“It's 5:00 somewhere”: Cocktail hour. But we're not joining friends at one of our favorite local watering holes. Instead, we're joining some friends for a different kind of hour: The MockTales hour. There are no heady libations here; we're drinking in stories – tales of conflict, tall tales, tales of love and betrayal, tales of conspiracy, tales of woe. And we call them mock tales because they’re modeled on the kinds of real-life tales our real-life mediation parties tell us. In “real life,” the mediator’s job is to take actions, that is, to use “intervention techniques,” taking cues from the parties’ stories, to help generate productive party conversations, and help those productive conversations generate resolutions.
But we need practice! So once a month, we practice mediation techniques with MockTales:
The staff will have chosen a different mediator action or technique to be the MockTale hour’s focus.
During the hour, we listen to a scenario that typifies a party dispute.
We use the scenario to discuss why, when and how to use this particular intervention technique.
And we practice actually doing it, maybe doing a mock mediation, maybe just practicing a response to mock exchanges between the scenario’s mock parties.
Practice and discussion prepare us to be ready to deploy intervention techniques in real life, sometimes almost instantaneously. The right interventions, at the right moments, can create “the magic of mediation” when a path to resolution opens up to parties who couldn’t see one before.
Want to meet us for MockTales?
You don’t have to be 21 to enjoy the MockTales hour. Nor do you have to be either a novice or a veteran mediator. Come right on in! Every time we practice with each other and share ideas, we learn something and become just a little better at what we do, regardless of our experience levels.
NMC mediators gather online for MockTales at 5PM on the third Thursday of every month.
There is currently no charge (no tab, no tip!).
The only pre-requisite is that you must have had Basic Mediation Training (a 36 to 40-hour course).
You can register here and get the Zoom link to join us:
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