How to Quell a Dominating Personality in your Group

Practical tips from an experienced facilitator

Let's say your group is bonding well; everyone is engaging in conversation, and everyone seems to be enjoying the meetings. But then a new person joins the group, and suddenly they're dominating every conversation. No matter what topic is discussed or what question is asked, they eagerly share their opinions for 5, 10 or 20 minutes—and no one else can get a word in edgewise. Even worse, sometimes—when someone else starts to answer a question—the dominating person jumps in and talks louder until the first person gives up.

At first it's not a big deal and you think to yourself, "Well, maybe this person just needs to talk." But soon it becomes a real problem. After several meetings, some people in the group are clearly getting annoyed. Finally, one by one, people just stop coming to the group.

What has happened is the talker has sucked all the oxygen out of the group. They have crowded everyone else out. To read more, click here.