Dinner Events

It starts with a box of My Neighbor’s Voice Listening Cards. These boxes contain over 200 universal community questions, two 3-minute timers, the rules, and instructions for the leader or facilitator. 

Invite about 7 neighbors: friends, acquaintances, co-workers, strangers—it doesn’t matter-- to join you around a table. 

Create a simple menu of delicious food that folks can eat while they are listening: like soup, cornbread, and chocolate or pizza or a bucket of chicken or an assortment of salads. Just keep it plentiful and easy to serve and enjoy. It’s not a dinner party; it’s an event. 

Next, you’ll need a facilitator. The facilitator of a MNV event can be the owner of the box of Listening Cards, someone trained and certified, or, if no one in the group volunteers, the default facilitator is always the youngest person present. The facilitator’s job is to read the rules, keep time, enforce no cell phones at the table, and encourage listening with a friendly and hearty welcome. Most importantly, the facilitator makes sure there’s ZERO PUSHBACK or commentary during or between questions. 

Each guest at the table is invited to take a card from the deck, read it silently, first, then aloud to the table and answer it. Everyone is given up to three minutes to answer their question. Once they have answered, they pass the deck to the next person and that person chooses and answers an entirely new question, and the timer starts over. Usually, we do 3-4 rounds of questions before the facilitator opens the table for the last 10-15 minutes for discussion, reflection, commentary, and connection.

Our opening script can be found here.

Watch our video here to learn how to host your next Dinner Event!