Avoiding Serial Monologue in Small Groups

In Episode 202 of the Text-Driven Podcast, we discussed the composition of small groups within the local church. In this week's episode, we discussed differing views on how to divide people into small groups and how large those groups should be. In modeling a healthy and godly debate about these differing views, deciding the composition of your local church's small group is nuanced and involves numerous factors. Text-Driven Ministries in no way desires to tell you how to develop your small groups, but rather, we want to provide you with factors to consider and how to mitigate negative outcomes when you make the best, most text-driven choice concerning small groups. Though many topics were discussed on the podcast, one factor we want you to consider is the danger of serial monologue.

What is Serial Monologue?

Serial monologue is when members of a small group monologue one after another instead of dialoguing with each other. In an article entitled "Group Discussion as Interactive Dialogue or as Serial Monologue: The Influence of Group Size," the authors describe serial monologue as when a member of a group holds a metaphorical microphone, gives a monologue, and then passes the metaphorical microphone on to the next speaker. Therefore, whoever speaks the most will determine what is important. Thus, the authors of the article determined that a group made up of more than ten people will almost always partake in "serial monologue."

In a serial monologue format, the most dominant speaker will often be considered the person who is correct. Ideas and differences in opinion, in a serial monologue format, will be combatted, and wrong ideas will not be confuted. At best, serial monologue will prevent small group members from learning to a full extent through dialogue and correction. At worst, serial monologue is a seedbed for division, heresy, and gossip. A solid, healthy small group that adds a well-spoken dominant person with bad theology and practice can quickly devolve into ground zero of toxicity being spread throughout a church when serial monologue is allowed. So, how can serial monologue be prevented?

Smaller Groups

The first solution to prevent serial monologue is simply to have smaller groups. The best prevention of serial monologue is authentic dialogue. The article previously mentioned suggests that the ideal group size for dialogue is no more than five people. In a group of five, the non-dominant speakers will hold as much sway over the importance of the discussion as dominant speakers because each member of the group will be influenced by the interaction they have in the dialogue. When a well-spoken dominant erroneous person is added to the group, the small size of the group can better refute the errors presented. Smaller groups won't always prevent serial monologue, but if you teach members of a small group why dialogue is necessary and how to have a good discussion, then they'll be able to identify, dialogue through, and refute errors.

Avoid Group Discussion

Now, not every church can have smaller groups. Finding enough small group leaders and finding the space to house all of the smaller groups can be difficult enough. Add in the attempt to make sure all your groups have a teaching, reaching, and serving element, smaller groups might be impractical for your church. That doesn't mean your church's small group ministry must suffer under the weight of serial monologue.

Therefore, another way to prevent serial monologue is to avoid group discussion. A small group leader, instead of opening the floor for general discussion, can ask closed-ended questions to achieve the desired group interaction without entering into serial monologue. To accomplish this, the leader needs to only ask questions that can be answered in one to two sentences and are not opinion-based. "What do you think this means?" is a question that will lead to serial monologue in a large group. "What does this word mean?" is a question that will avoid serial monologue. This method puts more responsibility on the small group leader to provide robust teaching and not rely on small group members to add dimensions to the lesson.

Consider Discussion Groups

Another option is to consider discussion groups. A discussion group is a smaller group of the larger group that is meant to discuss the lesson. The main small group leader would teach the lesson without interaction. He would give the main idea and sub-points of the lesson and a brief explanation of each. Then, the group would break into smaller groups of five, each with a discussion leader. The discussion groups would interact with each other, disagreeing and collaborating. Discussion groups allow for there to be a larger group, that could be helpful to your church space or leader constraints, while also providing discussion time at a more appropriate level.

Equipping Small Group Leaders

Lastly, serial monologue can be avoided by equipping your small group leaders. This isn't a method per se but rather is absolutely necessary for whatever method you choose. Your small group leaders need to be equipped on how to discern possible issues and how to confront serial monologue and correct errors appropriately. Your small group leader likely believes that correcting someone is unloving or unkind. You need to teach these individuals that it is absolutely necessary. You need to show them how to speak with grace and truth. Equipped small group leaders will prevent serial monologue and the disasters or disunity it can cause to the whole body.

Conclusion

Serial monologue will not always cause problems in your church. Many churches have functioned with serial monologue for years, if not decades, and have not had any visible drawbacks. Yet, serial monologue prevents the best kind of learning where small group members dialogue and interact. Whatever small group format you have, we encourage you to evaluate serial monologue in your small groups.

Nicolas Fay, Simon Garrod, and Jean Carletta, "Group Discussion as Interactive Dialogue or as Serial Monologue: The Influence of Group Size," Psychological Science 11, no. 6 (November 2000).

Written by Klayton Carson

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