---
title: "Group discussion and responding to questions"
course: "SPCH 100 · Speak with confidence"
unit: "Speaking to inform, persuade, connect"
lesson: 16 of 18
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/speak-with-confidence/group-discussion-and-responding-to-questions
publisher: Maestro College
---

# Group discussion and responding to questions

Lesson 16 of 18 in **Speak with confidence** (SPCH 100), unit "Speaking to inform, persuade, connect". An open lesson from Maestro College.

## What the learner will be able to do
- Contribute to a small-group discussion by taking turns, building on other voices, and adapting your point to shifting audience needs across multiple speakers.
- Respond constructively to questions, objections, and disagreement while remaining anchored to the central idea.
- Organize a short impromptu answer on the fly using a defined pattern (e.g., point-reason-example-point).

## Teaching notes
The tutor plays multiple voices in a small group (not only one skeptic) — for example a curious teammate, a skeptical stakeholder, and a quiet listener — and supplies the topic and roles on the spot; no prior persuasive artifact is required.

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.

## When the lesson is done
The lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed above. Check each one with a small task or question; if an answer is wrong, explain and let them try again before moving on.
When every outcome is covered:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson 16 complete: Group discussion and responding to questions."
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, "Challenge: Self-assessment and improvement" (lesson 17 of 18), and give the learner its link: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/speak-with-confidence/challenge-self-assessment-and-improvement.md. Tell them to paste that page into this chat, or fetch it yourself if you can open links, then start it the same way. Do not start teaching the next lesson's topic until the learner has it.

Previous lesson: Visual support and language choices
Next lesson: Challenge: Self-assessment and improvement