Here's how you can showcase your expertise and credibility in facilitation.

Facilitation is the process of making something easy. Not for you, someone else. So when it applies to facilitating a meeting, it's not about you, it's all about them. The best facilitation is almost transparent. People don't notice it and they give themselves the credit for successful outcomes.

Algo que también es importante es la exploración de metodologías o marcos de trabajo altervativos que puedan ser gradualmente incorporados a nuestra facilitación, generando mayor valor para nuestros aprendices. Mientras más experiencia tengamos en trabajar bajo premisas y escenarios distintos, estaremos en mayor capacidad de manejar las contingencias que puedan presentarse pues la facilitación nunca está libre de ellas. De igual manera, podremos elegir de manera más eficaz, con que perfil de aprendices podemos utilizar o no herramientas, dinámicas, ejercicios de un corte específico.

I think a great facilitator could be compared to a music conductor. You need to understand your craft and practice, practice, practice. As a facilitator, I know I'm not the star of the session. My participants are the stars. My job is to use whatever techniques i can to guide them to make decisions or define actions or plans - to make the music. It requires active listening, energy, resilience, patience, and a toolkit to ensure everyone in the room has a voice. It's about managing time effectively, personalities, and navigating feelings/politics in the room. My most successful sessions have been when I've been able to keep participants engaged through humor and curiosity to uncover root cause and get to outcomes.

Share facilitation insights through blogs, podcasts, or speaking engagements to establish credibility and position yourself as a thought leader in the field.

Publiez des articles de blog, des livres blancs car partager vos idées et vos expériences avec un public plus large renforce votre position d'expert. Utilisez les réseaux sociaux pour diffuser vos insights et engagez-vous dans des discussions en ligne pour échanger des perspectives avec d'autres professionnels. Les webinaires et les conférences sont également d'excellentes plateformes pour partager votre expertise, les sujets sont très variées et la multitudes de plateformes disponibles gratuitement facilite l'accès et le partage d'idées.

As with any experience (personal and professional), I'd like to be well-versed in who my audience is and which aspect, as a subject matter expert, could add to building a great conscience. For me, leading with credibility, not your credentials, is more authentic. Aiding in group resources and conversation before offering my credentials allows me to bridge a more relaxed atmosphere regardless of the content of the discussion.

Sharing about my experience got me seen by others and my credibility grew, I also made sessions quite interactive and hands on/exploratory with real life examples.

The 3As to feed-forward in my facilitation continuum ~~~ Awareness with gentle curiosity + Assessment if the comments are valid; and if Yes + Action for the next facilitation. Be intentional. Practise + more practice (???)

It starts with being self aware and being open to receiving feedback. Consistently asking for and then reflecting on feedback provided is vital. Perhaps there are opportunities for improvement, perhaps there are reasons to celebrate your successes as a facilitator. As a facilitator, I have found that each group I lead is unique and amazing in its own way. It’s a joy to lead them through a class, workshop etc and getting their feedback is essential to ongoing personal development.

TL;DR Don't leave feedback open to interpretation, ask for what you want. Make it EASY for others to give you feedback. It's often uncomfortable and challenging to critique others openly or reflect on areas for improvement; make it simple for folks to give you feedback by creating a template. Have them fill out a form that asks the following: 1. On a scale of 1-10, how helpful were my facilitation skills for your team/event/program/etc? 2. What is one thing I did well and should continue to do in the future? 3. What is one thing I should change in order to get closer to a 10 or improve my skills? By using a format similar to this, you are much more likely to receive valuable feedback that can aid you in improving your facilitation skills.

I usually ask for feedback at the end of sessions and that have been quite helpful for future projects. I usually ask for what went and what didn't go well through an anonymous tool like slido or mentimeter and collate it for my website.

Receiving constructive feedback after facilitating a session is invaluable for improving the facilitation process. It provides specific insights into what was effective and what could be enhanced, enabling the facilitator to refine their approach. Feedback should cover areas such as clarity and engagement of the presentation, effectiveness of communication, audience interaction, time management, and adaptability to unforeseen issues. Additionally, it should address the facilitator's ability to meet the session's objectives and respond to participant needs. This comprehensive feedback allows the facilitator to make targeted adjustments, enhancing their skills and ensuring future sessions are more impactful and smoothly executed.

With over 6 years of facilitation experience, I specialize in facilitation skills through structured, engaging workshops. For example, I led a team-building and capacity building session that significantly improved my collaboration and productivity. I firmly believe that effective facilitation transforms teams by clear communication, collaboration, and actionable results.

De mon point de vue, il n'y a qu'une seule certification valable en facilitation : l'expérience. Un facilitateur formé, quel que soit son niveau, et qui n'a jamais mis en ?uvre, jamais expérimenté un groupe hostile, qui n'a jamais du rebondir, réadapter ce qu'il avait prévu ou composer avec des participants qui n'ont pas envie d'être là, ce facilitateur là n'a pas forcément une grande valeur stratégique, tactique ou opérationnelle. Il convient de les détecter, de les former, de les animer, mais surtout de les aider à préparer des ateliers et à leur permettre de se mettre en situation. C'est la qu'il vont créer de la valeur, c'est la préparation et l'animation d'un atelier qui crée de la valeur.

Certification are relevant although many certifying organizations have now turned the renewal process into a lucrative business, so whilst certifications are relevant people come first.

Obtain recognized facilitation certifications to demonstrate dedication and expertise in the field. Highlight certifications on your resume or LinkedIn profile to communicate credibility and commitment to excellence.

No real need for certification - a little training helps - but like a lot of skills - avoid people selling stuff especially those who haven’t had world class experience and just get out there and do it.

In addition to engaging networks, demonstrating thought leadership is a powerful way to showcase your expertise and credibility in facilitation. This could involve sharing your insights and experiences through blogs, articles, webinars, or speaking engagements. By contributing valuable content to your field, you not only establish yourself as an expert, but also help others in the community learn and grow. This proactive sharing of knowledge can enhance your reputation, expand your influence, and reinforce your credibility in the field of facilitation. Remember, thought leadership is not just about knowing your craft, but also about contributing to the broader conversation and driving the field forward.

Construire et entretenir un réseau professionnel solide est crucial pour établir et maintenir sa crédibilité. Participez à des associations professionnelles, des groupes de discussion en ligne, et des événements de l'industrie pour élargir votre réseau. Collaborer avec d'autres experts permet non seulement de partager des connaissances, mais aussi de renforcer votre réputation par association avec des figures respectées du domaine.

This type of access should be commonplace; however, it is not. Bringing diversity and offering inclusion into some of these spaces would allow other groups to learn and become more versed in engaging networks and the ability to build more excellent networks within this ecosystem.

This is just a standard AI paragraph - talk about motherhood and apple pie! Of course you need to network - a bit like breathing - it’s pretty important

Engaging the audience I believe is highly reflective of one’s knowledge and expertise! It lets your audience feel seen and appreciated

Be authentically you, raw and real. Your audience will see that and they will connect with it. This is how we build trust. Be vulnerable and watch the group connect in a genuine way. I look at as if I am building a relationship with each person in the room. One person and a time. I allow them to see ME and really see them. The see the purse joy I have in connecting with them, a joy that cannot be learned in a class or taught. Be you. Every time, with every person.

One thing that always works to gain confidence is sharing why you are the right facilitator for them. I always share my experience of how I learnt by doing the work at ground level which shows my understanding of my participants' reality. I also share the experiences from my previous sessions so they can identify with others. Also, encourage them to reflect and share, which can often bring a common thread among all participants. This helps everyone let go of inhibitions and open up to make the best of session.

Leadership requires humble reflection. Asking yourself the hard questions is the best approach to transferring power. The more you reflect on the needs and development of others, the better you can plan for their development and success, by asking them the best questions for reflection. Therefore, there is a diametric between reflection and questions, both within and among teams.

How would you reflect without authenticity? Such an overused word as to render it almost meaningless. Just have a wee think about what you’ve been doing and if people get something from it and you are doing your best - get on with it. This can really help people.

As a facilitator you must understand your content, your participants and how these two things intersect. But more importantly you must understand yourself and how your experience as a person and a professional intersects with your content and participants. Understanding yourself and being authentic to this self is how good facilitators empower participants to undertake their own learning journeys.

As a facilitator, we should "showcase" our expertise and credibility in facilitation by ensuring the focus is on the emergence in the room, not on ourselves ;-) No showcasing, thanks! All egos, check them at the door.

First, think about your audience. What is the experience of your audience for the session being facilitated and what are their expectations? As a facilitator, having a working knowledge of the topic in question is extremely helpful, though the role of the facilitator and subject matter expert, are not necessarily the same. A skilled facilitator engages with their audience, guiding the discussion, stimulating and reflecting as the session unfolds. Your expertise and credibility in facilitation can be measured by the impact you have on your audience. Feedback whether by post-discussion and/or surveys will be helpful, and of course, always strive for continual improvement and learn from observation, self-awareness and humility.

Develop your unique approach, so others are clear that you are the right choice for what they have in mind. Your personal style, how you prepare and design your session, the tools, exercises and types of content you use and how you ensure inclusivity. From storytelling, to film and interaction with your audience. How you start and how you finish. How you treat others and how you aim to make them feel. The journey you take people on and the outcome you are seeking to achieve together. Remember to keep checking in and stepping back at key moments - are you on track, do you need to respond to something unexpected, does this require change? Is your audience engaged? Enjoy - the magic of unlocking wisdom and potential in others.

There is presenting and there is facilitation. The latter builds connections with people, it’s the art of communication in action. Presenting is reading a PowerPoint - anyone can do that. Facilitation requires you to not only know the topic you are talking about in depth but to also be able to read people, allow them to take you on a journey - all while keeping the end in mind. Facilitation is building GENUINE and authentic relationships along the way and when you really love it and have a passion for it like I do…the group sees it and they FEEL it. It’s electric.

Recently I just finished one group of additive recovery workshop with amazing souls. Instead of leading and asking them all magical questions. Finally they are able to see the light of the tunnel for them to accept where they fell down. So they can pick themselves up at that point again. They show their grateful heart. I told them. Please thank you to yourself first. Because you are the first one who accepted to be helped. I withness their amazing being transformed after few sessions with their open growth mindset.. Being facilitator. We give them space to respond to the wave of frequency. Light of love ??