Spectrogram

When to use Spectrogram

Use to surface the real range of views in a room before a group writes a rule everyone will have to live with.

What it solves

Written policy gets nodded through in the room and quietly ignored afterwards, because nobody said what they actually thought.

How to run Spectrogram, step by step

1. Mark two ends of a line in the room: strongly agree, strongly disagree (2 min).
2. Read one provocation. People move and stand. Insist nobody stands exactly in the middle (3 min).
3. Ask two or three people at different points why they stand there. Listen; do not debate (5 min).
4. Invite anyone who moved because of what they heard to say what moved them. Repeat for the next provocation.

Materials needed

• Open floor space
• Prepared provocations, five is plenty
• Tape or two signs for the line ends

Facilitator tips

• Write provocations that a reasonable person could genuinely disagree with. Bland statements produce a huddle at one end.
• The facilitator does not take a position and does not correct anyone.
• Online, use a slider poll or a named grid — but ask people to say why, or you lose the whole point.

Common pitfalls

• Provocations are so obviously true that everyone stands at one end and nothing surfaces.
• The facilitator turns it into a debate and the quiet dissenters go silent for the rest of the day.

What it produces

A visible map of where the group really stands, and the two or three arguments that move people along the line.

Origin

A human-continuum exercise long used in social-change facilitation. Used in the VERIFY method (letter E) to surface real positions on AI standards.

Build a session around Spectrogram

METODIC places Spectrogram inside a complete, timed session plan — agenda, worksheets, facilitator guide and slides — matched to your group and goal.

Generate a session with Spectrogram · Try METODIC free