Bringing her childhood dream to life is Josie White, the hot air balloon pilot. From an early obsession with their magical, multi-coloured domes, to a fully-fledged pilot, Josie now flies and facilitates passengers 2000 feet up in the air over Australian soil.

But when nerves naturally start to run high in a small, floating basket, and fear manifests in a multitude of ways, reading the room to regulate passenger emotions is mission-critical to a successful flight.

Josie shares how she guides her groups with calm authority, ensuring that everyone feels safe, reassured and present, all while piloting the balloon! A special conversation with plenty of fascinating and unexpected on-the-ground facilitation learnings, from up high in the clouds.

Find out about:

• What facilitation looks like up to 4000 feat up in the air
• Why reading body language is so critical for a successful flight
• The importance of Josie regulating her emotions, to help regulate her passengers
• What facilitators can learn about the pre-flight checks, planning and preparation

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

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Josie White:

Instagram

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

✨✨✨

If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Corporate training, we all know the drill. The tonedeaf PowerPoint karaoke begins in the background, regurgitating slide content word for word, as you absentmindedly reply to an email…your mind still lingering in your last meeting. 

If episode 337 can do just one thing, I hope it can save you from ever having to sit through another training session like it! After running hundreds of workshops for multinational companies, I thought it was about time I shared my secrets.

Join me, myself and I, as we explore the anatomy of engaging, co-created training sessions that not only pique curiosity, but bridge hierarchies, timezones and departments, and gets everyone out of their inbox, and back into the room. It’s time to close your tabs, stretch your bodies, and get present!

• What’s inherently wrong with corporate training – and why it’s so often a wasted opportunity
• My tips for connecting participants to the present moment, and to each other
• How to design a workshop to ensure participants retain the content and apply what they’ve learned
• How to scale training with local relevance, dynamic learning, and cultural insights at its heart
• Why naming the elephant in the room can help to overcome any awkwardness  

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

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Myriam Hadnes:

LinkedIn

Website

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

✨✨✨

If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

How do you teach facilitators to hold a group, master that crucial first 15-minutes of a workshop, and show them that they already have all the answers, without giving any away?

As a researcher by nature, and a facilitator – at first by accident – Julia Slay learnt everything she knows about the craft by teaching it. She now helps bright, budding facilitators to build confidence, find their voice, and discover their learning edges in Facilitation 101.

We unravel the layers of holding just the right amount of space, as part facilitator, part coach, part trainer and part consultant, all rolled happily into one: from managing difficult characters with curiosity, to trusting yourself to stay present – even when the plan falls apart! 

Julia shares lots of practical strategies, tips and anecdotes from her 15-year facilitation journey, from the Mayor of London’s office, to her work today. Enjoy!

Find out about:

• The art of asking a powerful, open question at the right time
• How to navigate power dynamics of seniority in groups
• Why ‘advice is theft’ – and the detriment of offering a solution to the group too soon
• How to approach dominant characters without creating collective tension
• The intersection of facilitation and coaching – and what it means to facilitate like a coach

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

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Julia Slay:

LinkedIn

Website 

Use code TASTER10 to receive 10% off Facilitation 101: Fundamentals, Masterclass, Intensive, and Self-Paced course when you sign up on Julia’s website.

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

✨✨✨

If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

How can you know yourself more? What would you tell your younger self? And what are you going to do with this life?

Born with a microphone in her hand, and asking all of life’s big, juicy questions, leadership facilitator & coach Rebecca Hopkins brings her effervescent, thoughtful facilitation musings to the show in spades this week.

Going beyond the cushions of competence, we explore the many spaces between grief, healthy feedback cultures, safe space declarations, and all the joyful, messy emotions that come with being human. We geek out, we get vulnerable, and we go deep into the complex, beautiful nature of our craft, as Rebecca takes us on a journey to being a more grounded and self-compassionate facilitator.

A conversation I’ve been looking forward to for 335 episodes! I hope you love it as much as I do.

Find out about:

• How facilitators can stay grounded amidst emotional complexity, self-doubt, and evolving practices and technologies
• Why presence, humility, and grace will always triumph over polished techniques
• The importance of breaking free of familiar spaces where competence comes naturally, to create opportunities for expansion
• How to build a healthy feedback culture rooted in nuance, meaning, and thoughtfulness 
• And why we all need to be a little kinder to ourselves!

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

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Download Rebecca's 1-pager on giving positive feedback

Connect to Rebecca Hopkins:

LinkedIn

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

✨✨✨

If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Friday night card game clash, or shareholder dispute – at its core, all conflict is the same.

Ursula Taylor has seen time and time again, from the court room, to the board room, that every conflict is created and perpetuated from unprocessed human emotion. 

From litigation attorney, to conflict consultant, she now helps leaders and teams turn conflict into opportunity. By transmuting the infectious, emotionally-charged energy of shame, fear or distrust – softer, more grounded energy can take its place, clearing the path to resolution.

Ursula shares stories from her legal days, and the learnings we can all apply to our daily lives to do conflict better – as leaders, facilitators, and most of all, humans. 

Find out about:

• Why Ursula believes conflict isn’t inherently bad, but rather an opportunity
• Conflict learnings from litigation we can apply to facilitation – and life
• Recognising the emotional energies that arise, and re-tuning them into clarity, rational decisions and resolution
• Why the unprocessed emotions of fear, shame and distrust are the true source of conflict
• Why successful transformation doesn’t always require both conflicting parties to agree

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

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Ursula Taylor:

LinkedIn

Website

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

✨✨✨

If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

A Mary Poppins’ bag of glitter, a big beating drum, a lump of clay, and a shiny gold crown. Bringing her wonderful, precious collection of props to the show, is the brilliant Paula Short.

As a personal development psychotherapist, talented actress, and the founder of a 1997 youth centre, facilitation has been a guiding constant in Paula’s life and work. Now as a self-exploration retreat host, she facilitates deep transformation through the expressive arts, helping people to welcome unchartered emotions without shame.

We explore how donning the cloak of the villain in a fictional story can become an embodied breakthrough, why the collective support of the group can be liquid gold, and why Paula has such an issue with tissues.

A special, heartfelt conversation – join us!

Find out about:

• How roleplay, costumes and props can help us to access buried feelings and emotions
• The importance of letting emotions free-flow without interruption, or ‘tidying’ them away
• How Paula create safe containers for self-exploration through play
• Navigating our trauma responses, and why we must learn to trust our own vulnerabilities  
• Normalising say ‘no’ – and why doing so gives us autonomy, helps us reconnect to our boundaries, and signals emotional safety to others

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

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Paula Short:

LinkedIn

Website

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

✨✨✨

If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

We are human beings, not human doings! So how did we find ourselves doing more, more, more, when all we’ve ever needed exists here within us?

Emanuele Mazzanti is here to remind us of this. As a facilitator alchemist for EY and an energy-giver at heart, he carves out space for authentic human experience, playfulness, and emotional depth, in a highly results-driven, corporate world.

His approach is simple: connection before content, curiosity before questions, and presence before perfection, as he shows leaders how to show up in new, deeply connecting ways.

So if you’re ready to swap the PPT for something that feels a little more personal, this one’s for you!

Find out about:

• How to make more space to just be, in a culture obsessed with doing
• How to foster emotional presence in corporate settings to enhance performance, decision-making and meaningful depth
• Resisting the facilitative urge to fill workshops with content, tools and structure
• And why real transformation comes from simple, stripped back, human moments
• The mindset leaders must nurture to show up with empathy and curiosity

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

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Emanuele Mazzanti:

LinkedIn

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

✨✨✨

If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

Bitten by the magic bug at a bar mitzvah when he was 12-years old, and led on a lifelong journey from teacher, to coach, to psychologist and magician, is Dr Ben Levy. Now the founder of Magic Lessons, he’s on a mission to make learning feel exactly that – magical!

Blending magic and psychology, Ben teaches a five-ingredient secret formula for high achievement in the classroom and the boardroom, all in 20 minutes! A magic trick that shows participants that with a little bit of belief, and a momentary relinquishing of control, they too can achieve brilliant, unexpected things.

Ben invites us into his magic circle, as he shares his special ABC ME framework, and why surprise, awe, and play really do work wonders for deep learning.

Find out about:

• How magic can facilitate curiosity, insight, deep learning, and skills acquisition
• The two-way exchange of magic performances, from projection to introjection
• The five-part ABC ME (Ability, Belief, Clarity, Motivation, Environment) framework
• How to understand and manage responses, when magic takes away participant control

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

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Coaching Survey - Feel free to complete to identify where to focus, in order to achieve your priority goals.

Connect to Ben:

Linkedin

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

✨✨✨

If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

The conversations we dread, the ones we avoid, and the ones that hold so much emotional weight – are often the ones we wish we’d had sooner. So why do we fear them so much?

As a recovering people-pleaser, I know the drill all too well: the bubbling resentment, the unmet needs, and the stories we fabricate in our minds. But rather than run from the difficult conversations in my life, I’ve learnt how to build the bridges that will carry me to a better outcome.

This solo episode is for my fellow people-pleasers, facilitators, leaders, and anyone with a hard conversation on the horizon. So join me, myself and I, as I share my tried-and-tested approach to mastering them with confidence and care!

Find out about:

• The cost of avoiding challenging conversations – and the reward in embracing them
• Tuning into our bodily signals to understand what’s happening beneath the emotion
• Getting clear on the assumptions vs. the facts before a challenging conversation
• Why we must acknowledge that challenging conversations starts with us first
• Finding a common way forward without mutual agreement or violent language
• Why sharing boundaries transparently can foster respect

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

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Resources mentioned in the episode:

• HBR Article: The Right Way to Prepare for a High-Stakes Conversation
• Deviate: The Science of Seeing Differently by Beau Lotto
• SBI Feedback Model (Situation–Behavior–Impact)
• Let Them: The Art of Detaching From Judgment by Mel Robbins
• Difficult Conversations by Stone, Patton and Heen
• Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

✨✨✨

If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

When we stop looking for the perfect question, when we choose to reflect rather than react, and when we wait and listen, for just a little while longer – it can change everything.

Public speaker, serial entrepreneur and owner of Consider, Chedva Ludmir has made it her mission to help others embrace curiosity, listen deeply, and make friends with uncertainty. 

Together, we explore the power of asking thoughtful questions in all of life’s moments – from time-restricted workshops, to orthodox religions, and scary career crossroads. And why when big decisions did loom, Chedva didn’t ask herself should I do this? but rather started to ask, when it’s time, will I know it?

Find out about:

• How to stay present and curious in conversations, without leaping into question-asking
• The importance and humility in asking gentle, gateway questions
• The tension between certainty and curiosity, and why it's okay not to know
• What it means to hold space for ourselves, and others, to discover truth
• The power of fictional characters or novels to explore sensitive topics or emotions

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

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Chedva Ludmir:

LinkedIn

Website 

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

✨✨✨

If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/