The secrets ofsuccessful facilitation.

Amanda NewberyArticulous Communications

Agenda

1. Working the group

2. Grabbing and maintaining attention

3. Using questions effectively

4. Engaging all

1. Working the Group

When facilitating, consider

Purpose

Trainees’ needs / expect-ations

What do you want

the trainees to do / think

Format (teacher,

vs facilitator)

Your natural

style

The TraineesConsider what they want / expect• General information / knowledge• Technical information / knowledge• Advice• Entertainment• To be challenged• New perspective• Networking• To learn from others

Learning StylesVisual Auditory Read / Write Kinaesthetic

Learning through visual aids such as maps, images, flow charts, symbols and diagrams

Learn through using auditory tools such as listening to lectures, discussions, music

Prefer to read and write text

Learning through experience and movement such as touch/feel, projects or tools that depict movement such as videos, YouTube

What are you?

Remember

Your facilitation style

should seek to recognise

trainees’ needs.

2. Grabbing and Maintaining Attention

Introductions

Encourage talking by greeting people when they arrive.

Try to learn about trainees’ backgrounds and experiences so you can refer to them later.

Be creative with introductions.

Get THEM to talk.

Delivery• Body language– Stance, movement, gestures, hands,

facial expressions, eye contact• Voice– Volume– Pace– Pitch (high, medium, low tone)– Inflection (change of pitch within a

word),– Emphasis– Pause for power or effect, suspense,

time for ideas to penetrate

Using Your Delivery to Maintain Attention

1. Plan for excitement at the low energy points– Post lunch, post afternoon breaks, later days

2. If the group is bored, then change– Your pace or volume– Your spot – move in close or change sides– Your location – do an activity in the foyer or outdoors

3. Movement creates interest– Use the whole room– Present from different sides

4. Avoid monotony at ALL costs– Vary pace, volume and emphasis

5. Don’t rush – it shows lack of confidence

Content• Making it Relevant

– Feature vs benefit– Action vs impact / consequence

• Content - Making it Understandable– Translate jargon immediately– Avoid use of acronyms or write up on the board– Use visuals (eg. Simple one like ice bergs)– For complicated information use flow charts or analogies

• Content - Driving home your point– Repeat important information– Summarize important ideas (“three key lessons")– Signpost important ideas (at the start, end and throughout)– Examples

Remember

It takes hard work and

variety to maintain

attention.

3. Using Questions Effectively

Types of QuestionsOpen ended questions To encourage discussion Tell me more, what are the

best ways to …Imagining questions To think about problem

solvingWhat if …Imagine if …

Clarifying questions To get trainees to clarify exactly what they mean

Could you explain what you mean by …

Different perspective questions

To get trainees to think from another’s perspective

How do you think a new worker might perceive this

Redirecting questions To get other trainees to pick up discussion

What do others think of that point

Summarising questions To sum up the long-winded So you’re saying …

Closed ended questions To get a yes or no responseTo limit discussion

Yes, or no, should we …

Prioritising questions To sum up and to reiterate your points

We’ve talked about a lot of options, what do you think are the most important

Active Listening• Background Listening• Passive Listening• Active Listening– What 5-10 seconds for people

to answer– Use non-verbals to encourage– Don’t interrupt or correct mid-sentence– Respond to what trainees REALLY say– Ask follow up questions (especially clarifying,

summarising, prioritising)

Managing Answers• Handling Wrong Answers

– Get them to clarify to understand exactly why they’re saying that– Ask them to think about the consequences / other perspectives

etc– Ask others (be careful though)– If they don’t see why they are wrong, you need to be clear and say

what is right.

• When You Don’t Know the Answers– Ask the class what they think– Reiterate what you do know– Be honest and say you will check– Don’t bluff

Remember

Use questions to foster

interactivity and self-

discovery.

4. Engaging All: From the Dominant to the Quiet

Who Do You Tend to Struggle With?The Know-it-All? The Wallflower?

The Squeaky Wheel?

The Exhausted?

Trainees Who Dominate• Go around the room and ask each person to speak.• Pick out individuals to answer.• Use non verbals to look for answers elsewhere.• When working in small groups, nominate scribes, ask the

dominating person to scribe, nominate group representative

• Invite others to speak “what other thoughts are there?”• Delicately interrupt and invite comments “Jim, before you

continue, does anyone else have an opinion on that?”• Talk to them at the break. Thank them but ask them to

help you to get others to contribute more by asking them to hold back a bit.

Trainees Who Don’t ParticipateIs it one or many? Could it be something you’re doing?

• Go around the room and ask everyone to contribute• Start with easier questions to manage fears. Eg. “Think of a

situation at home…”• Break trainees into pairs rather than small groups to work on

problems• Ask a question and get trainees to write down their answers first

before answering• Try to refer to what trainees have said during the training• When in small groups, see if quiet trainees s are more likely to

participate and then encourage them• Use sentence completion exercises “when X happens, we increase

the risk of …”

Top Tips• Create a conducive environment• Establish rules early and upfront• Mix up the groups – by invitation, number off, choose a question,

group via experience • Use individuals’ names when asking questions• Round robins for activity debriefs• Selecting participants for debriefs• Think about how you set up an exercise • Create competitions• Prizes• Change the order of activities• Call for volunteers but be sneaky• Talk to difficult people at breaks

SECTION 6 - Putting it all together• Start as you mean to go on– Interactivity at the beginning– Set grounds rules– Establish positive environment

• Plan how you will handle the difficult and the disinterested

• Mix up your delivery through your activities, non-verbals and voice

• Have a plan

Your Turn to Plan

Any Questions?