Especially in plenaries, facilitators tend to dominate and lead. Most facilitators are natural extroverts (or have made themselves so) and like talking to groups. They lecture, or they "facipulate"(a horrid hybrid offspring of facilitate and manipulate). Often they stand while others sit. Often there is a table, board or screen which indicates a spatial focus of authority and control where they stand or sit.
This is all right at times. Facilitators seek ideas or feedback from plenaries presented verbally and which they then write up. Or talk or explain when talk and explanation are needed. But most of us talk too much, dominate too much, control too much. We have to learn to "walk the non-talk", to shut up and to empower and trust others. Facilitating others? analysis means handing over the stick,disempowering ourselves, leading by withdrawing. It can mean what Latin Americans call "suffering the silence", waiting while others think before talking and acting, controlling our sense of obligation to fill silence with our speech.

To do this we can:
- Decentre, move away from the spatial focus of authority.
- Sit down
- Shut up
- Initiate self-organising processes
- Hand over to someone else (e.g. for chairing a session or receiving feedback)
- Refer questions back to groups
- Ask for others' contributions
- Start individual reflection, buzzes or small groups
- Go away [one of the hardest lessons is to know when not to be there]

Analysis by individuals:
Start by asking each person to reflect and note or list for themselves, without discussing with others. This starts everyone thinking and realising that they know something already about the subject. The notes and lists then give each person something to share. This leads well into group discussions which are more
democratic because each person has a note of things to say.

Tips: Insist on silence

Analysis by groups:
Many sorts and sizes of groups are possible. Much of the best analysis takes place in small (say 3 - 5 member) groups.

There are pros and cons of groups:

Pro Con:
- People participate, talk, share, and learn by talking and sharing
- One or two may dominate
- More knowledge is on tap
- May go off at a tangent
- Crosschecking and confidence building
- Rapporteur may give own
- Synergy and enthusiasm unrepresentative views
- Group analysis often goes beyond what one person could achieve
- Those with special knowledge are able to share it with others

Analytical Methods:
Institutions for training and teaching adults often use a habitual narrow repertoire of analytical methods. Some are largely limited to verbal and audio-visual presentations, verbal interactions, and methods and procedures specific to a subject, discipline or profession.