First Time Facilitator

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12 months ago, there is no way I would have committed to delivering 3.5 hour virtual workshops. I thought it was virtually impossible to keep up my own energy and engagement for that length of time.

This year however, I worked with a client on revamping our 3 day leadership program.  We sliced it to 4 x 3.5 hour modules. I’ve been delivering these sessions over the last few months, and I’ve learnt a ton from the experience.

That’s what I’m sharing this week on the podcast!

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About your host: Leanne Hughes

Leanne Hughes is an international facilitator, speaker and coach who loves creating unpredictable workshop experiences, that predictably work. 

She combines her experience in Marketing, with her education in Human Resources and Psychology, to help leaders create engaging everyday experiences - that are so contagious they scale across teams, functions and regions.

Leanne has facilitated leadership, onboarding and team-development workshops across Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, and Singapore and believes in a strengths-centred approach to learning and development.  She has over 14 years’ of experience across a range of industries including mining, government and tourism sectors.

She’s the host of the First Time Facilitator podcast and was a finalist in the 2018 Australian Learning Impact awards for Learning Professional of the Year.

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When I ran my masterclass on booking out your workshops recently, I used a variety of tech tools to gain interaction from the live audience.  

I asked you to share your responses in chat, and also to jump into a tool called Slido, to ask your questions, upvote the ones you liked, share where you were joining us from, which facilitator business challenges you had, and more. 

It’s such a fun tool to use, and I’ve been leaning on it over the last 12 months as I deliver corporate workshops online.

So, I’m very excited to share a delightful conversation with a delightful person who is Employee #8 at Slido.  I’m not sure if you’ve heard the news but this company has just blown up in an amazing way and were acquired by Cisco last December.

Today’s guest is Juraj Holub, and he is a Chief Meeting Designer. 

Juraj is an executive team member at Slido which has made over 800,000 events interactive. He works with conferences like Web Summit or SXSW and Fortune 500 companies helping them transform their meetings and events. He also crossed Iceland by bicycle.

He was also first marketing person to accelerate the company's product-led growth and position Slido as a thought leader in the industry.

When you talk to someone who is like the face of the company, you kinda expect them to go on about how great their work is, how great the tech tool is (and it really is awesome technology) but what I love most about what Juraj shares today, is how their company became better because they listened to their clients.

They sought out amazing facilitators around the world, and asked how THEY would use their tool in a meeting, or a workshop. 

Juraj is also super humble, fun, and energetic, you’ll love this conversation.

About today’s guest: Juraj Holub

During his 7+ years at Slido, Juraj has been part of an amazing journey, helping to grow the company form $100.000 to eight-figures in revenue. He'd had an incredible career trajectory, joining as a content specialist, then he moved to New York City as a marketing manager, later becoming a marketing director and was finally promoted to the VP of brand and communications while being on Slido's executive team.

Over the years, he’s  spoken at dozens of conferences in the US, UK and EU sharing thought leadership on meeting design, conversational presenting and audience interaction.

In this episode you will learn:

• How you can use tech tools to give your audience a voice
• Some fun question you can ask to build a strong culture in your company and recognise the silent heroes in your business
• The importance of focusing on the success of your customers
• How Juraj learns the most about leading a remote team - note, it’s not really from any book
• That beautiful blend of marketing and facilitation - my favourite combination
• …And of course, a couple fun questions you can use w/ Slido during your next event!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Slido app
• Connect with Juraj Holub on LinkedIn
• What do our meetings look like in 2021? Grab the Slido 2021 Trends Report
• Video: The Essentials of Running Hybrid Meetings with Leanne Hughes | MASTERCLASS
• Slido’s Meeting Zombies video (hilarious - I love it!)
• Leanne’s article for Slido: Facilitating Great Meetings: 10+ Tips That Work

Your name can feature on Leanne's Wall of Work Fame.

Just pre-order her book by 30 Sep 2026; and follow the details to claim your star.

Also, there are a ton of bulk order incentives as well!

Support the show

Send Leanne a message

His career began in public policy with the Ministry of Justice before a life-changing role with Lifehack, a systems-level initiative for supporting the wellbeing of young New Zealanders.  He then co-managed the Nelson branch of Literacy Aoteroa before being drawn to the variety of Business Lab’s work.

• Visit Business Lab
• Connect with Paul McGregor on LinkedIn
• Listen to the Beyond Consultation Podcast

Your name can feature on Leanne's Wall of Work Fame.

Just pre-order her book by 30 Sep 2026; and follow the details to claim your star.

Also, there are a ton of bulk order incentives as well!

Support the show

Send Leanne a message

What if landing a DREAM gig was a joyful experience?

If you have your own training and facilitation business, or dreams of starting one up while you just try to survive your corporate job, today's bonus episode will provide a ton of inspiration for you.

Prina Shah was brave to sign up for my little experiment, seeing if I could help others land more workshop engagements, using my Booked Out Facilitator framework.

She used the tips in Module 3 to land a variety of AMAZING gigs, and you'll get to hear how she did that in this episode!

If you'd like to be part of the first Booked Out Facilitator LIVE program, doors close on Monday 21 June. Find out more and watch my free masterclass replay over at https://www.bookedoutfacilitator.com .

Reach out to Prina Shah, she's awesome! You can find her on LinkedIn, Instagram, or her website.

Your name can feature on Leanne's Wall of Work Fame.

Just pre-order her book by 30 Sep 2026; and follow the details to claim your star.

Also, there are a ton of bulk order incentives as well!

Support the show

Send Leanne a message

Is it possible to test the emotional temperature of your virtual/workshop group?  Today’s guest share her ideas, and fun ways of reinvigorating her virtual sessions. She’s an absolute rockstar and I cant wait to share her facilitation story and experiences on today’s episode.

I met Nikki Bush when I was lucky enough to present a workshop for the Professional Speakers Association of South Africa (Jo’burg Chapter) a couple of months ago. We got along so well (thanks for the intro, Yoke!). I love Nikki's enthusiasm, resilience, presence, wisdom and her energy which you’ll pick up in today’s episode for sure.

About today’s guest: Nikki Bush

Human Potential and Parenting Expert, Nikki Bush from https://nikkibush.com/   empowers individuals, families and teams in business and education to win at work, home and life. She has the knack of putting difficult, complex and sensitive topics on the table (ones we often prefer to avoid), and making them accessible, such as disruption, future-proofing, dealing with loss and adversity, team dynamics, self-leadership, parenting and more. 

Nikki’s book on disruption, Future-proof Yourself (Penguin Random House) hits the shelves in July 2021.

(Comment from Leanne - I have a version of this book and the actionable tips across all aspects of work and life are spot on!)

Nikki has also has co-authored four best-selling parenting books with major publishers, including, Future-proof Your Child for the 2020s and Beyond, Tech-Savvy Parenting and Easy Answers to Awkward Questions . She has fielded almost 3 000 media interviews in the past 15 years. You may have seen or heard her on her weekly slots on Radio 702 and SABC3’s Expresso among many others.

Nikki always speaks with energy, passion, self-deprecating humour and a disarming honesty and vulnerability. She packs a powerful sound bite whether from the stage or the 18 different virtual conferencing platforms she has experience with. Your audience will be left with valuable insights and practical solutions to help them to win at work and life. 

Nikki is a founding member of the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa (PSASA), holds the international Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation, and was inducted into the Speakers Hall of Fame in 2019 – the first woman in South Africa to ever receive it. She was the 2020/21 President of the Johannesburg Chapter of the PSASA.

For more information and a full length bio, visit Nikki’s website. 

In this episode you will learn how to:

• Use the drivers of human nature to enhance your workshop experiences
• Detect the emotional temperature of your audience, even when you’re in a virtual workshop
• Boost the interactivity with your audience
• Increase your profile, to appear in media outlets (without using a PR agency) 

Here are some questions I asked Nikki during the conversation:

• Can you tell us the story of how you got here and where you started from?
• You talk about getting set up for remote work, you mention that one time you’re in a call, a parrot escaped and landed on your head. Talk us through that, how did you recover? Did you embrace it? What did you do next?
• What’s your advice to our listeners to create that engagement?

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Visit Nikki Bush’s website
• Connect with Nikki Bush on LinkedIn

Your name can feature on Leanne's Wall of Work Fame.

Just pre-order her book by 30 Sep 2026; and follow the details to claim your star.

Also, there are a ton of bulk order incentives as well!

Support the show

Send Leanne a message

Free masterclass 16 June > Steal my Booked Out Facilitator framework to land repeatable workshop bookings

This week, I'm continuing the momentum from last week's solo episode, and responding to a listener question about how to create momentum and drive word of mouth, so that you can book out more workshops.

Here’s the question I received this week:

"Hello! I have no idea how to turn our initial client workshop into multiple ones.
Our clients and participants loved the day, and we have a few months of follow up because the technical implementation is important to them... 
But how do I now get others in? 
I know they have a lot more people in their organisation, who need our work.
I don't want to just wait and have it fizzle out..."

• Click here for show notes
• Don't forget to join The Flipchart community on Facebook
• Let's connect on LinkedIn
• See what services I provide over at leannehughes.com

Register now for my free webinar on 16 June 2021: Steal my Booked Out Facilitator framework to land repeatable workshop bookings 

Support the show (https://buymeacoffee.com/leannehughes)

Your name can feature on Leanne's Wall of Work Fame.

Just pre-order her book by 30 Sep 2026; and follow the details to claim your star.

Also, there are a ton of bulk order incentives as well!

Support the show

Send Leanne a message

Today is a solo, just in time episode, on something that I’ve probably been a bit shy in sharing.

However, when I’ve been on listening tours, and spoken to you, and even now in my foundation round of my new online program, Booked Out Facilitator, it seems a common challenge I hear is that it’s really hard to decide (and then define) what you actually do.

This actually comes to life more so when you start messaging and promoting and website building.

It’s not a messaging problem, it’s a decision problem.

I empathise so much with this, as I continually question it for myself: "What are you doing Leanne? Where are you progressing? Stop being so vague!"

No one has agonised over this harder than me.

Sometimes I even wish someone would tell me what to focus on, and make that decision for me. Crazy, right?

In today's episode, I pull on my explorer hat, and take you behind the scenes of conversations I've had, tools I've used, questions I've answered to help navigate my uncertainty. I share it in the hope that it helps provide you with some clarity and direction!

Don't forget to join The Flipchart community on Facebook
Let's connect on LinkedIn
See what services I provide over at leannehughes.com

Your name can feature on Leanne's Wall of Work Fame.

Just pre-order her book by 30 Sep 2026; and follow the details to claim your star.

Also, there are a ton of bulk order incentives as well!

Support the show

Send Leanne a message

What I love about my conversation with today’s guest is his knack and ability for jumping in, trying things, being open for the possibilities. 

I think that’s an incredibly important facilitator skill and he demonstrates it, not only with the way he runs his business and facilitates workshops, but his life as well!

My guest today is Jimbo Clark from Innogreat.

In this conversation, Jim also shares how he got started in facilitation and pretty much self-funded his experience, how he facilitates mindset change and really values connection over content in his workshops. Probably

As you’ll hear, Jimbo’s goal is to be a catalyst of creative change, to support those he comes in contact with, to become who they need to be, to answer the burning questions of their lives.

Psst…Jimbo is sharing TWO amazing offers for First Time Facilitator listeners - yeaaah!

20% off Upgrade your B❒X: The Hybrid Experience

This session combines:

a) what we've learned from running hundreds of face to face B❒X sessions, and

b) what we learned in the last 18 months running more than 100 virtual sessions

into a bundled hybrid product that kicks box.

Jimbo is offering 20% off the already discounted pre-release price

How to claim? Navigate to: https://box.innogreat.com/upgrade-your-box/

Use coupon code: upgradel2

If you can't attend a session, Jimbo is also happy to provide 50% off his book, which is also available here.

Coupon Code: boxbook50

In this episode you will learn how to:

• Create shifts in our own mindset
• Create connections between content and participants
• Jump in and be okay with learning as you go!
• Start building your brand and business, paying attention to what clients actually want

Click here for show notes.

Love the podcast?

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Your name can feature on Leanne's Wall of Work Fame.

Just pre-order her book by 30 Sep 2026; and follow the details to claim your star.

Also, there are a ton of bulk order incentives as well!

Support the show

Send Leanne a message

Building a training business! We think we need to do all those things like cold call people, have the best one-liners, be on social media all of the time.

Mark Garrett Hayes is my guest today and he shares that there are other ways you can build your training business, which doesn’t rely on what we traditionally think we should do.

Mark is the founder of TrainingBusiness.com, a Media and Education platform serving facilitators, trainers, coaches, consultants, learning & development consultants and human development experts around the world, to start, scale and grow their business!

I was  a guest on Mark’s show last month and loved our conversation around building a business, and wanted to continue it and hear his strategies for outreach and connecting with clients, to create a profitable training business, his podcast, Training Business is a fantastic source of inspiration to help you out with this, too.

What I love about this conversation is how we can use our masterful skill of facilitation to grow our business. It really is the best skill around.

Mark drops some fantastic, memorable one-liners too, some of my favourites include:

• Acronym BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timing)

• Sales - reframing it, calling it a service, making it fun, more accessible, and creative, too

• References, referrals and recommendations - the difference and which ones you should pursue.

Mark specialises in working with inside sales teams (telesales / digital sales) in technology businesses and has collective experience in working with professional services (legal / finance) and online retail business.

His team works with business internationally and the beauty of working with telephone sales people is that we can deliver sales training / sales coaching online remotely whether your business is in the US, UK, EU and APAC.

• Easeful systems and frameworks for generating and qualifying leads

• A realistic timeframe for building your business

• How to promote yourself without talking about yourself!

• Knowing your ICP - Ideal Customer Profile

Your name can feature on Leanne's Wall of Work Fame.

Just pre-order her book by 30 Sep 2026; and follow the details to claim your star.

Also, there are a ton of bulk order incentives as well!

Support the show

Send Leanne a message

This week, we’re talking about a topic that isn’t really talked about, and today’s guest is on a mission to change that. 

(A quick heads up if you’re listening, in this episode we’re talking about suicide, and how to starting a conversation if you’re worried about someone).

My guest is Rose Allett, and she is the face behind Start the Conversation. She’s a qualified counsellor, mum of one, keen yogi and singer (amongst other things!) and also a passionate, experienced and international tutor of suicide prevention skills.

In this conversation, I’m curious to discover how Rose creates trust quickly with her groups, particularly in the virtual world, and how she starts a conversation around a sensitive topic. We also dive into being a business owner and the importance of having an abundance mindset- valuing collaboration, over competition.

Rose is also the co-creator of Talking about Suicide: Ten Tools (TAS10), a 90-minute Zoom session , Accredited tutor of Suicide First Aid through Understanding Suicide Intervention, the UK's only National Qualification in suicide prevention, a consultant tutor for the National Centre for Suicide Prevention Training UK CIC, as well as A LivingWorks master trainer, having delivered over 35 ASIST programme across both hemispheres.

She actively promotes and deliver suicide prevention skills training within our communities because we are all human beings and because suicide doesn't discriminate. 

As you’ll hear in this conversation, Rose is passionate about empowering people to overcome their fears and find the words to talk about suicide, because she believes... she knows... that talking saves lives. It saved hers. 

And not just talking, listening too. A conversation; a brave, bold and necessary conversation. 

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• Support the show, shout Leanne a coffee!

Your name can feature on Leanne's Wall of Work Fame.

Just pre-order her book by 30 Sep 2026; and follow the details to claim your star.

Also, there are a ton of bulk order incentives as well!

Support the show