Here are the Top 5 Pitfalls That Facilitators Often Fall Into:

1. Not knowing your audience’s needs: You have to interview or conduct focus groups with your audience to understand their needs. I prefer 1-1 interviews that are confidential and can even be anonymous. This builds the trust between participants and facilitator and allows for a more honest, dynamic conversation. Build your workshop around their needs. Failing to adequately prepare for the session by researching the topic, understanding the audience, and creating a structured agenda can lead to a disorganized and ineffective session.

2. Poor time management: Not allocating enough time for key topics or activities, or allowing discussions to go off-track, can result in important items being rushed or neglected. Effective time management is crucial for a smooth and productive session.

3. Inadequate engagement: You, as the facilitator, are NOT the star of the show even though you might be on stage or at the front of the room. The best facilitators are incidental to the conversation, allow for peer-to-peer education, and deftly guide the group without being too seen. Facilitators who dominate the conversation, fail to involve all participants, or rely too heavily on one-way lecturing may struggle to keep the audience engaged and interested.

4. Bias or lack of neutrality: A facilitator's personal biases or strong opinions on the topic can undermine their ability to remain neutral and objective. This can lead to a lack of trust and credibility with the participants.

5. Poor conflict management: Failing to anticipate and effectively manage conflicts, disagreements, or disruptive behavior among participants can derail the session and create an unproductive or hostile environment.