Inside-Outside Presence
Inside-Outside Presence is an embodied attention exercise in which participants practise staying aware of their own body while remaining engaged with other people and the surroundings. Developed by Ulrike Scholtes for the Transition Makers Toolbox, it teaches this double focus through a simple touch exercise, anchors it in a personal mental image that each participant draws, and then uses that image as a cue in everyday and demanding situations. It is individual practice done in a group, not a team-building game.
Facilitation script
- 1
Introduce the double focus and guide the opening practice: attention inward to body and breath, then outward to sounds, space and eye contact. Take a few observations in plenary.
10 min - 2
Guide the hand-on-leg exercise: hand feeling leg, leg feeling hand, then both at once. Leave silence between the three instructions.
5 min - 3
Each person finds an image that helps them hold both sensations, draws it and shares it with a neighbour.
10 min - 4
Transfer: hold body and environment in attention together, adapt the image if needed, draw the new version and share in pairs or plenary.
15 min - 5
Each person names one ordinary situation in which they will use the image as a cue. Agree how and when the group will report back.
5 min
Tips
Keep your own language plain and descriptive: say what to attend to, not what people should feel.
Offer alternatives to the touch exercise, such as feet on the floor, for anyone who prefers them, and make eye contact in the first step an invitation.
The drawing matters less for its quality than for giving people a personal cue they can recall in seconds, so stop them polishing it.
Common pitfalls
Rushing the three stages of the touch exercise. If people never feel the difference between hand-feeling-leg and leg-feeling-hand, the double focus stays an idea and the image has nothing to anchor
Suggesting an image yourself. A borrowed image does not work as a personal cue and people forget it by the next day
Treating the exercise as relaxation. Participants drift inward, lose the outward half and conclude that presence means switching off
Skipping the report-back after the practice tasks. Without it most people do not practise, and the session is remembered as a pleasant ten minutes with no effect on real conversations
Pressing people to describe bodily sensations in plenary. Those who find this exposing go quiet and stop engaging with the rest of the exercise
Variations
Single session: steps one to four work as a 30 to 60 minute session on their own, with the applied practice set as a voluntary follow-up. Programme version: spread the exercise over three meetings with practice in between, which is how the applied steps are designed. Online: the inward part and the hand-on-leg exercise work well on a call with cameras optional; replace eye contact with attention to the faces on screen and have people hold their drawings up to the camera. As a session opener: use only the first step as a ten-minute arrival exercise before a demanding conversation.
Where it fits
When to use it
Participants are about to conduct interviews, field visits or stakeholder conversations and tend either to lose themselves in the other person or to retreat into their own head
You are training facilitators or coaches who need to notice their own reactions while keeping attention on a group
A programme meets several times, so the applied practice between sessions can actually be reported back
A group is arriving scattered from other work and a demanding conversation is next on the agenda
People ask for something practical they can use in the moment, without a long mindfulness course
When not to use it
The goal is for people to get to know each other. This is individual attention practice; use Check-in / Check-out or a paired conversation format
There is no follow-up meeting and you need the full effect. Without the applied steps the image is rarely used again, so run only the first step as an opener and say so
Someone in the group has told you that body-focused attention is distressing for them, for example because of trauma, chronic pain or panic symptoms. Offer an outward-focused alternative or a different exercise
The group expects a tangible work product from the slot. Use Guided Journaling if you need reflection that ends in written material
The room is public or observed by outsiders. People will not close their attention inward when they feel watched
Related methods
Frequently asked questions
What is Inside-Outside Presence?▾
Inside-Outside Presence is an exercise for holding attention on your own body and on the people and space around you at the same time. Participants learn the double focus through a simple touch exercise, link it to a mental image they draw themselves, and then use that image as a reminder in real situations. It was developed by Ulrike Scholtes for the Transition Makers Toolbox.
How long does it take?▾
The in-room part takes 30 to 60 minutes depending on how much sharing you allow. The applied steps, where participants use their image in an ordinary situation and later in a demanding one, happen between sessions and need a short reflection round each time. If you only have one meeting, run the in-room part and set the practice as a voluntary follow-up.
Why do participants draw an image?▾
Holding two points of attention at once is hard to remember under pressure. A personal image works as a shortcut: recalling it brings back the felt experience of the exercise in a second or two. Drawing it makes the image concrete, and sharing it shows the group how differently people represent the same skill.
Is this a mindfulness or a team-building exercise?▾
It is closer to attention training than to either. Unlike most mindfulness exercises it does not stay inward; the point is to stay in contact with others while remaining aware of yourself. It is done in a group and includes sharing, but the work is individual and it is not designed to build relationships.
Who is it useful for?▾
It suits anyone whose work depends on staying attentive in conversation: interviewers, researchers doing fieldwork, facilitators, coaches, consultants and managers preparing for a difficult meeting. The source describes it for groups of 2 to 25. No prior experience with body-based exercises is needed, though participants should be free to adapt or sit out any part.
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Try it freeMethod descriptions on Workshop Weaver are original content written by our team, based on established facilitation practices. This method was inspired by work from Ulrike Scholtes, Transition Makers Toolbox.