First Time Facilitator

In today’s episode, I talk to Lynne Cazaly. Lynne is a communication and engagement expert. She is obsessed with helping leaders lead their teams through transformation and change. She helps people distil their thinking, apply ideas and innovation and boost the engagement and collaboration effectiveness of teams. She believes that having the ability to build rapport and connect with people is essential in a facilitation workshop.

Listen in to when I ask her about what her thinking or her strategies were going into on the first day of her facilitation workshop.

In this episode you’ll learn:

How you can use visuals to explain complex activity instructions

Strategies to get your audience attention and get them engaged in a workshop.

Strategies on how to embed learning in a workshop.

Essentials of creating safe environment in a workshop.

About our guest

Lynne Cazaly is a keynote speaker, a master workshop facilitator, an experienced board director and a partner with Thought Leaders and on faculty of Thought Leaders Business School. She is a published author and delivered keynotes, workshops and sessions for leaders globally including Europe, USA, Asia & NZ. Her published books are:

• Agile-ish: How to create a culture of agility

• Leader as Facilitator: How to engage, inspire and get work done

• Making Sense: A Handbook for the Future of Work

• Create Change: How to apply innovation in an era of uncertainty, and

• Visual Mojo: How to capture thinking, convey information and collaborate using visuals. 

Her programs in Sensemaking, Facilitation and Change are remarkable, impactful and innovative.

Send Lynne an email, say that you listen to the show and she’ll share a great visual resource with you!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

* Lynne Cazaly’s website 

The Groupwork Institute 

Lynne’s book – Visual Mojo

Lynne’s book – Facilitator as a Leader 

Lynne’s Sensemaking workshop

Like this show? Please leave me a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so I can thank you personally!

Click here to let Leanne know about your number one takeaway from this episode!

Click here to tweet your thanks to Lynne. 

Quotes of the show:

“So you’ve got to have this ability to rapidly build rapport and connect with people because you need them to be on your side.”

“Engaging with people when it’s all talk is very difficult. But as soon as you’ve got visuals there. Bang! Engagement goes up.”

“So, if facilitation means to make ease, to make easier- visuals do that. They instantly help make engagement easier, communication easier, collaboration easier, impact easier.”

Episode transcript

View the First Time Facilitator episode transcript with Lynne Cazaly.

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In today’s episode, I talk to Sean D’Souza. Sean is a cartoonist, author, online marketing strategist, a pretty good cook (judging from his social media photos) and an energetic facilitator who applies his skills in creating a different kind of workshop.  He reads on average 100 books a year. Teaching runs in his blood, as his father, […]

The post What clients really want from a workshop (and no, it’s not information) with Sean D’Souza (Episode 22) appeared first on First Time Facilitator.

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

In today’s episode, I talk to Sean D’Souza. Sean is a cartoonist, author, online marketing strategist, a pretty good cook (judging from his social media photos) and an energetic facilitator who applies his skills in creating a different kind of workshop.  He reads on average 100 books a year. Teaching runs in his blood, as his father, mother and grandmother were teachers too.  He’s that good, I flew to Singapore to attend one of his three-day workshops.

In this episode, we talk about the

In today’s episode, I talk to Sean D’Souza. Sean is a cartoonist, author, online marketing strategist, a pretty good cook (judging from his social media photos) and an energetic facilitator who applies his skills in creating a different kind of workshop.  He reads on average 100 books a year. Teaching runs in his blood, as his father, mother and grandmother were teachers too.  He’s that good, I flew to Singapore to attend one of his three-day workshops.

In this episode, we talk about the motivation of the people coming to your workshops… are they really there for the information, or are they there for another reason? We explore workshop design and giving your participants time to reflect on content.  We also discuss creating a safe workshop environment – not only for the people in the room, but for you as well…because, as the facilitator – it’s important that you feel safe, too.

In this episode you’ll learn:

Sean’s ratio for instructing vs group discussions and activities

The power of frequent breaks

Why it’s important to create a safe space for your participants

Why he shares his learning materials prior to a workshop

What clients really want out of a workshop (and it’s not information)

A winning formula that features energy, confidence and skill

The importance of feedbacks and testimonials in a workshop.

Tips for facilitators starting their journey in facilitating and leading workshops in their own context.

About our guest

Sean D’ Souza is a cartoonist and an online marketing strategist who runs a zany online marketing site named PsychoTactics. He is also the author of “The Brain Audit” which is about how customers make decisions.

Originally working as a freelance cartoonist, Sean somehow found himself indulging his talent for marketing and understanding consumer psychology by helping out others with their marketing efforts. It wasn’t long before he started writing about his own experiences with marketing and slowly but surely, he began to gather an audience hungry to learn more. 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Sean’s online home Psychotactics

Sean’s book, The Brain Audit

We Are Podcast conference

Like this show?

Please leave me a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so I can thank you personally.

Click here to let Leanne know about your number one takeaway from this episode!

Click here to tweet your thanks to Sean. https://twitter.com/seandsouza?lang=en

Quotes of the show:

“What you have to really work on when you’re teaching people is you have to get their confidence up, because when you get their confidence up, they use less energy.”

“You have to understand what causes people to be motivated in the first place and it’s not your stupid bullet points; it’s not your content.”

What clients really want in a workshop and that is they want to leave the room and you say, “That’s not possible!” Well, do this the next time you’re having a workshop tell them, “Look, all of you are here for the information, right? And they’ll all say “Yes!” and you go “Okay, so we’re going to do this workshop until 9:00 p.m. tonight.” and then watch their faces.

“You have to be comfortable that you’re going to goof up 50 to 60 percent of your early days before you start getting comfortable But breaking it up is always good because once you’re confident,

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I chat with Jane Anderson on her experience delivering workshops and content to over 50,000 people.  She shares why personal branding is so important, how you can craft your own (remarkable) facilitator brand and how she developed the courage to share her brand with the world. Jane is passionate about helping industry experts to be […]

The post Crafting your (remarkable) facilitator brand with Jane Anderson  (Episode 21) appeared first on First Time Facilitator.

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

I chat with Jane Anderson on her experience delivering workshops and content to over 50,000 people.  She shares why personal branding is so important, how you can craft your own (remarkable) facilitator brand and how she developed the courage to share her brand with the world.

Jane is passionate about helping industry experts to be fully self-expressed and bring their authentic personality to life in their interactions with their customers to create influence and impact. She is best known for her ab

I chat with Jane Anderson on her experience delivering workshops and content to over 50,000 people.  She shares why personal branding is so important, how you can craft your own (remarkable) facilitator brand and how she developed the courage to share her brand with the world.

Jane is passionate about helping industry experts to be fully self-expressed and bring their authentic personality to life in their interactions with their customers to create influence and impact. She is best known for her ability to bring out the best in people in a pragmatic, resourceful and authentically inspiring way. She believes that being connected with the audience, getting their energy in connection and at the same time changing the room while she’s in there is the essence of a great facilitation. 

Listen in to her when I ask her about the tactics she uses beforehand to find out what the audience needs from their workshop.

In this episode you’ll learn:

Great ways to hone your skills as a facilitator

How to craft your own facilitator brand and stand out in a saturated market 

What it takes to be a remarkable facilitator 

The difference between trust and credibility

The three key big things that you need to be able to do to build trust

About our guest

Jane Anderson is a Business Growth expert specialising in Personally Branded businesses since the age of 14. She has worked with over 50,000 personal brands to build more trust and influence for revenue and market growth.  Her clients include Virgin Australia, Lego, Ikea, Rio Tinto and Origin Energy. Jane’s blog was recently voted in the top 25 branding blogs globally. She is the host of the iTunes podcast “The Jane Anderson Brand You Show” and has been featured in Business Insider, Sky Business, Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.  Jane has been nominated for the Telstra Business Women’s Awards in 2014, 2016 and 2018, and the author of five books including her latest “EXPERT to INFLUENCER: 12 Key Skills to Attract New Clients, Increase Sales and Leverage your Personal Brand to Become an Industry Leader.”

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Jane Anderson’s website

Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Peppers Salt Resort & Spa

Royal Pines Gold Coast Resort

Jane Anderson: Women of Influence

The Australian Institute of Training and Development 

A gift to the First Time Facilitator audience, Jane Anderon’s lead generation indicator

Like this show?

Please leave me a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so I can thank you personally.

* Click here to let Leanne know about your number one takeaway from this episode!

Click here to tweet your thanks to Jane. 

Quotes of the show:

* “If you can solve people’s problems and you can help them have the insights and have the empathy to help them understand their own challenges and you’re able to care. If you know how to care and run a tribe, if you know how to do that and you can solve problems,

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Tyson is the CEO and Co-Founder of Carisma, a digital application that allows your mechanic to provide you with your cars visual service history.  In this episode, we talk about using humour in your deliver, adapting to your audience and using different tools and strategies to be a better facilitator. Tyson provides practical tips on […]

The post Turn up early and read the room with Tyson Young (Episode 20) appeared first on First Time Facilitator.

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

Tyson is the CEO and Co-Founder of Carisma, a digital application that allows your mechanic to provide you with your cars visual service history.  In this episode, we talk about using humour in your deliver, adapting to your audience and using different tools and strategies to be a better facilitator. Tyson provides practical tips on calming those nerves before a big presentation and also shares a neat challenge he’s been pursuing for t

Tyson is the CEO and Co-Founder of Carisma, a digital application that allows your mechanic to provide you with your cars visual service history.  In this episode, we talk about using humour in your deliver, adapting to your audience and using different tools and strategies to be a better facilitator. Tyson provides practical tips on calming those nerves before a big presentation and also shares a neat challenge he’s been pursuing for the last 400+ days!

What you’ll learn in this episode: 

What Tyson learned from his first pitch 

Things you should avoid right before a presentation

Why it’s important to read and understand your audience prior talking to them

Tools and strategies Tyson uses

Why Tyson is mindful of time keeping and respecting people’s time

Advice for a first-time facilitator

Like this show? Please leave me a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so I can thank you personally!

Reach out to Tyson on LinkedIn.

About our guest

Tyson is not only the CEO and Co-Founder of Carisma, he is an accomplished MC, speaker and facilitator who incorporates humour into his presentations and adapts his style by effectively reading his audience.

In his teens, Tyson joined the Army Reserve, he then graduated from the Queensland University of Technology, where he studied business and creative industries, advertising and communication design. Tyson claims that each opportunity leads to the next.

His start-up, Carisma is on a mission to become the leading authority in a new, transparent automotive industry. This application allows you to see exactly where your hard-earned dollars are going.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

* Tyson’s start-up, Carisma

QUT Business Leaders talks

* Steal the Show with Michael Port

Quotes of the episode:

“Turn up early and read the room, walk the stage, do whatever you can to feel comfortable in the environment. A big part of that for me is actually speaking with the audience”.

“People have this misconception that if it’s corporate, it’s like, ‘Oh, it has to be serious’. At the end of the day, people are still people. People still want to laugh and engage with you”.

Episode transcript

View the First Time Facilitator transcript with Tyson Young.