type in the chat

Skilled facilitators offer participants many different ways to engage with a topic. Not everyone comes to a meeting or focus group ready to give it their full participation. This is especially true in virtual meetings where it's easier for folks to disengage. I try to help people find ways to share even if they can't or don't want to speak up.I try to incorporate the meeting's chat window whenever I'm planning an agenda. All the major conferencing platforms offer some kind of text-based interaction. It doesn't usually take much training to ask folks to use it. We also don't need to install special tools or third-party apps to get it to work. Some people already use the chat for comments or side conversations they don't want to say out loud. Others will drop links or references to what they're describing out loud. I usually paste my questions into the chat even when I want a verbal response. This gives folks a chance to read the prompt if they didn't catch it when I asked it out…