First Time Facilitator

First Time Facilitator

By Leanne HughesBusinessEducationHow ToCareersManagement
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First Time Facilitator episodes

  • Creating a learning atmosphere of “serious fun” with Dana the Trainer (Episode 19)

    Send Leanne a message

    In today’s episode I talk to Dana the Trainer. Dana promises bright ideas and electric training, and likes to do things a little differently in her training environment. Her philosophy is really about ensuring that people learn the skills they need to learn, while having a really great time. In the show you’ll hear about how […]

    The post Creating a learning atmosphere of “serious fun” with Dana the Trainer (Episode 19) 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

    40 min
  • Creating a learning atmosphere of “serious fun” with Dana the Trainer (Episode 19)
    In today’s episode I talk to Dana the Trainer. Dana promises bright ideas and electric training, and likes to do things a little differently in her training environment. Her philosophy is really about ensuring that people learn the skills they need to learn, while having a really great time.
    In the show you’ll hear about how she prepares for her workshops and how she creates a fun training environment. Listen in to her response when I ask her to reflect on a time where things didn’t go so well in one of her workshops and what she learnt from that experience.
    In this episode you’ll learn:

    Ways to make facilitation more fun, colourful and engaging
    How to balance or lift your energy levels when required
    What to do when things don’t go to plan (hint: prevention is better than cure)
    How to create content for new workshops 
    Key skills that take you from being just a normal training facilitator to being a next level one
    Facilitation tips for first-time facilitators

    About our guest
    Dana James-Edwards is a dynamic professional in Corporate Training, Coaching, & Development. She provides technical and professional training with colour and enthusiasm, creating a learning atmosphere of “serious fun.” She develops training that moves from the practical to the theoretical — translating to learners’ day-to-day lives, and making business processes more effective and productive to propel work environments that are healthy and motivating.
    Resources mentioned in this episode:

    Dana THE Trainer’s website
    Mr Sketch markers
    Neulands refillable markers 
    Trello
    Leanne’s Spotify playlist for First Time Facilitators

    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 Dana.
    Quotes of the show:
    “There are so many things that you can do to bring learning, to bring a classroom alive to make things not so painful for people”.
    Even when you know the content and you’re familiar with it, you’re still thinking, ‘Who’s going to be there tomorrow?’, ‘What if this exercise doesn’t work?’,  ‘What do I have as a backup for this?’, ‘Did I pack this thing?’
    ‘You cannot be rigid, sticking to your lesson plan. The classroom is a place of surprise.  The best facilitators pull the learning out of what is happening in the room, instead of sticking to the script’.
    Episode transcript
    View the First Time Facilitator episode transcript with Dana the Trainer.
    40 min
  • Creating a learning atmosphere of “serious fun” with Dana the Trainer (Episode 19)
    In today’s episode I talk to Dana the Trainer. Dana promises bright ideas and electric training, and likes to do things a little differently in her training environment. Her philosophy is really about ensuring that people learn the skills they need to learn, while having a really great time.
    In the show you’ll hear about how she prepares for her workshops and how she creates a fun training environment. Listen in to her response when I ask her to reflect on a time where things didn’t go so
    40 min
  • Creating a learning atmosphere of “serious fun” with Dana the Trainer (Episode 19)
    In today’s episode I talk to Dana the Trainer. Dana promises bright ideas and electric training, and likes to do things a little differently in her training environment. Her philosophy is really about ensuring that people learn the skills they need to learn, while having a really great time.
    In the show you’ll hear about how she prepares for her workshops and how she creates a fun training environment. Listen in to her response when I ask her to reflect on a time where things didn’t go so well in one of her workshops and what she learnt from that experience.
    In this episode you’ll learn:

    Ways to make facilitation more fun, colourful and engaging
    How to balance or lift your energy levels when required
    What to do when things don’t go to plan (hint: prevention is better than cure)
    How to create content for new workshops 
    Key skills that take you from being just a normal training facilitator to being a next level one
    Facilitation tips for first-time facilitators

    About our guest
    Dana James-Edwards is a dynamic professional in Corporate Training, Coaching, & Development. She provides technical and professional training with colour and enthusiasm, creating a learning atmosphere of “serious fun.” She develops training that moves from the practical to the theoretical — translating to learners’ day-to-day lives, and making business processes more effective and productive to propel work environments that are healthy and motivating.
    Resources mentioned in this episode:

    Dana THE Trainer’s website
    Mr Sketch markers
    Neulands refillable markers 
    Trello
    Leanne’s Spotify playlist for First Time Facilitators

    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 Dana.
    Quotes of the show:
    “There are so many things that you can do to bring learning, to bring a classroom alive to make things not so painful for people”.
    Even when you know the content and you’re familiar with it, you’re still thinking, ‘Who’s going to be there tomorrow?’, ‘What if this exercise doesn’t work?’,  ‘What do I have as a backup for this?’, ‘Did I pack this thing?’
    ‘You cannot be rigid, sticking to your lesson plan. The classroom is a place of surprise.  The best facilitators pull the learning out of what is happening in the room, instead of sticking to the script’.
    Episode transcript
    View the First Time Facilitator episode transcript with Dana the Trainer.
    40 min
  • Help! Suggestions needed for facilitating a two hour workshop. Listener Q&A (Episode 18)

    Send Leanne a message

    In today’s episode I respond to a listener’s question – I do these listener Q&A’s from time to time, to give you some practical insight into how I facilitate and approach situations. Today’s question is from Joanne Alilovic from 3D HR Legal.  Like me, Jo likes to do things a little bit differently. In her […]

    The post Help! Suggestions needed for facilitating a two hour workshop. Listener Q&A (Episode 18) 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

    16 min
  • Help! Suggestions needed for facilitating a two hour workshop. Listener Q&A (Episode 18)
    In today’s episode I respond to a listener’s question – I do these listener Q&A’s from time to time, to give you some practical insight into how I facilitate and approach situations.
    Today’s question is from Joanne Alilovic from 3D HR Legal. 
    Like me, Jo likes to do things a little bit differently.
    In her business she takes her legal knowledge, combines that with her HR skills to help create tailored polices and procedures for individual businesses.
    Her question is:
    I have a client who wants to throw out their existing human resources manual and start fresh.  We are thinking of creating documents such as a Code of Conduct, a performance management policy, complaints procedure etc.
    In order to create something that is truly reflective of the workplace and the people who work in it, we decided it would be good to get the staff involved.
    So we have scheduled a 2 hour facilitation session to discuss the types of policies and procedures they need, and the content for them.
    Do you have any suggestions on how to run this session?
    Do you have a question you’d like me to answer on the show?
    If you have a question you’d like to send through, either tweet it to me @leannehughes or send me an email – [email protected].
    Resources mentioned on the show

    * Jo’s podcast ‘The Juggle’
    * The We Are Podcast conference
    * Stephen Covey’s priority matrix

    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!
    Episode transcript
    View the episode transcript for Episode 18.
    16 min
  • Help! Suggestions needed for facilitating a two hour workshop. Listener Q&A (Episode 18)
    In today’s episode I respond to a listener’s question – I do these listener Q&A’s from time to time, to give you some practical insight into how I facilitate and approach situations.
    Today’s question is from Joanne Alilovic from 3D HR Legal. 
    Like me, Jo likes to do things a little bit differently.
    In her business she takes her legal knowledge, combines that with her HR skills to help create tailored polices and procedures for individual businesses.
    Her question
    16 min
  • Help! Suggestions needed for facilitating a two hour workshop. Listener Q&A (Episode 18)
    In today’s episode I respond to a listener’s question – I do these listener Q&A’s from time to time, to give you some practical insight into how I facilitate and approach situations.
    Today’s question is from Joanne Alilovic from 3D HR Legal. 
    Like me, Jo likes to do things a little bit differently.
    In her business she takes her legal knowledge, combines that with her HR skills to help create tailored polices and procedures for individual businesses.
    Her question is:
    I have a client who wants to throw out their existing human resources manual and start fresh.  We are thinking of creating documents such as a Code of Conduct, a performance management policy, complaints procedure etc.
    In order to create something that is truly reflective of the workplace and the people who work in it, we decided it would be good to get the staff involved.
    So we have scheduled a 2 hour facilitation session to discuss the types of policies and procedures they need, and the content for them.
    Do you have any suggestions on how to run this session?
    Do you have a question you’d like me to answer on the show?
    If you have a question you’d like to send through, either tweet it to me @leannehughes or send me an email – [email protected].
    Resources mentioned on the show

    * Jo’s podcast ‘The Juggle’
    * The We Are Podcast conference
    * Stephen Covey’s priority matrix

    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!
    Episode transcript
    View the episode transcript for Episode 18.
    16 min
  • The 45 year group facilitation experiment (and how I’m still learning) with Bob Dick (Episode 17)

    Send Leanne a message

    Bob Dick is a change agent and facilitator who has been in the business 45 years. He believes that teachers don’t teach, learners learn. In this episode we talk about the difference in process and content, the power of action learning, and how he helps his groups transfer learnings from a workshop, back into the real […]

    The post The 45 year group facilitation experiment (and how I’m still learning) with Bob Dick (Episode 17) 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

    39 min
  • The 45 year group facilitation experiment (and how I’m still learning) with Bob Dick (Episode 17)
    Bob Dick is a change agent and facilitator who has been in the business 45 years. He believes that teachers don’t teach, learners learn. In this episode we talk about the difference in process and content, the power of action learning, and how he helps his groups transfer learnings from a workshop, back into the real world.
    Bob also shares his thoughts on how we can teach leaders the facilitation skills that are rapidly becoming a vital skill.  The most inspiring part? After being in the game for 45 years he still experiments with his facilitation style and approaches. 
    What you’ll learn in this episode

    * The difference between content and process and how you can effectively manage a group by looking at the process 
    How strategically arranging furniture can change your participants’ perceptions of the learning environment
    Why teachers don’t teach, learners learn
    Strategies to keep learning and improving as a facilitator
    Why Bob doesn’t use technology in his workshops
    How to deal with conflict within a group
    Dealing with your nerves before a workshop 
    The importance of vulnerability and authenticity
    How to turn commitment into action once the workshop is over

    About our guest
    Bob Dick independent scholar, an educator, facilitator, coach, and change consultant. He has 45 years experience and started an Industrial Psychology for the Department of Labour. He helps people to change their work, learning and life.
    Resources mentioned in this episode
    Action Research and Action Learning for community and organisational change
    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!
    Show transcript
    View the full podcast transcript from my conversation with Bob Dick.
    Quote of the episode
    Bob describes his safety net: “If the process isn’t working, I will drop the content and engage with the participants about why the process isn’t working.  I’ll invite them to join me in figuring out what process will work better for all of us“.
    39 min

About First Time Facilitator

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Leanne Hughes from the First Time Facilitator blog reveals all of her group facilitation, training and workshop tips and tricks so you can be ahead of the curve the next time you step out in front of…