The fishbowl: four chairs, anyone can speak, the longest speaker rotates out.

technique — attributed to Adrian Segar

Segar's fishbowl format addresses the problem of a few participants dominating a discussion. Four chairs are placed at the front of the room. To speak, you have to be sitting in one of them. Anyone can walk up and take an empty chair. A moderator occupies one. When all chairs are full and someone walks up, the participant who has been speaking the longest steps down. The structure makes air time finite and visible. Dominance is impossible because anyone who has held the floor too long is automatically rotated out. The room self-regulates because the rules are physical, not social.

For facilitators and program designers running discussions where unequal participation has been a recurring problem. The format works in groups of twenty to two hundred and requires four visible chairs at the front.

fishbowl, discussion-format, rotation, dominance