Learning Points for Facilitators' Workshops
(Presenters' Guidelines)
(submitted by Wayne Vick - wayne@vick.com)
I wanted to take a moment to share some learning points relating to
the Facilitator's Workshops. After six years of managing this series
I've learned a few "universal" things about the people that come and what
resonates with them. These are points I shared with previous presenters
on the phone and through the "Presenters Guidelines" but occasionally the
points are lost when the enormity of the lesson is staring you in the face
along with 35 or more participants. Anyways I wanted to share this
with you and the rest of the presenters in the hopes that you will avoid
issues that have come up in the past.
| #1. While you have a few points you need to make in your workshop remember that there is a wealth of knowledge in the participants that you can draw on. Your material should have opportunities for participants, both individually and in small groups, to add ideas that may be different from or will add to or clarify yours. |
| #2. We call them participants, instead of attendees, students, or an audience, because they should be engaged to multiply the learning. Both of the last two speakers did this on a one on one basis and that's not always bad. Just remember, while 2 of you are engaged 30 others are not. So this one-on-one period should be carefully controlled and limited. Q&A can easily take up half the time but we don't want that because it is not productive for the entire group. |
| #3. The structure of the workshop and set up of the room lends itself well to two, or more, small- group related events, before and after the break, with groups formed from one or two tables. |
| #4. Related to #3 is the inclusive concept of Facilitated Learning. In the past the most successful workshops were those that the facilitator opened the session, described how they structured and plan to manage workshop, assigned small group work and had each group present results that related to the topic. After each group briefing the facilitator wrapped the groups points together with their own and moved on to the next group. This form of "facilitated learning" shares the responsibility for the content with the participants but maintains the responsibility for process with the facilitator. |
(submitted by Wayne Vick - wayne@vick.com)