First Time Facilitator

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When did I realise I loved talking about group dynamics? When I was 16, at a netball camp, we did a team-building high ropes course together.

Btw - I hate high ropes, but I loved the debriefing part afterwards!

The reason I share this, is because this week’s guest Phil Brown works for an adventure company called High 5 Adventure, and he joined the High 5 team as a lead trainer in 2015. 

Phil will  get you thinking about a lot of things: 

What happens when we graduate from being a first time facilitator, where’s the career progression? 

How do we define what we do to people who are outside our industry? 

And he also shares a really great way of explaining work related to teams, and breaking these into three categories: Team bonding, team building and team development. Clever!

Originally from England, Phil first came to the US in 2008 working as an Outdoor Educator and Challenge Course Coordinator at the New York YMCA Camp. It was here that his love for the Adventure Education field was ignited, discovering the joy and rewards playing and teaching inside and out alongside such a varied range of people, all who benefit from the experience. 

His work in the realms of summer camp, outdoor education, and physical education give him an invaluable perspective for working with of High 5’s varied clientele. 

Phil believes that each experience with every group member is a learning opportunity for him, no matter who he’s working with. He also has a podcast called Vertical Playpen, sharing tips on adventure and experiential learning.

Connect with Phil Brown!

• Email Phil at [email protected]
• Visit High 5’s website
• Listen to Phil’s podcast - Vertical Play Pen

Other helpful links:

• Click here for show notes
• Join The Flipchart community on Facebook (it’s free!)
• Support the host’s ideas and buy Leanne a coffee
• Connect with Leanne Hughes on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Subscribe to Leanne’s YouTube channel

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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!

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Things that are easier said than done: “Just be yourself!” Why is this so hard?

Here are a couple of reasons:

• It’s sometimes hard to see the label when we’re inside the bottle and this creates so
• We’re scared to share who we really are with the world, in case we get rejected...

My guest this week, Leslie Ehm helps people discover their uniqueness and release it into the world. 

As a Former TV host and advertising Creative Director turned training guru, Leslie Ehm has spent decades travelling the globe with her award-winning company Combustion, working with executives and teams from top organizations like Google, Disney, Pepsico, TD Bank, Uber, HBO, Lenovo, and more. 

Fuelled by her unrelenting passion for developing human potential, Leslie is now a Swagger Coach, author of Swagger – Unleash Everything You Are and Become Everything You Want, and a keynote speaker. 

She’s turned technologists into creative forces, bankers into storytellers, and has brought a serious dose of badass-ness to boardrooms everywhere. 

Tune in to Episode 160 of the First Time Facilitator podcast to hear how you can up your confidence and swagger! 

P.s. Oh and that other easier-said-than-done-phrase, “Fake it ‘til you make it?” Leslie thinks that’s baloney!

• See people’s truth to help them to manifest who they really are
• The difference between self-belief and confidence
• Fundamental drivers of swagger
• How to discover your own swagger

• Swagger: Unleash everything you are and become everything you want
• Visit Leslie Ehm’s website
• Connect with Leslie on LinkedIn
• Tweet Leslie to let her know you watched this episode!

Other helpful links:

• Click here for show notes
• Watch the video on YouTube

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!

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Do you rely on your colleagues to provides input and decisions to move a project forward? Do you find that you're constantly chasing people to get things done, and finding it hard to build relationships because you can't catch up with people in person?

Then, this episode is for you.

When we used to do things face to face, and I had to chase a colleague for information, I'd head out for a coffee.

It was semi-strategic. I’d sit at the coffee shop outside of my company’s office. It was a fantastic way of saying hi to people when they were in a good mood (with caffeine, outside, day hadn’t really started), you could easily sneak in a quick question about your project, get an answer, and feel like you’d already won the day.

In a virtual world though, it’s hard to orchestrate these conversations… Or, is it?

In this episode, I share the tactics I’ve used to build relationships and influence people I’ve never met before.

You’ll find this helpful if you’re:

• Having to get people’s time/attention and you’re struggling because they don’t respond to your emails / you don’t have direct authority (you’re influencing / in a dotted line relationship)
• Partnering with an organisation to achieve goals, and you need to work with leaders/subject matter experts, but they’re too busy to give you the input you need to move forward.

• Click here for show notes
• Join The Flipchart community on Facebook (it’s free!)
• Support the host’s ideas and buy Leanne a coffee
• Connect with Leanne Hughes on LinkedIn or Instagram
• Subscribe to Leanne’s YouTube channel

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!

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Digital transformation is so hot right now! And isn’t it amazing that  my guest today suggests that our superpower of facilitation can help create this transformation in organisations?!

Mike Knapp believes there is a better way for business owners and leaders to build their businesses and achieve their big goals.

In this conversation, he shares how he transitioned from the IT guy, to someone who led digital transformational projects, leveraging facilitation to make the change effective.

“Mural Mike” also creates incredible templates using Mural, and he structures these in a way to create stories and contrast in his sessions.  He also shares the importance of energy and how his practice in meditation allows him to create a welcoming space for his groups.

This is a great conversation to listen into if you work in complex organisations implementing change, or you want to step into the world of change management.

• Click here for show notes
• Join The Flipchart, a free Facebook group for First Time Facilitators
• Tweet Leanne your number 1 takeaway!
• Support the ideas behind the show: Buy 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!

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Move over virtual workshops, let’s talk about virtual marathons - more specifically, online events that can span over a couple of days.

It’s a different game, with longer interaction, so how do you maintain your energy, and keep your participants wanting more, too?

This week’s guest is the perfect person to answer this question because she’s been running online events since 2007! I'm joined by Suzi Dafnis, the CEO of HerBusiness, a collaborative online community of women who are growing and scaling a business.

For over 25 years HerBusiness has provided mentoring and training to help women grow a sustainable business.

Her big passion is helping women business owners to create the impact, the income and the results that they want through their business and to do what they love, every day.

She has grown multiple multimillion-dollar businesses, and that hasn’t been by accident.

What struck me from chatting to Suzi is how strategic and intentional she is with all of the things: Having a background in Events, she cleverly uses her workshops to drive incredibly powerful word of mouth marketing opportunities for her business.

Facilitators, solopreneurs...okay, ANYONE organising workshops and virtual experiences, you’ll love this one!

Suzi Dafnis is the CEO of HerBusiness, a collaborative online community of women who are growing and scaling a business.

Her BIG passion is helping women business owners to create the impact, the income and the results that they want through their business and to do what they love, every day.

For over 25 years HerBusiness has provided mentoring and training to help women grow a sustainable business.

Suzi started her first business in the spare room of her home, in her late 20s, with no savings and no business degree, and built that into an $18million business with 45 staff and offices in Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

• Learn more at HerBusiness.com

• Request an invitation to join the HerBusiness Network at herousinessnetwork.com

• Join our community of facilitators from all over the world on our free Facebook group, The Flipchart

• Love the show? Buy Leanne a coffee!
• Click here for show notes / to watch the video interview

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!

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In case you can’t tell, I love conversations. If my life could involve having morning coffees with interesting people, then chatting with other cool people over an afternoon champagne by the water, rinse and repeat every day x 5 days, my life would be complete.

What’s interesting is that I’m really not the best (or interested?) in small talk. I don’t love going to the dog park, because the chitter chatter generally seems to go around in circles, talking about our dogs. That’s cool for a few minutes but we talk about things like what they eat and how they sleep…  

I think I’d enjoy a conversation with today’s guest in a dog park though, because his tagline is all about having conversations that matter.

His name is Jan Keck and he is a self-proclaimed community addict. He is the creator of ASK DEEP QUESTIONS, which started out as a deck of cards to help his friends connect on a camping trip and is now being used to facilitate meaningful conversations through sharing personal stories on every continent around the globe.

You can check out what he does over at http://www.askdeepquestions.com and http://www.jankeck.com

In this conversation, we chat about relationships and which ones we invest in, if it’s possible to create a sense of belonging in an organisation. We dive into chats about redesigning virtual calls, scaling connections online, and btw Jan also has a kick-butt youtube channel, so he shares his tips for camera confidence, as well as advice for first time facilitators.

Jan Keck is a community addict. He is the creator of ASK DEEP QUESTIONS, which started out as a deck of cards to help his friends connect on a camping trip and is now being used to facilitate meaningful conversations through sharing personal stories on every continent around the globe.

Jan’s mission is to help people feel less alone, so by creating experiences, workshops and programs he is fueling the movement for deeper human connection.

Growing up as an only child he found his soul family at summer camp, in sports clubs and even politics. But when he moved from Germany to Canada in his twenties he had to re-create his community from scratch and learned that the fastest way to make deep connections is through meaningful conversations and experiences. 

Jan now lives in Toronto with his wife Natalia (aka Cookie), his son Mika and you can often find him hanging out with his mastermind group, attending community events, or camping up north

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 episode comes with a warning: If you’re not interested in being inspired, then don’t tune in!

This week, we have a special guest on the show, who I met during my 20 week consulting gig last year. I was lucky enough to be placed in a team with him, and I say that because when you talk to him it feels like you’re sitting in the front row of a TED talk - meaning, you instantly feel inspired during conversations with him.

Daniel Kerr from Exceptional Self Coaching is a a physiotherapist turned high performance coach and he’ll share that transition story with you on this show.

Early in this interview, you’ll hear a watershed moment for Dan that steered him towards the work that he does know. And I’d love you to reflect on that word, too.

If you do want to reflect on where you’re at, your mindset, your habits, and committing to growth this year, you’ll love this show.

Daniel Kerr is High Performance Certified Coach trained by Brendon Burchard , Certified Mental Performance Mastery Coach, Certified Wellness Coach and a Physiotherapist.

• What it takes to show up as your best self

• Having an action plan as a way to make the shift in 2021

• Reflecting and planning your next goal

• Finding your authenticity and niche to make yourself better and grow

• Fear of not being good enough makes you start making excuses

• Make your audience visualize the message you’re sending across

• What Dan values when he prepares to run a workshop

• Reach out and connect with Dan Kerr on LinkedIn

• Follow Dan Kerr on Instagram

• Tweet & say hi to Leanne to let her know you’ve listened to this episode

• Continue the conversation when the show is over: Join a community of over 1200 facilitators around the world in The Flipchart Facebook group

• “You have a choice - you can react or respond. In order for things to change, something new comes into your life, or something new comes from within.”

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’s the role of a facilitator? I think we’re there to stimulate CHANGE.

So what better time to talk about making changes than at the start of a new year?

As world leading body language Mark Bowden (also previous guest of 2 x First Time Facilitator episodes) says, “As facilitators, we are the leading signal in the room. People look to us to decide how they should act, think, and feel.”

I think then, that if we want our participants to change, we need to be great at making positive changes in our own lives, too.

In this episode, I’m looking in the mirror and sharing tools and ideas on how we can create change for ourselves. I’ve latched onto a phrase called: Constructive Delusion. I think we can use this as a force for good, to propel our ambitions, think big, and inspire our participants to do the same.

I reflect on my 2020kms running challenge (which I completed on 30 Dec, yass) as fuel for this episode, and also share plans on my 2021 writing challenge. I love harnessing the power of groups for my own habit change!

• Click here for show notes
• Complete the FTF Listener Survey (January 2021 only)
• Join our free community on Facebook called The Flipchart 
• Support Leanne’s daily idea generation and buy her a coffee!
• Connect with Leanne Hughes 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

Guess what? You can become that amazing storytelling you secretly want to be!

In this First Time Facilitator re-run of Episode 8, internationally bestselling author Matthew Dicks shares why storytelling so important, and how telling stories is not simply sharing a series of events; it’s the manipulation of emotions.

It’s a skill that can be taught and he shares some of the techniques he uses to engage his audience, whether they're 10 year old kids, or politicians.

So many cool things happened after this podcast was released on 8 April, 2020:

I met Kate Norris and Thomas Krafft from Presentation Boss (we basically caught up and just spoke about how great Matthew was!)

They started their own podcast, Presentation Boss, and then a live storytelling event in Brisbane called Life Out Loud (based on Matthew’s event in the US called Speak Up Storytelling).

Earlier this year, I shared a story during the virtual Life Out Loud event and guess who was the surprise guest story-sharer… you guessed it, Matthew Dicks!

Stop binging shows on Netflix and start binging Matthew Dicks’ stories on YouTube. They’re brilliant, and always stir an emotional response - ranging between laughter, or goose-bumps.

• What a story is (and what it isn’t)

• The details you should leave in your story and more importantly; the details you can leave out

• How you can become more memorable by sharing things that are vulnerable, amusing or embarrassing

• The power of assuming that no one wants to listen to anything you have to say

• How you can start collecting your own stories by reflecting on everyday moments (Homework for Life!)

Matthew Dicks is the internationally bestselling author of the novels Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, Something Missing, Unexpectedly, Milo, The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs, and the upcoming Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling. His novels have been translated into more than 25 languages worldwide. His new novel, “The Other Mother” is set for release in January 2021. You can join the live book launch by signing up here.

When not hunched over a computer screen, Matthew fills his days as an elementary school teacher, a storyteller, a speaking coach, a blogger, a wedding DJ, a minister, a life coach, and a Lord of Sealand.

Matthew is a 35-time Moth StorySLAM champion and 5-time GrandSLAM champion. He has also told stories for This American Life, TED, The Colin McEnroe Show, The Story Collider, The Liar Show, Literary Death Match, The Mouth, and many others.Heis also the co-founder and creative director of Speak Up, a Hartford-based storytelling organization that produces shows throughout New England.Matthew is the creator and co-host of Boy vs. Girl, a podcast about gender and gender stereotypes. 

• Matthew Dicks’ website

• Grab his new book! Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your

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!

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I thought I’d bring you a festive episode this week!

Host of the Workshops Work podcast, Dr Myriam Hadnes put a call out to previous guests on her show and invited us to facilitate a #neverdonebefore virtual workshop experience for the #neverdonebefore 24 hour, global festival.

The idea I landed on for my workshop was this: What would it be like, to run a serendipitous group podcast interview, where I had no idea who would show up?

I’ve never done a group interview before, and never not prepped before an interview! 

This episode is only edited lightly, I wanted you to hear what it was like on the call: My participants (who were now podcast guests) had different audio levels, different internet speeds, different voices and ideas.

What I loved when I re-listened to this, was hearing how much more comfortable we are in the conversation, as it continues along.

My guests today are: Anna from Sweden, Stefan from Luxembourg, Shayne from Sydney (living in Amsterdam), Anna Maria from Germany (who dialled in from Romania), Grace from Hong Kong, Kaushiek from India and Lily from France!

We riff on all things related to delivering a successful workshop, how to manage your energy (which leads to a deep conversation on what you put into your body), challenging workshop experiences and dream mentors.

It was awesome having such a diverse guest list on today’s episode.

• Click here for show notes
• Join The Flipchart facilitator community on Facebook

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