Some tips on faciltation

I had the opportunity to facilitate a leader program that span over a week the past month. I received great feedback from the delegate, which is always welcome. 

Here are my top lessons learned from the session:

·         Preparation: few things can go wrong (and even if they do you know how to handle them better) when you are prepared for a session. This includes understanding exactly what is expected from you in the session, and a few dry runs in your head wont hurt! If you can get to understand your delegates before they walk into the room.

·         Humor: bringing in humor at appropriate times is a great tool. My personal favorite is finding suitable funny ads on you tube. Use this as delegates come back from break times to refocus, or as quick energizers.  While we are at it, find suitable Ice breakers. Use it continuously throughout the session. It helps to control the energy whenever you see that the energy levels are dropping.

·         Tonality and voice issues: nothing is more irritating when a facilitator goes into a “Lecture” mode, control your voice and tonality.

·         Stop impressing: its a hard pill to swallow but sometimes we just need to remember that we are not there to impress delegates, we are there to facilitate their knowledge path. Stick to it.

·         Names: learn delegates names fast, and use it often. Ditch the corny name tags and think of creative ways for people to introduce themselves. Use name “boards” in front of them if you have to – especially if the session is stretch over a few days.

·         Stay tunes in: sometime we need to facilitate boring content. Liven it up by reading relevant articles on the subject.

·         Breaks: taken ample breaks. We can only concentrate for so long. I hate it when sessions go on for three hours none stop. I bet nobody is really learning anything.

·         Props: use props in your room as far as possible

·         Learning styles: remember to cater for all the learning styles.   

·         Social networks: use social networks in the room by creating a specific social media account just for the session, and ask delegates to participate on the network. Ideally you should have someone checking the updates and responding to it.  Or use your breaks time to respond.