I am happy to tell you that beginning this month I will be teaching an Introduction to Advertising class on-line at National University.
Focus Group Moderating Techniques– Part Two: Keeping the Group Moving
There are at least four key principles to follow to create the necessary, conversational dynamics of focus groups that will keep it moving in the direction you need:
- “Finish the Sentence” (FTS) Probe
- Probe the “Group Synergy”
- “Excuse my Interruptions”
- “Setting the Table”
One: “Finish this Sentence” (FTS) Probe
Perhaps the most valuable tool of all for a moderator as one seeks to build quick and focused respondent contributions is what I call the “finish the sentence” (FTS) probe. The FTS probe is essentially a question turned into a “dangling” sentence. Instead of saying “Why is that important?” the FTS probe would say: “And that’s important because…” instead of “How do you begin preparing breakfast in the morning?” the FTS probe would be: “The first thing you do as you start to think about breakfast in the morning is to…”
The dangling sentence offers very compelling conversational help. It makes the respondent’s job easy — a sentence completion task instead of an essay question. It also draws on the powerful forces of social politeness. With the probe truly left “hanging” — the last word drawn out as if struggling to finish — the FTS probe becomes a compelling plea from the moderator to “Help me out here, don’t leave me hanging!”
Focus Groups Moderator Techniques
Watch this Blog for Focus Groups Moderator Techniques
by Jeff Anderson, President Jeff Anderson Consulting, Inc.
Over the next few months I will use this blog to explain some of the skills a successful moderator must know to create a successful focus group discussion.
A successful focus group discussion is very different than a normal, interactive casual conversation. The focus group moderator has a job to do and must get reactions and answers to a long list of important questions. The moderator must also get these answers through relatively equal contributions from eight to ten strangers, and do all this in less than two hours. Continue reading →
Posted in Focus Groups, Marketing Research
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Tagged focus groups, moderating, moderating techniques, moderator
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