— The “Making Your Decision” (MYD) boxes in the book were designed primarily for

private reflection of readers, as a reminder of how intricate decision making in interviewing

situations can be. However, these situations are readily adaptable for classroom discussion.

For example, some teachers may want to make a standing assignment that asks students to

come to class on the first day of each chapter’s discussion with a tentative personal position

on each MYD situation. Other teachers may choose to adapt these situations to a journaling

assignment; students could consider each and write a paragraph or two discussing their

opinions in light of the concepts discussed in the chapter. (Journals should not be the mere

ventilation of opinions, but the elaboration of tentative insights developed through reading

and careful consideration.)

• Additional activities and discussion questions

Almost every icebreaker activity appropriate for an interpersonal communication course is

also appropriate for an interviewing course.

Try a name circle. Arrange the class in a circle, and ask the first person to state his or her
name and a hobby or interest that distinguishes that person. Then the next person states the
previous name and hobby, adding his or her own, and the process continues around the circle
until the last person has heard names and hobbies repeated so often that he or she can
introduce the whole circle. (Teachers should participate, too.) No one should take notes; one
of the unique values of this activity is that it generates lots of mistakes in a short period of
time, but in a climate that’s nonthreatening.