Free Resource · Mediation & Facilitation

8 Questions That Move
Tension Forward

When a conversation gets stuck, most people either push harder or back off entirely. These eight facilitative questions offer a third option — a way to shift the dynamic without forcing a resolution that won’t hold.

Mediation
Facilitation
Free PDF

Instant download. Free. Pocket-sized. Immediately usable.

8 Questions That Move Tension Forward
Free PDF · Diggs at the Table

What’s inside

Eight questions drawn from Dr. Diggs’ mediation practice and tested in live organizational settings. Each one is designed to shift a stuck conversation from blame to movement.

  • Eight facilitative questions with context for when and how to use each one
  • Guidance on reading the room before you ask
  • Notes on what each question is designed to unlock in the conversation
  • Formatted to print and keep at your desk or in a mediation folder

Who this is for

Any leader, mediator, or facilitator who has ever sat in a room where the conversation stopped moving — and didn’t know how to restart it.

  • Mediators and conflict resolution practitioners
  • HR professionals and organizational leaders
  • School and district administrators
  • Anyone facilitating a difficult team conversation

The eight questions

Each question is a door. The guide tells you which one to open and when.

1
What would it look like if this were resolved?
2
What’s most important to you about how this gets handled?
3
What do you need the other person to understand that they don’t seem to yet?
4
What are you willing to do differently?
5
What would need to be true for you to trust this process?
6
What’s at stake for you if this doesn’t get resolved?
7
What’s one thing the other side has said that you actually understand?
8
What would a good outcome feel like six months from now?
“

The right question doesn’t end a conflict. It opens a conversation that can.

Eight questions. One shift.

Download the guide and keep it close. The next time a conversation stalls, you’ll know exactly where to start.

No spam. Just the questions.

D
Dr. Darryl S. Diggs, Jr., Ed.D.
Mediator · Consultant · Speaker · diggsatthetable.com

These questions were developed and refined through Dr. Diggs’ active mediation practice across civil, workplace, and organizational settings in Missouri. They are not theoretical — they are the questions he reaches for when a room goes quiet and the work still needs to get done.