Nothing changes minds, builds connections, and inspires new ideas like a good story.
The good news is that everyone has stories worth telling and worth listening to.
In the Listening Circle Training, you’ll learn to create spaces where stories can be shared and heard to inspire change.
A Listening Circle is a systematic approach to group conversation designed to enhance active listening and encourage empathetic communication within the group. It establishes a secure and safe space where individuals can freely share their thoughts, feelings, and lived experiences while others in the circle offer attentive and non-judgmental listening.
The Listening Circle is a practice that can be used in any setting – from corporate boardrooms to school classrooms, in retreat settings and remote workplaces, in scientific working groups to intentional living communities, in prisons and in the halls of political power.
Listening Circles have been proven to increase:
Empathy
Perspective taking
Resilience
Conflict resolution
Decision-making
Cultural awareness
Helping participants:
Incorporate vastly differing perspectives and feedback
Listen beyond limiting assumptions
Understand their colleagues and work ecosystem
Cultivate a growth mindset and developmental culture of innovation
For the We are Open Circle community of organizations, leaders, coaches and guides:
Listening Circles build the foundation for self-transforming organizations, prepared to adapt to our rapidly changing world.
Our trainings are:
Fun and engaging
Practical and uniquely grounded in science
Tied to the natural world as a unique reflective tool
Adapted to the culture and context of the time and place it is held
Training details and schedule:
This comprehensive course encompasses a dynamic blend of online training, immersive practical experiences, and personalized coaching, all designed to elevate your skills and knowledge. Here's what you can expect:
8 Hours of Online Training Prior To In-Person Training: Complete with videos, exercises, checklists, and resources.
3-Day In-Person Training Lead By More than Fitness and We are Open Circle: This will be a deeper personal journey, including coaching and application to your specific environment. In the spirit of personalized guidance, we've limited our group size to 16 participants to ensure every participant has ample opportunity for 1:1 interaction and personalized coaching throughout their practical training.
Program Timeline:
Online Training Overview:
Please complete the self-paced online component in your own time prior to the course. Completing the online component is a prerequisite for the training. We recommend starting at least two days prior to the official start date.
In-Person Training Overview:
The Listening Circle: Key Elements of the Practice
Explore different forms of listening and how it affects the quality of our relationship, decision-making, and actions
Listening deeply
Exploring the basic elements
Listening Circle as a group mindfulness practice: witnessing the art-form of the group
Transformational Leadership
Practical skills in building individual and group resilience in transition and change
Exploring cycles of transition and transformation
Movement and sensory activities
Nature-based work that increases sensitivity, perception, and discernment
Social resiliency and somatic practice for nervous system regulation
Facilitating Collective Wisdom
Practicing key elements for facilitating a listening circle
Leading for collective wisdom in a variety of situations and groups
Practice and coaching in different forms
Making It Yours: Leading A Listening Practice In Your Work and Life
Apply the practice toward practical outcomes and to support resiliency
Balance, and transformation in work and life
Practical application and facilitator mentoring
Applying circle-based systems in different environments - invitations and the process for creation
Different types of circles - ongoing, work-based, one-off events, community, family, school
Schedule:
Thursday, October 12th, 6 pm – 9 pm
Friday, October 13th, 9:30 am – 9 pm
Saturday, October 14th, 9:30 am – 1 pm
Location:
More than Fitness, 700a River Rd, Wilmington, DE 19809
“Excellent pioneering work. The Listening Circle Practice has transformed how I work as a leader and facilitator. Rather than standing in front and leading, this Practice has allowed me to sit with people in Circle, and walk with others as we share our stories and discover together the possibilities beyond what we could imagine on our own.”
About your instructors:
More Than Fitness
More Than Fitness is a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2018 to address mental health issues in young people through mindfulness and fitness. They are founded by Delaware public school alumni seeking to serve the community they came from.
Every person who enrolls in this program will be serving the mission of More than Fitness and the inspiring work it is doing within its community.
We Are Open Circle
Drawing upon nearly 50 years of combined and wide-ranging experience in executive leadership, organizational development, change management, coaching and mentoring, We are Open Circle helps teams and organizations connect across dispersed locations and departments. We believe no one wants to “perform” in what they do–people want to thrive. And when people thrive, they change the way work gets done and change our world in the process.
Why should you invest your time and money into this training?
Investment:
$1000 for 8-hour online course, 3-day in-person training, resources, handbook, and three months of Circle Lab membership.
Payment plan: Options to do four monthly payments of $250.
Your enrollment fee will contribute to scholarships for More Than Fitness coaches and community members.
For more information on payment plans, please email info@weareopencircle.com.
Listening Circle Training Success Stories:
"I feel that being heard, being listened to, is something that is missed again and again. We are constantly taking in information and responding, but rarely are we offered a space to be heard. From my own experience of being heard in this training, I have gained so much ease, clarity and insight. I feel that it is something that we all desperately need and so seldom have – a space to be with ourselves and others, where we can be ourselves and then be able to express who we really are in the safety and warmth of the group is the biggest gift a person can receive and give". – Veronica Ellis, Founder of Mindfulness Connected Learning
“With Open Circle, we were all empowered to deepen our knowledge, to develop new insights, and to learn new methods of creative engagement and group collaboration across cultural differences and across generations. It was transformative to see how a culturally diverse group can collaborate and create together using proven yet flexible techniques.” — Anamaria Ross, Lecturer and Mentor, Empire State University.
“This in-person experience for leaders and facilitators led us to a collective environment where we were challenged to grow in ways I thought were not possible. It was an amazing experience. I describe the work of Open Circle as both mystical and practical, simultaneously and at once both beyond this world and functional preparation for navigating and being in it! ” – Mark Funkhouser, Social Worker and Leader