Facilitation · 1-4 hour session segments

Social Presencing Theater (SPT)

An embodied, movement-based facilitation method used to make social fields and collective dynamics perceptible. It uses the body to explore systemic 'stuck' points and surface potential shifts.

When to use Social Presencing Theater (SPT)

When a group is stuck in over-analysis, or when trying to surface hidden power dynamics and relational patterns in a team.

How Social Presencing Theater (SPT) works

Incorporate as an experiential activity during the 'Sensing' or 'Prototyping' phases of a workshop to help participants 'see' the system they are part of without relying solely on verbal communication.

Phases of Social Presencing Theater (SPT)

  1. Sensing the field: Developing spatial and collective awareness: Participants slow down and attend to their bodies, the space and each other, for example through stillness and simple walking practices. The facilitator builds the quiet, non-verbal attention the later work depends on.
  2. Embodied gesture: Using movement to represent current systemic 'stuckness': Each person shapes a frozen body sculpture of how a situation feels stuck right now. The facilitator asks people to trust the body rather than plan or explain the shape.
  3. Collective sensing: Observing the system's dynamics as a group: Participants take positions for different stakeholders in a shared sculpture, as in 4D Mapping, while others witness. The group notices tensions, distances and where energy sits, without interpreting too early.
  4. Shifting: Moving toward a gesture that represents the emerging future: Slowly and without talking, the sculpture or gestures move until they find a new shape that feels more alive. Afterwards the group names what shifted and what it suggests for real action.

Key principles

  • Embodied knowing over intellectual analysis
  • Making the social field visible through spatial awareness
  • Using the 'feminine principle' of receptivity and sensing

Best for

  • Team building
  • Conflict resolution
  • Systemic awareness

Considerations

  • Participants may initially feel self-conscious with movement-based work
  • Requires a facilitator with specific training in embodiment and SPT techniques

Attribution & sources

Developed by Arawana Hayashi in collaboration with Otto Scharmer

Primary source

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