People you meet in workshops. Which one are you?

I must have trained over a thousand people now, in topics like writing for the web, social media and email marketing. It's been for everyone from big organisations like Government Digital Services, the University of Cambridge and Sony, to the small business owners who come to publicly funded sessions, attended #RunDMSue digital marketing workshops, and follow Sookio School courses online.

I rather love it - seeing those penny-drop moments as the fog suddenly clears, being asked difficult questions and thinking up good examples on the fly, and of course meeting all these interesting people along the way.

But over time, I've discovered that the group dynamic in these sessions is always shaped by common personality types. Do any of these feel familiar to you? Maybe you recognise yourself in these descriptions. Do comment below if there's anyone I've missed!

The Dominator

People can dominate for a good reason. Let's say you turn up and there's the friendly, easygoing chap with the big laugh who puts a whole roomful of people at ease. A walking, chortling icebreaker. They might dominate the session, but in a positive way.

Or sometimes, you get someone who talks. And talks. And talks! To the point where the atmosphere in the room starts to get noticeably frosty every time they pipe up.

It's important here to remember these other people - they've paid for the course too. If you're new to running training sessions it's easy to get intimidated by a Dominator, but you can't let this happen. You need to rein them in.

Tip! Play to their FOML; Fear Of Missing Lunch.

Say: "I feel terrible butting in, but we've really got to keep to time so we don't overrun and find all the food's gone! So let's keep moving - but do come and grab me in the break and we can chat over a sandwich."

The Expert

This person has got a lot of experience in this area, and they really want you to know it. Which is fine! You want to be able to assess the level of knowledge in the room.Too basic? People will start rolling their eyes and muttering about how they've heard it all before.

Too advanced? They'll be too embarrassed to ask questions and will come away not having learned anything.

So an Expert can be handy in helping you get that level right. But in their desire to get across how well-informed they are, they can sometimes be a little...how shall I put this diplomatically...disruptive.

They might try to get one up on the workshop host by contradicting what they're saying. Or they might talk at length about a particular tool or technique that isn't necessarily relevant to everyone else.

Worse, they might put people down who ask for a 'basic' term to be explained, or criticise how they run their business. I've had this a few times and you can sense the discomfort in the air! It actually crackles.

Tip! Bring The Expert into the conversation early on, and ask for their insights. Then at least they feel like everyone appreciates their level of expertise and you're less likely to spend the rest of the session butting heads.

The Slumper

Pro-tip; never run a workshop just after lunch. Especially if it's somewhere with a canteen that serves roast dinners, stodgy pies and rib-sticking puddings. Come 2.30pm, the blood sugar levels will drop sharply and eyelids start to droop. Very offputting.

Nothing worse than a little voice in your head telling you that everyone's bored out of their minds - even if this isn't the case.

Not only can these Slumpers throw you off your stride, they can have a negative effect on people around them. Energy, people, we want energy!

Tip! A good way to up enthusiasm levels is to start waving your hands around a lot. Click your fingers to emphasise a point. Say someone's name and ask a direct question. If you can get some banter going, that's good too. Time to bring out your inner stand-up comedian.

But the best way to avoid an afternoon slump is through better planning. Think up an activity that gets everyone up on their feet and walking around. Get people in groups, give them sticky notes to rearrange or building blocks to play with. Anything that shakes up the room and brings your Slumper back to life!

The Non-Believer

This person doesn't want to be there. They don't see the point of it. They've got other more important things to be doing. You've got the folded arms, the rolled eyes, the fidgeting. They'll rebel against HR by ostentatiously checking their email all day and sighing.

Social media sessions have a high probability of a Non-Believer being in the room. They start the day with assumptions that it's all about people tweeting about what they had for lunch, or that it's full of abusive trolls.

Sometimes the Non-Believer and the Dominator can be the same person, in which case you've got problems. Not only do they put you off, but they cause this ripple effect where people around them who were genuinely excited about the day start to look a bit dejected.

Tip! Look for The Enthusiast.

The Enthusiast is your friend. The Enthusiast is great at counteracting these cynical vibes.

There was this digital marketing workshop I was running - funded by the council and free for small business owners - where this chap was really huffing and puffing his way through it. Then a miracle happened. A woman in the room interrupted him to explain how she'd she'd launched her business, got on Twitter and found new customers the very same week.

Because it came from her, rather than the person running the workshop, it held much more value to this Non-Believer. It was peer-to-peer advice, rather than top down. His attitude really changed, and he was much more positive throughout the rest of the session.

As someone who genuinely wants to share the knowledge and offer something useful to people, and it's really satisfying when I see this happening. A Non-Believer turns into a Nearly Enthusiast before my very eyes!

The Questioner

On the face of it, the Questioner is brilliant. Sometimes people can be too shy to speak up. No one wants to speak first. You say, "Has anyone got any thoughts on this?" and you're met with silence.

So The Questioner is great at getting the conversation started and making people feel like they can speak up.

But! A Questioner can often ask too many questions. Or odd questions that don't seem to have any connection to what we've been talking about. Or they can be really specific, niche questions that aren't relevant to everyone everyone else.

As a workshop host this can be a bit awkward. You don't want to dampen their enthusiasm but you also want to run to time (well, we all have FOML).

Tip! Say at the start of the workshop that questions as we go are great, but if there's anything lengthy or very particular to your own project, then we can always run through them at the end.

This also helps me out later, if The Questioner gets into a chatty mood - I can just refer back to what I said in the introduction. They're happy, I'm happy, and everyone else in the room is happy too!

The Sponge

This person can surprise you. They can be hard to read. They listen intently, and you may be unsure as to whether they're finding the content fascinating, or thinking that everything you're saying is rubbish.

If you're new to running training, that inner monologue can be a devil for getting you putting you off your stride when things were actually going quite well.

However! The great thing about Sponges is that they're sitting there absorbing everything, and later on in the session they ask a really insightful question that generates a really productive discussion.

Or they take a really active part in a group activity, helping it stay on track so people stick to the brief rather than getting sidetracked.

Tip! Look out for quietly brilliant people like this, and draw them into the conversation earlier. Otherwise, you don't benefit from their contributions until the last half hour or something, which is a real shame.

When I run a workshop I'm continually reading the room and looking for signals that someone might have something interesting to say. You don't want to put them on the spot and feel uncomfortable, so you want to soften your approach a little.

"Sarah, this looks like something you might have come across" or, "Ian, have you found that this has been a challenge for businesses like yours?" can be good ways of drawing out their insights.

And last of all, the total hero...

The IT Guy

And it is a guy every single time, so don't @ me about this.

No matter how much prep you do for a session, you can't be 100% confident until the actual day that all the tech will run smoothly. No matter if I bring the presentation on a USB stick, on my laptop, with HDMI and VGA cables and an adapter, there's still something that can go wrong.

Like the workshop I ran the other day, where I hadn't been able to set up in advance of the attendees arriving. I casually plugged my laptop into the socket in the middle of the table and, "GGGGGGNNNNNNNRRRRRRRAAAAAAHHHHHHHH"

It was like mic feedback but at a volume I'd never heard before. It was so loud! And it wouldn't stop! One woman ran to the other side of the room, covering her ears, while the rest of us were unplugging everything, pressing every switch, anything we could do to make it stop.

Then, IT Guy turned up, opened a special cupboard, pressed something and...silence.

So even though they're not usually part of the workshops themselves, I see them as an integral part of their success.

Tip! Remember your manners and say thank you.

So, which workshop attendee are you? Do you recognise any of the above characters? If you're a workshop host, what tips can you share about encouraging a positive group dynamic?

And if you aren't quite ready for a workshop yet, why not try an online course? We've just launched Sookio School - bitesize courses in digital marketing for you to follow online at your own pace. Sign up to our first courses Digital Marketing for Events and Blogging for Business to get started!