Waterfallsofnature36
@Marialedoffchoseme @Meez78 @PatienceImpatiens @Helper127 @recliningfate @crystalclearnow @MiraculousSnow1503 @impartialPomegranate6921 @EmotionsListener @spongebobishappy @ZenAshari @Darkiya@CrazyBus2 @fluffykittycat @KatieTheWingedOne @MagnificentSunrise @SirenofSerenity
@Lou73 thank you as always for all you do here, especially with the circle. You are so appreciated 🙂💚💙
Thanks @Help127 💚💚
@Lou73 Woohoo!! I've been added to tag list for hosts. 😃 Read update, and thanks for all that you do!! ❤️
Thanks @richuyulin 😊😊
@Lou73
Thank you, Lou for your works for SC and for this hosting guide.
Thank you for mentioning the chit chat between users which could happen during the time when we tried to move from one sharer to another or during the wrap up, where a user during the chit chat put textwall which distracted the whole room.
It can be kinda tricky because it is not in the guidelines so they could argue that they were not doing anything against the guidelines.
You're very welcome @VictoriaLove7 🌈
Can you clarify which part you mean about not being in the guidelines? 💙
@Lou73
Oh 😅 it is the extended chit chat between users. Or maybe it is worded differently? 😊
@Lou73
This was so helpful in some areas I was not sure about. Thanks.
keep up thr good work you do for the sc.
You're very welcome @Waterfallsofnature36, I'm really glad this has been helpful 😊
@Lou73
Thank you lou.
I would like to take this change to talk about few things related to the sharing circle... because you already tagged all the hosts.
(orange is sharing, uninterrupted share requested) instead of typing ( sharing circle with Mustafa)
so people will know who is sharing, even if they don't want to ready the previous msgs. and without asking us.
🔸I was thinking before that it is better if there a feature where a mod can mute everyone except the sharer when it is their time to share. because as we know Active Listening is giving the person space to talk. and I don't see that sometimes. Some people support but more than needed, some know little, because they just joined the site. These things bothered many members previously and because of them they left the site and stopped participating. but maybe it is not easy to put such feature.
🔸people usually don't read everything, so it is better to not send a lot of guidelines or scripts into the sharing circle shat. I usually take the same guidelines from the script but with fewer words.
@Mustafa97Ee your idea about updating the banner is excellent. I might start doing that, because I think it might really help with interruptions. Thank you!
Thanks for the feedback @Mustafa97Ee, I've read all of your points and thank you for your suggestions.
Muting everyone during a share wouldn't work as some people want to have encouraging words to support them and implementing such a feature I imagine to be almost impossible but I do agree that everyone needs to be more respectful of the sharer.
Regarding the banner - Community Leaders who earn the Sharing Circle host badge can also set their own banners. This is awarded when someone has shown dedication to the SC after a number of months. I like the idea of using the banner to show who is sharing or queue is open etc. however, I don't know how well the banner feature will cope with frequent changing and would need testing out.
And I know that not everyone reads everything but as long as all the key information and guidelines are posted, it gives newbies all the info that they need to participate.
If you have anymore thoughts, you are welcome to message me 😊 🦋
@Lou73, thank you for updating the guide! ❤️
It looks and reads much better now. I like the changes. 😊
I agree with us not welcoming people joining the room in the middle of a share. I have avoided doing that. I only use it as a way to point out that someone is sharing and they should be listening.
Keep up the good work! ❤️
You're welcome @MagnificentSunrise and thank you 😊☀
Hi, Lou, I've read the revised guide and I appreciate the changes therein and also the simpler language that may be more accessible to some of our participants. I appreciate the work of the Facilitators and I would suggest that from time to time we meet together to discuss points of unclarity or where there is discussion or dissent. I think it really helps new people entering when there is consistency across the Sharing Circles in the approach and the kindness delivered to each person sharing. I liked the statement of remembering we are all equal. Thank you for all your efforts to keep enthusiasm high for facilitating these Sharing Circles. I've noticed a lot more participation since you started (perhaps because you are so terrific at validating and taking concerns seriously), and it's great to see the continuity of Facilitators who are all doing our best, as well as the kindness bestowed on Members who seek a space to share with peers.
Thanks for reading @VioletVeritas 😊 a get together sounds like a great idea, we will have to try and organise a time that is good for everyone (might be easier said than done) 😂
I agree the consistency is very important and whilst we all different, the script and guide should help all newbies have the information they need to be able to join in with the sessions 💜
And thank you, that's very kind of you and thank you to you and all our other regular hosts who do so much for the circle 😊
Thank you Lou for inviting me to host!
@Oceanpullsmeclose
I really hope you join us. You would be a great asset to our team. Anything I can do to help you just let me know 🤗❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤗
You're very welcome, thank you for joining our team @Oceanpullsmeclose! 😄
@Oceanpullsmeclose
Hi Ocean, 😊 I remember seeing you in SC last Sunday!
@Lou73, thank you for posting this, Lou! 🌞
You're very welcome @Rebekah 🌞
@Lou73
I need to bring up one thing that bothers me. Not greeting people coming in during a share. I find it extremely rude and uncaring if someone enters a room and they are not greeted by the host. No one else needs to until between shares. I just say " Hello *** join us in listening to ***. Especially during uninterrupted shares. It stops them most of the time from continuing to talk. I've missed people coming in when the room was really busy and got told I was rude and it's rude not to acknowledge them coming in. I have no problem saying please let the host greet people to cut down on cross talk. Just my thoughts on it. Too many years in customer service I guess. 🤗❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤗
Thanks for your thoughts @Cancun. This isn't a new part of the hosting guide but the reason behind it is that when a room gets very busy and lots of people are entering, (which has increased since the SC button was added to the top of the homepage) there can be many interruptions of welcoming people which disrupts a share. It also invites people to say hi back, which then adds another interruption. Some people may just be entering to have a look or room hopping so the welcome can be an unneeded interruption. Of course if someone enters and says hi in the middle of a share, we don't ignore them, we can then welcome them and invite them to listening to the current share. From observation, there does seem to be a reduction in interruptions with this approach and it's more like people entering are joining in the middle of a poetry reading for example, they would take a seat and wait until the poem has finished and then we can welcome the newcomers 💙 And whilst we could ask members not to welcome people, they are more likely to follow a host's lead and copy the welcome leading to more interruptions. If you'd like to talk about this more, feel free to PM me 💙
@Lou73
That makes sense. That's why you're are fearless leader. Thanks for clarifying that. Keep up the great work. 🤗❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤗