First Time Facilitator

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I’m taking inspiration from Oprah’s Favourite Things to bring you the Ultimate Facilitator Holiday Wish list!

You may want to share this episode with a loved one, if they want some last minute stocking-filler ideas, or x-factor gift ideas to ramp up your facilitation game.

Many of the suggestions here focus on the virtual facilitation world and span across tech tools, tech upgrades, workshop design tools, and more!

I’d like to thank members of our free Facebook group, The Flipchart, for sharing their facilitation wish list items, too!

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Wow, Episode 150. How did we get here?

In this solo episode, I wanted to reflect on the last 50 weeks (and 50 episodes) and what I’ve learnt both from podcast episodes, from business and also from, well, LIFE in 2020. Hasn’t this year been a great teacher for us all?!

I weave between random topics, all linked through some lessons learnt on the show, and how that’s played out in my life and the way that I show up to workshop experiences and clients.

What’s been your biggest facilitation lesson in 2020?

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• Join our free community on Flipchart called The Flipchart
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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!

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This week, we're talking about the value of tactile objects in your workshop and how they can help unlock great ideas, real conversations and so much more (oh and yes, this can  work virtually, too). 

I’m talking about Lego® Serious Play®. Today's guest, Michael Fearne is all about sharing the Lego® Serious Play® love with the world, and he’s even written a book about it - a book that makes it more accessible for all of us to start digging into the world of LSP.

Michael helps clients to break out of the “business as usual” dynamic and be more innovative using the awesome power of Lego® Serious Play®. That’s right Lego + Work = A More Innovative Business.

As the founder of Pivotal Play, Michael uses his experience as a professional facilitator and expertise with LEGO Serious Play to help teams to think more creatively, communicate more effectively and deliver more innovative results.

He also empowers people to use this technique themselves by coaching and guiding them, giving them the tools and the benefit of his experience so they can get the most out of their meetings.

In this conversation, Michael shares how all of us can use lego effectively during our workshops and awesome ideas on how to do so.  He describes how using something tactical can really help boost the use of metaphor, and story-sharing, and the value of having a solid routine to start each workshop.

His book, The LSP Method is also out right now! I love the practicality of the book, and how Michael even shares how you should setup the room, how to open up using the six bricks activity, so good.

Curious? Listen in!

• Click here for show notes
• Join The Flipchart, a free 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!

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Can you use space to create contrast, even in a virtual call? Today’s guest proves that you can!

We have an absolute world-leader in the field of nonverbal communication joining us on the show, Michael Grinder.

Michael Grinder has over 40 years of experience training thousands of groups. Known as the pioneer of nonverbal communication, Michael helps executives and educators assess people more accurately, connect with others more deeply, and build their charisma.

During this conversation, I picked up so many incredibly nuanced things you can do to boost the clarity of my communication in both virtual and face-to-face workshop environments.

The beauty of this conversation is how Michael talks about the large and the small, the micro and the macro, the philosophy around what you do, and then the micro: what type of chair you need, in order to do that.

We also delve into using space, and how to segment space within our environments: Yes! You can actually use space and non-verbals effectively, even over a Zoom call!  

There are so many incredible techniques shared in this one.

I’d love to thank my co-hosts: Maree Burgess, Leanne Elliot and Mark Howarth for joining in and asking questions, contributing, keeping the conversation flowing beautifully.

• Click here for show notes
• Watch the video interview
• Learn more about The House of Communication
• Join the Flipchart 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!

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My experience with 80% of the university lectures I attended? BORING.   This week, I’m talking to someone who has a similar mission as me, but her audience is the higher ed sector!   Dr Barbi Honeycutt is my guest and she works with professors, instructors, faculty development professionals, instructional designers, graduate students, postdocs, and entrepreneurs who want to design engaging learning experiences.   It's challenging to come up with new, creative ways to engage your students. Every day, when you arrive (or log in) to your classroom, you are responsible for creating a space for students to learn from you and from each other.   Barbi provides the structure, strategies, and support you need to engage students and improve learning. When you are successful, your students will be successful. And, that's why she focus’ her energy on supporting you!   In this conversation, Barbi shares her experience with teaching others how to create engaging lectures and learning experiences, how she created a virtual summit which drew hundreds of people - we dive into great detail on this one, as well as how she built her facilitation business and gained exposure through one blog article!   Click here for show notes. Join our free Facebook group: The Flipchart!

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

I spend TOO many time designing workshops, making sure every activity, every piece of content is fit for purpose!

Wouldn't it be great if planning a workshop was as easy as shuffling some cards around?

Today's guest thought so, too!

Meg Bolger is a facilitator working to create a more beautiful and just world. She's the co-developer of Facilitator Cards, a deck of 60 processing tools for facilitators. 

Meg is also the co-author of Unlocking the Magic of Facilitation and the co-creator of The Safe Zone Project, a free online resource for creating powerful, effective LGBTQ+ awareness and training workshops. 

In this conversation, we talk about how Meg found her feet in facilitation, how she became clever at structuring her facilitation activities and process, and how she can pretty much, create a workshop from thin air, using a cool tactical tool - her deck of Facilitator Cards.

We also explore the role of facilitator and how we can often wear many hats. 

• View the show notes for Episode 146
• Join our free Facebook group for facilitator called The Flipchart

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

In today’s episode, I draw an activity extract out from a recent Virtually Possible 2.0 call, where i was joined by Marisa Agrasut and Joeri Schilders.

In this conversation, Marisa shares a virtual session she developed called: Activate your attention; how to prime your natural listening and observation skills for meaningful and rich conversations.

I’m sharing this as an episode on the show for two reasons:

1. Listen to the activity she delivers and consider how you could weave it into an upcoming session and

2. As part of the activity, Marisa and I reflect on 5 amazing facilitator prompts, which may inspire ideas on how you define the value you bring in your work as a facilitator.

• Click here for show notes
• Join our free, global community on Facebook for facilitators called The Flipchart

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

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Having a home base as a facilitator. A metaphorical place in your workshop room, where you can reset. What's not to love about that idea?

This week on the show I’m chatting to Jordan Mendoza. The best advice Jordan was given when he was a First Time Facilitator, was about discovering that home base: A place where you can reset/centre yourself during a workshop.

Jordan is a sales & training professional with over 25 years experience in sales & marketing and 14 years experience in the Multi-Family Housing industry. He’s also the Host of the Blaze Your Own Trail podcast, he’s never lost a freestyle rap battle in his life, and he’s a breakdancer.

Over the last year, he’s amassed a following fo over 60,000 people on LinkedIn.

In this episode, he shares a tough experience that helped him develop his facilitation skills very quickly, how he’s helped his team make sales virtually and of course, how he built up his following on social media.

• Click here to join our free group for facilitators called The Flipchart 
• Click here for show notes

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

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In this Flipchart live-stream event, Leanne Hughes answers the following three questions:

1. How do you embed leadership workshop material through coaching sessions held after your workshop?

2. How do you facilitate a hybrid workshop, where you have guests in-person, and guests who dial in?

3. How do you say goodbye and end your virtual workshop, without it being too awkward?

Build your facilitation skills:

• Join The Flipchart, a Facebook community of over 1000 facilitators from all over the world

• Sign up to Virtually Possible 2.0 - registrations close 22 Oct 2020!

• Watch our free mini-series: From Zoomtigue to Zoomtastic

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

Are you exploring or tossing up the opportunity of going out on your own - of being your own boss?   As I’m 18 months into my own journey, I always love the opportunity to discuss what it takes to do that, to build and maintain your sanity!   Today’s guest is an absolute rock-star when it comes to this, too - so if you’re into building your own facilitation business, or becoming a consultant, you will love this episode. ABOUT TODAY’S GUEST: DEB ZAHN Deb Zahn is a sought-after consultant with 10 years of successful consulting under her belt. As a go-to source in her market, she routinely brings in 6- and 7-figures a year and has built a steady, reliable pipeline of work. Her consulting methods turn her clients into her biggest fans and best marketers. They come back to her again and again and continually send her new clients.   As a consultant, Deb is especially known for her ability to cure “decision-making disorders” with individuals and groups. She is the host of the Craft of Consulting podcast, which features other successful consultants who share their strategies and insights about building their consulting businesses and delighting their clients as well as consulting clients who share what makes some consultants rise to the top of their hire list.  

• Click here for show notes

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