How do you keep workshop participants engaged and motivated throughout the session?

How you'll reach out to your audience likely depends on the context of how we're using "workshop" (as an employee/manager vs engaged consultant brought in, or a workshop that someone voluntarily signed up for). In most contexts, you really want to be building a connection of your "why" (why are you teaching this workshop, why are you passionate about this topic, how are you the expert, etc), to the person/people taking it (are you trying to bond a group together, are you trying to teach them something, etc). The goal and audience should not be looked at as two separate exercises; they are too closely tied.

Recently I had an opportunity to conduct sessions for school kids at 2 different schools. One of the tool that we used to keep them engaged was to show riddles, puzzles, short videos in between to energize them. Instead of keeping it a one-way conversation, its important to make it more interactive by explicitly asking them for their ideas and inputs, what is their take on what is being discussed and showing appreciation of their engagement. Last but not the least, Its good to have a casual interaction at the beginning to loosen up and for the audience to get comfortable in the space they are in.

It's essential to align your workshop content to general industry-level examples of challenges faced by your participants that you, too, have subject matter expertise. When preparing, think about how problems are acknowledged, by whom, and the skills needed to learn to address them. Always use real-life examples where you have had direct experience. Way too often, well-meaning facilitators stretch beyond the rails of their experiences to offer little more than hypothetical support to back their claims of "proven" success formulas. Knowing if one is walking the walk is quite evident when relationships are honest.

Above all be human. How do you let your participants know you're an actual human who cares about the energy they bring to this session. Consider using other tactics to get to know participants that include showing who you are — one way to do this is to use something like VideoAsk and record your question instead of just sending a text survey. Another way to approach this could just be an embedded welcome video in whatever hub (I use Notion) you are using for all pre-workshop experience information. finally you can also hop on 15 minute calls with participants depending on the type of workshop and the size of workshop, this is very helpful so that the participants aren't just seeing you for the first time when they enter the workshop.

If possible, learn about the workshop's participants before the meeting starts. Otherwise, suggest activities that are 'safe' and you can assume that most people would feel comfortable with and have some alternatives in mind. When working with the group, ask them about their preferences and adapt to them.

"If you don't know where you are going, any path will get you there." SMART is okay. Define your desired outcomes and share at the beginning. And give them useful tools at the end so that they can actually DO something differently.

Invite participants to clarify their goals and exemplify how to track them, hold themself accountable, and partner with trusted advisers in triads to elevate the experience and deepen collegial support to achieve goals.

An agenda/roadmap may not be the same as goals or outcomes. You'll likely have a document for you as facilitator that outlines the workshop, indicating what you and participants will be doing at any given time. You may have set goals for what you hope to accomplish, but these are not objectives or outcomes. Learning objectives/outcomes are about participants--what they will be able to know, understand, or do as a result of their participation in the workshop. Will they be able to describe something, identify something, create, apply, analyze, evaluate... ? Use a modern version of Bloom's taxonomy for ideas. Think about it in terms of being able to actually assess participants on the objectives. Would you be able to know they are achieved?

Every workshop I run, has a set of high-level objectives which are shared with participants at the start of the session. Then, at the end of the workshop, we go back to the objectives to validate if we've achieved them, or if there is more work to do.

Change what is happening about every 10-20 minutes (shorter for online), BUT ensure that all activities--lecture, small group discussion, Q&A, and any interactive activities are strongly and clearly tied to learning objectives and have a specific purpose for being part of the agenda. Activity for activity's sake won't keep participants meaningfully engaged. Figure out when and, more importantly, why you might have participants talking with each other, writing something, solving a problem, creating an example, critiquing an example, building something, working through a case study, etc. Be sure to share the purpose for each activity with participants so that they are making good connections with the content and key messages.

I agree with this, but would caution not to over the top with too many methods / mediums of engagement. Each time the facilitator changes, it's a mental shift for the participants - I find this to be especially relevant with virtual workshops, as a shift in media often feels like toggling between screens...too much toggling makes it challenging to follow the flow of the workshop.

Keep your audience busy and keep their minds moving. Add fun images, short bullet points, and 1-2 takeaways to every slide in your deck. A fun bonus is to add an activity or something that the audience can participate with every couple of slides to keep them engaged.

Variety is a key. One of the easiest methods to achieve focus and engagement is switching activities. Participants shouldn't be listening passively all the time. Let them discuss ideas, work in pairs, in groups, switch places, move. This helps in maintaining engagement. Participants should also have time to... rest. It's important not to skip breaks, they are obligatory to keep people energized.

Memorable experiences originate from the five human senses. Consider the aesthetics, look, feel, and appeal to all five and the emotional effect resulting from them. Invite participants to express what they notice, what is important to them, and why.

Three tips for an engaging workshop: 1. Turn the audience into the facilitators: Participants aren’t there just to attend a meeting they’ve been invited to — they need to be actively engaged. As facilitators, think of ways to 'put them on stage' during the event 2. Help participants prepare and rehearse: Facilitators can’t improvise meaningful discussions. Sharing open-ended questions together with the workshop agenda will allow participants to start thinking before the event (and not, to improvise an answer or point of view at the workshop) 3. Encourage candid discussions: Make sure that a few “be candid with care” rules are clear to all participants in the room.

Set the stage for participation and feedback. Participants should know exactly what to expect at the beginning of the session. They should know how feedback will be given, by whom, whether they will give feedback to others, etc. Model how feedback should be given. Consider how you will make connections with participants and how they will connect with each other so that you create a psychologically safe and welcoming environment. Describe what participation looks like and how it can be done. There are many techniques for soliciting answers and feedback from simple Q&A to polling apps, etc, but like any workshop activities, these need to be carefully planned, aligned with learning objectives, and each should have a distinct purpose.

I used to deliver 4-hour workshops as a part of my day job. Keeping the energy and the engagement throughout the entire session can be quite difficult. Best way to do this is to engage the audience by involving them in role-plays, asking them for anecdotes. Even things like show of hands, every now and breaks the monotony and gets some engagement.

Instead of keeping retrospectives to the end of workshop experiences another way to bring feedback integrated throughout is mini retro's after each activity — this helps people share what they thought, what they loved, learned, and even what they loathed.

I keep track mentally of people who have participated. When possible, I assign speaking roles who haven't had a chance yet. in addition, I design small group activities so that those less comfortable sharing in larger groups still have an outlet for their ideas.

Don't be afraid to call things out. If you notice the energy in the room is slipping, name it. It might be that an impromptu break brings everyone back refreshed. It could just be that the heating level is wrong. If there is a problem, acknowledge it. People are fine with mishaps, but more so when you call it out. Don't panic or fall into the 'it's all a disaster' cycle. Be calm, call it out and move on as best you can. Being human about it allows the audience to relax too. You set the tone. It's a great place to be in.

The workshop experience is about learning for the participants and the facilitator. All types of opportunities to learn will arise to do so. When we perceive learning as play, we have fun and discover new adventures with whatever comes our way.

Be inspired by people passionate about learning and practicing something new and discovering their expertise; we might learn something ourselves. Reality forms when we take that seemingly impossible step with trust in ourselves. The action itself of moving through fear returns with grace and informs the next and the next step. We make dreams real by listening to the quiet inner voice amongst the noise that says yes, you can do it. We demonstrate bravery and risk looking like a fool at times when we put ourselves out there. From what I've learned, practice is the only way to learn anything, notably about ourselves and our potential. Dreams only come true when we practice, practice, and always remember to have fun doing it!