FaciliTrain: Practicing Facilitation Skills through AI-Simulated Group Dialogue

2026-07-12

AI Summary

This study addresses the challenges of scaling training in facilitation skills—namely, expert scarcity, limited practice opportunities, and insufficient feedback. The authors propose the first multi-role dialogue simulation system integrating voice interaction and AI-generated feedback, enabling learners to apply five evidence-based facilitation techniques while receiving structured, reflective guidance. By externalizing tacit facilitation intuitions, the system demonstrates the efficacy of voice as a mechanism for deliberate responsiveness. Empirical results indicate a significant user preference for AI feedback (p = .018). Although task accuracy remained comparable to that of the control group, participants reported reduced self-rated comfort, revealing a nuanced relationship between cognitive load and skill internalization.

Abstract

Skilled facilitation supports inclusive small-group dialogue, but deliberate practice is hard to scale: it depends on expert coaches, live practice partners, and iterative feedback. We present FaciliTrain, a voice-based training system in which learners step into the facilitator role of an AI-simulated multi-participant conversation, apply five evidence-based techniques, and receive structured AI feedback to support reflection. We report findings from a mixed-methods study with 24 participants, conducted as a formative study (N = 12) and a controlled pilot (N = 12; 6 treatment, 6 control). Both conditions achieved comparable accuracy on a live evaluation task, though treatment participants' self-rated comfort declined significantly while control participants' comfort improved (p = .018). Reflexive thematic analysis identifies four themes: the taxonomy externalizes implicit facilitation intuitions; Making Connections is the most cognitively demanding technique; voice acts as a deliberate-response forcing function; and participants overwhelmingly preferred AI feedback over self-practice. We discuss design implications for voice-based, AI-supported interpersonal skill training at scale.

Problem

• facilitation training
• AI-simulated dialogue
• interpersonal skill development
• deliberate practice
• voice-based training

Innovation

• AI-simulated dialogue
• voice-based training
• facilitation skills
• structured AI feedback
• interpersonal skill training