My childhood friend’s mother was a “dagmamma”, literally, a “daytime mother”. In other words, she took care of a bunch of other people’s kids in her own home.
She was a very kind and intelligent person. One of the things she said has stuck with me to this very day.
“There’s always one drop left.”
She would say this when we had had finished our “fika” (for kids in Sweden, this would be strawberry juice and cinnamon buns) and we would start playing with our empty glasses. Or rather: we thought the glasses were empty, but she knew better. That’s why she reminded us.
I think of this every now and then when facilitating a meeting or a workshop. Whenever you ask for comments and questions, there comes a point where the contributions start to taper off. Silence commences. This is where you as the facilitator or convenener should stay quiet, too. Because, to paraphrase the wise dagmamma:
“There’s always one comment left”
Keep quiet. Count to twenty in German *) to focus your attention on something other than the heavy silence, and lo and behold. One more reflection always pours out.
*) Silently, that is. If you experiment with counting loudly in this situation, let me know what happens. I haven’t tried it yet.