Clean Language

How to run it

1. 1

   Brief participants on the purpose: the facilitator's role is to illuminate the participant's own thinking, not to interpret or lead.

2. 2

   Start with an open question to invite a topic: 'What would you like to have happen?' or 'What's important to you about this challenge?'

3. 3

   Listen carefully for the participant's exact words and any metaphors they use (e.g., 'I feel stuck in a corner').

4. 4

   Respond using only Clean Language questions, staying strictly within the participant's own vocabulary: 'And when you're stuck in a corner, what kind of corner is that corner?' or 'And what happens just before you feel stuck?'

5. 5

   Continue exploring the metaphoric landscape with questions such as: 'And where is X?', 'And what's X like?', 'And when X, what happens to Y?', 'And what would you like to have happen?'

6. 6

   Allow the participant to arrive at their own insights and reframings — resist the urge to offer solutions, interpretations, or advice.

7. 7

   Close by asking the participant to summarise what they have discovered and what, if anything, they want to do differently.

Tips

• The key discipline is resisting the impulse to paraphrase or interpret.

• Use the participant's exact words, even if they sound unusual.

• Practice the core questions until they feel natural — beginners often find a laminated prompt card helpful.

• In group settings, pairs work better than triads so everyone gets significant speaking time.

Variations

Group Clean Language: one facilitator works with a small group, asking clean questions publicly so everyone can observe and learn the process simultaneously. Can be combined with Systemic Modelling for team-level work. In coaching circles, participants take turns as questioner and explorer.