Five steps to set up and use Role-Play to improve communication abilities (McIntosh,Luecke,& Davis,2008)
1.Identify the situation
To start with the training, gather the participants and introduce the problem. Encourage them to give an open
discussion in regrading to the relevant issues. This will help people to start thinking about the problem before the role-
play begins.
2.Add details
Next, trainer will provide more details of the current situation to make the role-play feel real. For example, company's
background, roles responsibility, And the trainer have to make sure that the participants are clearly understand the
problem and what they want to achieve at the end of the role-play training.
3.Assign roles
Once the situation has been clarified, trainner will assign different characters to each participants. Some of them have
to deal with the situation, for example, salespeople or manager.And the others will represent people who are supportive
or opposed, such as an angry client or subordinate.
4.Act out the situation
The participants should use their imagination to put them inside the minds of the people that they are representing.
During the acting, they are able to understand the role's perspectives, goals, motivations and feelings. Also, each
person can assume their own role and try different approaches to act out and solve the problem. It will provide a
good experience for handling situation.
5.Discussion
When the role-play is finshed, everyone should discuss what they have learned. For example, writing summaries of
observtions and conclusions from everyone who was involved.
