Bringing it all together

We’ve all sat through a terrible presentation last thing on a Friday afternoon and thought to ourselves, ‘there is nowhere I’d rather be less than here, right now.’ And it’s true: when we feel there isn’t clear engagement with us, the audience, we lose motivation to listen and learn. This comes down to the facilitator – maybe that’s the presenter, but it could also be a meeting Chair, a CEO, or a team leader – not understanding how to effectively reach us.

So, the question is, why do people continue to give uninspiring and unengaging presentations or talks?

To answer that question, we’ve written a ‘choose your own adventure’ blog. Here’s how it works: first, read each bolded statement below and figure out if it applies to you. If it does, continue reading the entire point and then move to the next; if it doesn’t, simply move on to the next point until you get to the end.

?·??If you’re reading this blog directly after finishing a work-related task: close your emails, close any work-related tabs, and take a deep breath. Shut out that world and come into this world. You probably need a quick reset.

·?????Not in the right headspace to think about facilitation? No problem – bookmark this page and come back to it when you’re ready.

·?????Do you hate reading blocks of text? Watch this TEDx talk by Jay Vogt, who does a great job of explaining key principles of facilitation.

·?????Did you skip that last point, but you actually like watching YouTube videos anyway? You can come along for the ride as well: watch this TEDx talk by Jay Vogt, who does a great job of explaining key principles of facilitation.

·?????Maybe you prefer to learn things at your own pace, or you like longer-form explanations? This bibliography assembled by Dr Amy Climer is a great place to start.

·?????What if you like short and sweet explanations? Well, here’s a nice one: A facilitator has several skillsets they may use to keep a meeting or a training productive, all of which include understanding how best to engage their audience. Facilitation is the implementation of these skills.

·?????Ok, great. What if I want to know a little bit more right now? We’ve got you covered: Companies often undervalue the role of facilitators and how to train people to be effective – probably because everyone thinks that they can lead any type of meeting. This is just not the case (remember that Friday afternoon presentation?) What companies don’t grasp is the multivalent role of a facilitator and the effect they have on delegates. This touches on everything in a meeting: the organisation and creation of an adaptable meeting plan, how key messages are shared, delivering a presentation to a group, rounding it up at the end, igniting and creating discussions, working the room, ensuring members are engaged, among many other things. It’s like a Rubik’s cube: the environment is constantly changing, and it takes skill to align the patterns. This involves listening to your audience, understanding different learning styles, and, most importantly, remaining non-judgemental.

·?????Phew, they do a lot. I prefer itemised top-line summaries. No problem:

o??A facilitator is a person that makes an action or process easy or easier.

o??Facilitation touches everything; training events, workshops, collaborating with colleagues, ensuring meetings run smoothly and are effective. Think agendas, keeping to time, and ensuring everyone has a voice.

o??Good facilitation in conversations means knowing when to listen, when to talk, and how to encourage people in. This means active listening!

o??Understand the ‘power of the pause’. ?Just like in storytelling, it’s about making an impact, but as a facilitator, it’s to help people begin to engage and speak up.

o??Be adaptable; it’s not a ‘one-size fits all’ situation. Just like this list!

o??Encourage interaction and get people to participate. Breaking things up into smaller chunks and introducing different activities will prevent lulls in the meeting/the training event. We’re big advocates of micro-breaks.

o??Think about all the different learning styles and how they might be used to engage your audience - for example visual, oral, linguistic, kinetic. This is a helpful tool when creating presentations and facilitating meetings.

o??Have aims and objectives, recaps, and connect all the information together. Help people see these relationships.

o??Practice, practice, practice – and practice more! You must put theory into practice to get good at it, so just give yourself some time and space.

·?????Did you skip that last bullet because you thought it didn’t apply to you? No worries, but you should probably go back and read it as there are a few pearls of wisdom in those toplines.

So, after all of that, what did you learn? Besides a few tips on facilitation, the biggest messages we hope you’re taking away are understanding your audience members and being adaptable in how to reach them. We promise if you master the art of facilitation then your delegates will be more dynamic, accomplish more, and feel a greater sense of connection with your company.

Did we catch your attention? Wonderful – ask us more about becoming great facilitators, it’s one of our favourite topics.?