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Sticky notes, tennis balls, and other objects can be used to create engaging and productive online meetings and workshops. How do I know this to be true?

Well, Jacinta Cubis, an incredible facilitator, mentor, author, and speaker, shared many fascinating insights like this to help get “your workshops humming” on this week’s episode of workshops work. She reveals how you can facilitate difficult conversations, so they’re less like scratching a blackboard and more like skiing down a smooth slope. 

Jacinta has an amazing gift to draw out people’s best thinking. Hearing how she uses analogue prompts to facilitate conversations online and have better meetings was genuinely fascinating. I’ve come away from this conversation with so many ideas to blend face-to-face and online facilitation techniques, and I know you will have many new ideas of your own after listening to my wonderful interview with Jacinta!

Find out about:

• How and why Jacinta decided to write her e-book, “Hum”
• Why many online meetings are bad replicates of bad offline meetings – and how to avoid this from happening!
• How to use analogue prompts to communicate better with an online group
• How to avoid wasting time in breakout groups
• How to use your time more efficiently by nominating time keepers
• Tips for getting participants to use both parts of their brains
• Why poor facilitation is one of the biggest reasons why workshops fail

Don’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

A huge thank you must go to SessionLab, the sponsor of Workshops Work. Claim your free two months of SessionLab Pro now – this deal is exclusive to Workshops Work listeners!

Questions and Answers

[01:17] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?

[05:47] Where does the name, “Hum,” come from and what triggered you to write this book?

[10:35] What made your “bad meetings,” bad? And, how do you combine humming with having difficult conversations?

[19:13] What can we do as facilitators and participators to structure, facilitate, and avoid difficult meetings?

[25:45] How can we do this in a gentle way?

[35:47] How can facilitators use a timer or keep discussions timed efficiently?

[40:14] What is the difference between guiding through a difficult conversation online and offline?

[43:11] What can you do when you feel like the energy of the online meeting isn’t quite right?

[46:07] What’s your favourite exercise?

[49:08] What is the one thing you would like listeners to take away from this episode?

Links

• Jacinta’s website
• Read Jacinta’s e-book “Hum”

Connect to Jacinta Cubis

• Jacinta’s LinkedIn
• Jacinta’s Facebook
• Jacinta’s Instagram

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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

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Are you still searching for your message? The terminology we use as facilitators may seem confusing for some of our clients. We must discover and use the right language that our audience understands, and this starts by considering the big picture of a brand.

I’m so excited for you to listen to this episode of workshops work because I’m joined by the incredible Ingrid Lill, a top brand strategist who helps coaches and consultants turn “confusing lingo into a clear message” that their client can understand.

Together, we talk about creative ways that you can better understand your clients and vice versa. We also discuss how you can use a “thinking pen” to help visualize a brand’s story and find your message.

Find out about:

• What a brand strategist does and how they facilitate
• Why you need to put yourself in your client’s shoes
• How to gain a better understanding of your clients
• How to use the “thinking pen” to find your message
• Why you should avoid using technical language in your messaging
• A fun exercise to help you better understand your clients

Don’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

A huge thank you must go to SessionLab, the sponsor of Workshops Work. Claim your free two months of SessionLab Pro now – this deal is exclusive to Workshops Work listeners!

Questions and Answers

[01:34] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?

[02:24] What does a brand strategist do?

[08:31] What is it that we don’t understand in our approach to better understanding our clients?

[10:23[ Why do you draw the brand message instead of discussing it?

[16:11] What did you learn from your time as a graphic facilitator about hearing what really matters to your clients? 

[17:55] How can we speak better to our clients, potential leads, and the sponsors of our workshops?

[18:54] How can we find out what we should be communicating with clients?

[21:48] Do you think that it’s different gaining a connection with your clients in-person vs. a video conference? 

[23:59] What do we get wrong about user-centricity?

[26:39] How can we really differentiate ourselves?

[28:15] What makes a workshop fail?

[31:39] What is the difference in communication between those who signed up and paid themselves and those who were signed up by someone else?

[32:37] How can we get better at putting ourselves into the shoes of our client?

[37:54] When you put yourself into the shoes of these facilitators who might listen to the podcast, what is the one piece of advice that you would like to give them?

[39:44] What is the key takeaway from our conversation?

Links

• Ingrid’s website
• Drawing classes

Connect to Ingrid

• LinkedIn

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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

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Creativity is the string that weaves through most (if not all) facets of life. As a facilitator, you design workshops that bring people together around a specific theme. If you think about it, workshops are a lot like parties, and every party needs good music. In many ways, facilitators are similar to DJs because they both create an experience for a group of people in hopes that it moves them from the mental place they were before to the new and refreshed place they are now.

I wanted to explore the analogy of designing workshops like a mixtape further, so I invited Howard Gray onto workshops work. Howard’s work focuses on “amplifying creative people and businesses to increase discovery, access, connection, and opportunity.” 

Howard and I talked about what facilitators can learn from DJs about workshop design to create even better workshops that participants will remember for a lifetime.

Find out about:

• What you can learn about workshop design and facilitation from a DJ
• How to design a workshop like a mixtape
• Why you should pre-plan your workshops but be open to adjusting quickly when necessary
• Why you need to focus on the experience you create for participants
• What makes a great mixtape and how you can translate that to a fantastic workshop design
• How the movie storyboarding exercise works
• How to get better at “reading the room”

Don’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Questions and Answers

[01:26] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?

[03:26] If you had to put a hashtag on your own forehead, what would it be?

[04:32] What did you learn from your DJ career about workshop design or facilitation?

[08:56] To what extent does a DJ adjust their set to fit the room?

[11:10] What would make a workshop fail?

[13:28] What is your strategy to prepare for this diversity that you will face?

[15:36] Do you research the groups you’re facing?

[18:12] What do you think is more important, the facilitation, or the design aspect?

[24:31] What makes a good mixtape and how can you translate that to a good workshop design?

[29:46] With the shift from offline meetings to online meetings, did you adjust the design of the sequence with more contrast or less contrast?

[32:52] How can we expect someone to make the mental shift just by putting a different URL in the browser?

[35:55] What is your favourite exercise?

[40:35] How would the world of facilitation look if more facilitators would master the craft of a DJ?

[44:28] When you say, “reading the room,” do you think it’s based on intuition or is it something facilitators can learn to do?

[50:03] What do you hope listeners will take away from our conversation?

Links:

• How to DJ properly by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton

Connect to Howard:

• Howard’s website
• Howard’s LinkedIn
• Howard’s Twitter

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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

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How can you, as a facilitator, create new and exciting possibilities for your workshop participants?

The answer lies in provoking your audience to listen to each other and feel heard. Provocation is a strategic tactic to make workshop participants feel uncomfortable – but in a good way. It drives them out of their comfort zones and allows them to break free from their shells so they can take action and evoke new thoughts and ideas that may have been left uncovered.

We know that provocation can have many positive benefits, but how can facilitators use provocation to amplify their workshop? You’ll discover the answer on this episode of workshops work, where I’m joined by Diana Ying Liu and Kandis O’Brien from The SIX, an innovation and strategy consultancy that helps “leaders and their teams get their groove on.”

We deep dive into how you can provoke compelling conversations in your workshop sessions, why you need to have the right executive sponsor in the room, and so much more!

Find out about:

• How Diana and Kandis define the role of a facilitator vs a consultant
• How to use provocation to create friction and encourage people to step outside of their comfort zones
• The different levels of provocation
• Exercises to help people ‘loosen up’
• How to make people feel comfortable and safe enough to share
• The importance of understanding the culture of the organisation and the problem statement of the session
• The advantages of having pre-interviews before the workshop

Don’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

A huge thank you must go to SessionLab, the sponsor of Workshops Work. Claim your free two months of SessionLab Pro now – this deal is exclusive to Workshops Work listeners!

Questions and Answers

[01:13] Diana, when did you start calling yourself a facilitator?

[03:50] Do you bring in your own facilitators to your sessions?

[10:16] How do you use provocation as a tool to create friction?

[14:04] How do you define the right degree of provocation that is relevant and absurd at the same time?

[18:15] How would you react when/if the leadership disregards a team member’s idea?

[39:14] What makes a workshop fail from the perspective of a consultant vs a facilitator?

[46:09] Do the pre-interviews create a level of trust or do you still need another layer of trust creation at the start of the workshop to play around with provocation?

[53:16] What would be your golden nugget about provocation from our discussion?

Links

• The SIX website
• Follow The SIX on Instagram

Connect to Diana Ying Liu and Kandis O’Brien:

• Diana’s LinkedIn
• Kandis’ LinkedIn

Support the show

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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

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Whether you’re hosting a physical or virtual meeting, the last thing you want to do is put the audience to sleep! If you want to keep people engaged during meetings, you’ve got to unleash your inner creative genius.

Melissa Dinwiddie is a Creativity Instigator who teaches people how to turn their creative taps on so they can live a life full of colour and intrigue. I couldn’t wait to talk to Melissa about all things creative.

In this episode, I take full advantage of having such a creative guest on and ask her all the questions I know you want to hear the answers to. We cover everything from how to lead non-boring virtual meetings to defeating the comparison gremlin! I hope you enjoy this colourful interview as much as I did!

Find out about:

• Why online meetings can be boring and what to do about it!
• How to be a good leader
• How to avoid falling into the “comparison trap”
• A useful mirroring exercise for leadership and listening
• How to keep people engaged
• The ‘golden formula’ to everything good

Don’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

A huge thank you must go to SessionLab, the sponsor of Workshops Work. Claim your free two months of SessionLab Pro now – this deal is exclusive to Workshops Work listeners!

Questions and Answers

[01:23] Will you share when you started to call yourself a facilitator?

[04:16] How do you define creativity and what does it mean to be stuck on the creativity path?

[12:27] Do you think it’s a matter of age and maturity, or is it a matter of the craft?

[16:11] What do you tell your clients when they fall into the comparison trap and self-sabotage their creativity?

[23:14] Do you think there are more gremlins when working online in this working from home environment?

[26:34] Why do most of online meetings suck?

[29:05] What is your favourite exercise?

[32:13] Who determines whether it is right or wrong?

[34:18] What makes a bad workshop?

[34:43] How can you keep people engaged without making it stressful?

[35:47] Can you give an example of a time when you de-brief with the group about what they have learned?

[39:54] with the upcoming Zoom option of building circles, is it really about the circle or it the magic that happens when you’re sitting in a circle?

[41:51] What does a full day online workshop look like?

[44:15] To what extent have you received feedback that it’s awkward to see each other working on a virtual meeting?

[47:22] What is the definition of a creative facilitator?

[48:14] If you could give one piece of advice for getting unstuck and start having non-boring online meetings, what would it be?

[51:06] What is the key takeaway from our conversation?

Links

• Melissa’s website
• The Creative Sandbox Way by Melissa Dinwiddie
• The Creative Sandbox Way Podcast
• Playing Big by Tara Mohr

Connect to Melissa

• Facebook
• @a

Support the show

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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

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We’ve reached a time when more people than ever are working remotely, and this includes facilitators.

Tracy Cosgrove, Founder of PTSM, is passionate about sharing knowledge and facilitating as an avatar in the virtual world. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to talk to Tracy about her experience and expertise around avatars, setting up a virtual office, and bringing teams together despite being thousands of miles (and oceans) apart.

Learning how to facilitate as an avatar in the virtual space is so important right now, which is why I’m so excited to share this conversation with you so that you can be better equipped and prepared to rule the virtual world.

Find out about:

• What inspired Tracy to move from the physical to the virtual word of facilitating
• How to set up a virtual office
• The importance of doing your research as a facilitator
• Costly mistakes to avoid when choosing a platform to help you host virtual workshops
• What to consider when renting a virtual office space
• Helpful and creative team building exercises you can use virtually

Don’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

A huge thank you must go to SessionLab, the sponsor of Workshops Work. Claim your free two months of SessionLab Pro now – this deal is exclusive to Workshops Work listeners!

Questions and Answers:

[01:35] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?

[03:17] What made you move to the virtual world?

[06:58] If you were a hashtag, what would it be?

[08:18] How was it for you to transition to suddenly not meeting people and communicating with avatars?

[16:22] Do you think that there's a difference in terms of how you facilitate whether you're in the persona of an avatar versus zoom training with video?

[17:45] In terms of the facilitation skills and how you communicate with the people and the exercises, do you see a difference?

[19:13] What doesn’t work in the VR world?

[20:52] As an avatar facilitator, how do you create a space where they can be present and open?

[23:00] How did you find your virtual office space?

[26:52] What would you recommend someone who's exploring options to work as an avatar?

[31:35] What is the investment you need to set up a virtual VR office?

[33:32] What is wrong about the platform?

[34:33] What is the one thing that people must take care of or must watch out for in order to choose the right platform?

[38:01] What makes a workshop fail?

[39:47] What is your favourite exercise?

[47:55] What is the sequence of taking breaks when sitting in front of Zoom for 8 hours?

 [52:24] What is the key takeaway that captures the essence of our conversation?

Links

• Passport to Success Myanmar (PTSM)

Connect to Tracy Cosgrove

• Email Tracy at [email protected]
• Facebook 

Support the show

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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

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We put so much emphasis on how we look and how we use body language to communicate with our audience that we often neglect to consider our voices. It’s not just about what we say, it’s how we say it.

The way we use our voices can really impact the audience. If used correctly, our voices can carry so much more than our words. Our voices can inspire, motivate, and captivate the audience…but how can we learn to use our voice for better impact?

Joep Hegger is a remarkable voice coach who teaches us how our voice can be used to facilitate workshops along with us. He is passionate about helping others learn how to treat their voice with more care and leverage it with more power.

Listen to the episode to find out:

• Why we need to consider how we use our voices and transform our voice to suit a particular occasion
• How to identify a ‘pressed voice’ and the value of incorporating hearing exercises during voice training sessions
• Tips to help train your voice and use your voice for better impact
• What ‘vocal health’ is and why it is so important
• How to gain better control and awareness of your voice

Click here to download the free 1-page summary

Don’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Feeling inspired by the conversation in this episode? We can have our own - take a seat at my virtual table as part of a Mastermind Group.

A huge thank you must go to SessionLab, the sponsor of Workshops Work. Claim your free two months of SessionLab Pro now – this deal is exclusive to Workshops Work listeners!

Questions and Answers

[01:16] What got you into the voice coach profession?

[03:45] What is the key struggle when we use our voice?

[05:47] Can you as a vocal coach read someone’s voice as others can read someone’s body language?

[07:13] What makes the difference in your effectiveness of communication?

[08:37] What is the circumstance where we have this ‘press voice’?

[12:35] What is your favourite exercise to help your clients?

[15:41] When I want to be a convincing facilitator, what is it about the voice that adds the appearance of competence?

[18:10] Is our natural voice something we need to train to develop the best voice we can have?

[22:15] When you say, ‘vocal health’, what exactly do you mean?

[23:16] What can we do to avoid harming our voice health?

[24:58] Do you think it’s a matter of genetics or do you think that massaging the voice with the tube before, in the middle, or after the workshop will help?

[27:08] Is our voice better when we stand up?

[30:49] Would you advise a different tone of voice depending on whether you speak to an audience In the physical space as compared to through a microphone and a third screen?

[33:29] What is your advice on how to speak louder without getting higher pitched?

[37:26] What would you recommend to me as a podcaster? How can I use my voice differently?

[40:29] What tip do you have to help add emphasis to our voice?

[42:47] Why can we tell by someone’s voice whether they are smiling or not?

[45:20] What makes a workshop fail?

[49:53] What key lesson do you want listeners to take away from this episo

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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

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Knowledge is one of the universal currencies with which we trade – we enrich each other with the knowledge we share and facilitate, but what are the secrets of truly effective knowledge sharing?

I have wanted to speak to Júlio Maria Muhorro for a long time, and this topic felt like the perfect opportunity to do so. Júlio is a man of so many talents and roles, it's hard to summarise him and his career as a trainer. One of the best ways to introduce Júlio is that he is the only Mozambican listed in 2019’s 100 Most Influential Young Africans.

Hopefully that gives you an idea of how esteemed Júlio is as a trainer, leader, and person!

Listen to find out:

• How Júlio adapted after being named one of the 100 Most Influential Young Africans
• Why personal experience and relatability is essential if we want learning to stick
• What learners and trainers can do to strengthen knowledge retention
• Why time for reflection is one of the most powerful tools any facilitator can have
• What the three goals are that trainers should aim to achieve for a successful workshop

Don’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

A huge thank you must go to SessionLab, the sponsor of Workshops Work. Claim your free two months of SessionLab Pro now – this deal is exclusive to Workshops Work listeners!

Questions and Answers

[01:27] What got you into training and when did you call yourself a facilitator?

[04:32] Is it about the groups sharing knowledge with each other or is it a movement where you share knowledge with the world?

[05:23] What is it about knowledge sharing that becomes different when it’s within one group as opposed to knowledge sharing travelling from the US to Africa and vice versa?

[14:32] You were nominated as one of the 100 most influential young people in Africa, what is the story behind that?

[18:15] What was the impact of this achievement on your mission to share knowledge?

[21:04] In times where knowledge is available online, what is the value that you deliver in-person?

[23:48] What can you (as a 25-year-old) teach me about strategy?

[31:15] What is getting in the way of knowledge sharing?

[35:51] What are you doing in your training to make sure that the emotional knowledge gain remains after the workshop?

[41:12] What is your favourite exercise for a group?

[43:59] What makes a workshop fail?

[52:17] Is there anything we have not touched upon that you would like to share?

Links

• Sharing Knowledge International on LinkedIn
• The story of Julio’s inclusion in the 100 Most Influential Young Africans list

Connect to Júlio

• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Facebook

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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

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Throughout lockdown, I and many other facilitators, have loved watching and participating in Backstage Pass – the virtual workshops held by digital workspace platform, MURAL.

That meant the opportunity to speak to Hailey Temple, their Learning Experience Lead, was especially exciting for me! And I hope it will be for listeners of workshops work.

Hailey has done a fantastic job of adapting to the demands of virtual facilitation and her reflections on the last few months will help so many facilitators as we continue to tread the uncertain path of the pandemic.

Listen to the episode to learn:

• How Hailey came to facilitation by way of design thinking and human-centred design
• How MURAL have created virtual workshops to help their customers
• What Hailey does to engage and involve a passive audience (by design)
• What makes a good co-facilitator
• What to do when technology goes wrong (because it always will!)

Don’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

A huge thank you must go to SessionLab, the sponsor of Workshops Work. Claim your free two months of SessionLab Pro now – this deal is exclusive to Workshops Work listeners!

Questions and Answers

[01:33] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?

[04:41] What do you wish you had known about facilitation, hosting, and meetings at the start of your career?

[07:38] What is human-centred design all about?

[10:55] What is Backstage Pass?

[14:34] How do you serve your audience when they are not active in your workshop?

[19:18] What is the skillset that you need to successfully manage a live, virtual workshop?

[22:59] Is there a secret to engaging an audience in a webinar?

[26:33] What is your favourite exercise?

[32:05] What makes a good co-facilitator and how have you mastered the art?

[42:44] What is the key thing to do if technology fails?

[44:10] What makes a workshop fail?

[49:17] Do you have a hashtag for yourself?

[51:03] What is the one key learning you have from running Mural Backstage Pass?

[54:05] What is one thing you would like listeners to takeaway from this episode?

Links

• MURAL website
• Mural Backstage Pass on YouTube
• Sign up for Backstage Pass

Connect to Hailey

• On LinkedIn
• On Instagram
• On Twitter

Support the show

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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

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Competitive spirits, high stakes, cut-throat attitudes… Boardrooms and changing rooms have more in common than we might first think.

Tim Harkness, one of the world’s preeminent sports psychologists and author of the fantastic book 10 Rules for Talking, joins me to share the lessons he’s learned from the top sports teams around the world – and how we might apply them to teams in corporate environments.

Hearing about Tim’s experiences at the very top of various professional sports was fascinating and I found the opportunity to explore and cross-pollinate these ideas with examples and experiences from facilitation was immensely valuable.

I am sure you will find it to be the same.

Find out about:

• How Tim became one of the leading experts in the field
• The differences between one-on-one and group conversations
• How we can all have better conversations
• What facilitators can learn from the biggest sports teams on the biggest stages
• Tips for creating better conversations with challenging interlocutors

Don’t miss the next show: Subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

A huge thank you must go to SessionLab, the sponsor of Workshops Work. Claim your free two months of SessionLab Pro now – this deal is exclusive to Workshops Work listeners!

Questions and Answers

[00:49] When did you first become interested in conversations?

[04:41] Do different rules apply with one-on-one and group conversations?

[09:43] What makes it easy or difficult to follow the process of an effective conversation?

[12:46] How do I know what the accurate response will be?

[20:57] How would you recommend we have better conversations?

[24:22] What have you observed from sports teams that can apply to businesses?

[30:35] How do you help groups to communicate better using your rules for talking?

[37:06] What is the best way to deal with someone who dominates conversations?

[40:57] What makes a workshop fail?

[46:13] How do you create psychological safety in such highly competitive individuals?

[51:53] What is your favourite exercise?

[59:55] What is the one thing you would like listeners to takeaway from this episode?

Links

• 10 Rules for Talking
• Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High 
• Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most 
• Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In

Connect to Tim

Support the show

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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/