Being the one who asks the shy kid a question in class discussion is courage that makes room for someone else’s.

Quiet in a discussion is rarely a shortage of thoughts; more often it is not having found an opening. A direct question hands somebody that opening, and it costs you almost nothing beyond a second of speaking on another person’s behalf. What you are really doing is lending nerve to someone who has not got hold of their own yet. Rooms change when one person starts doing that regularly.

In your next discussion, ask one person by name what they think about something specific. Then stop talking and leave the gap open long enough for an answer.