Editor’s note: Pam Goldfarb Liss is a moderator with LitBrains-Igniting Ideas!, a New York research firm.

Creativity always begins with uncovering a client’s ultimate success criteria for the project. Starting with that and an understanding of the age group being researched, you can creatively pull out ways to gain the insights your client seeks.

After learning what your client defines as success, create a series of tricks and backup options for the many different possible scenarios that might happen with kids. Use these to help your clients get the insights they need. Clients in turn need to have their expectations appropriately managed by the moderator. The moderator must explain after each focus group what kids really said and how their different insights – no matter how odd – all contribute to helping them get the information they need.

Smaller groups are always best with kids and teens alike. In younger ages, recruiting with buddies can create the comfort level necessary for kid respondents.

Keep in mind that kids’ attention spans are short. Depending on the age of the kids, a typical group lasts no more than 60 minutes; many are typically 30 minutes.

Following are some kid-friendly techniques.

  • Pre-session “lobby” survey/homework

These assignments should be short, quick opportunities to better understand your respondent. Kids want to express themselves and be heard. Having them fill out a diary about who they are - their likes/dislikes, favorite people, places and things, families, etc. - is always illuminating when shy kids don’t respond or answers are inconsistent in focus groups. It’s your backup if you don’t get what you need in the focus groups and can often connect other things for you and the client.

  • Ask “why” right away

“Why” shows interest in what they have to say. It’s a word they ask of each other when they’re interested. Moderators must bring it back into their vocabulary for kids’ groups.

  • Get them to “sell” the product

Every kid has a best friend who they want to influence. Use this approach, in which you ask them how they would talk to a best friend about the product, to encourage kids to expand their comments beyond observations such as, “I just like it” and to telling you what about the product or service is important to them. This “best friend” sales pitch will reflect how they really feel about what the product offers.

  • Keep a bag of tricks available

Kid-friendly moderators need to have their Plan B ready with a second set of questions and activities in mind if they need to switch gears. Structure your discussion guide to accommodate either a mellow line of questions, an active set of group exercises or a set of individual written exercises. Use these different activities as needed to get your answers.

  • Push praise in the first five minutes

Flattery will get you everywhere with kids. With a simple “Thank you” or “Wow, great idea!” to each kid inside the first five minutes, a discussion can engage every one. Kids are obvious lovers of praise. The discussion benefits greatly when everyone participates. Make sure each kid feels his or her contribution is really helping!

Have context

With the pre-session homework and/or in-the-lobby questionnaire in hand, you will have context for much of what your groups of kids answered. Think about your client’s objective. Consider what was said in the discussion. Often with kids, there will be a missing piece that connects their answer to what they really meant or even the influences that got them there. It won’t be obvious. Remember, kids rarely make the decision just because they liked it. Mom may be the culprit. The older sibling could be. Sometimes even the popular kid at school is the reason why they like something. Even money or household size also may affect how their decisions are made. Either way, your client’s ultimate learning will come from all of these factors. This is where your creativity and experience comes into play by analyzing what influences them.

Never ambiguous

Focus groups with kids are never ambiguous. Kids know what they like and don’t.   After the discussion ends, it is up to the moderator to make those black-and-white answers into deep and usable insights for their clients. The focus group formats are also important to insure that every child is heard and the insights are plentiful.

Kids will produce great insights with creative approaches and the right format. Ultimately, it comes down to helping a client understand the opportunities with children, not the limitations!