A journey into workshops + facilitation
Hosting my own workshops is something that I’ve wanted to do for awhile, but let my own head— “I’m not ready yet” —take over with a wealth of excuses. Who knew it’d be quarantine that forced the issue and create four different workshops in a month. Wild! After someone asked me how I got into it, this seemed the perfect time to reflect on what I’ve learned.
The irony is I woke up to a text from my dad today that said, “Were you thinking about the workshops during Vietnam [a trip we took together in February], or did they just pop into your mind once you went into lockdown? Just curious.” It’s a very good question and perhaps I don’t give myself enough credit, but here’s how I broke it down.
Lesson 1: Plant seeds early and often
It wasn’t until I started saying out loud, “I want to host more workshops” that it actually became a reality. It then became a cycle where I’d share what I’m working on, which lead to something else. It also meant it became more in touch with various workshops and events I could attend and learn from. I was planting seeds in myself as much as others.
I also was learning from the company around me. I read my friend Matt’s post on his quest to become a world class facilitator. I loved what I was reading but I admit at the time my first reaction was more one of envy in that he had figured out what he wanted to do. As time passed, I realized more of these words resinated with me, I just hadn’t thought of myself as a “facilitator” just yet. And I think I was scared to do something I didn’t have a ton of experience in.
Lesson 2: Do the thing that scares you
It’s wild to think back to the fact that one of the first workshops I ever facilitated was for Louis Vuitton a few years ago. I was neither a master facilitator, nor in the world of luxury, but they were drawn to my travel side of sharing stories. I was incredibly intimidated, and had to put together a pitch. Rather than asking anyone what I was supposed to do/present, I did it my way, and I got the gig! I learned that while I hadn’t seen it at first, their brand has a strong heritage in travel. I learned that listening to the client needs was the best thing I could bring to the table, and when they invited me back they said, “remember how you brought your gnome last time? Yeah, it’d be great if you could do it again. Make it fun.” (That, my dear readers, is what I call success!)
Working with a group of “non-creatives” (as an aside, I believe everyone is creative) made me realize just how much I could help shake up how they typically work and do things (which is always a joy for me).
Lesson 3: Start before you’re ready
My first workshop I ran for myself—rather than a client—was something I was scared to say yes to because I didn’t know what to offer. (My Mastermind group advised me to rework an existing talk I had, rather than launching something new even if I had the time. It was the best advice.) Of all organizations, it was Pretty Deadly, who teaches self defense, who invited me to host my own workshop that could be anything. Is a self-defense class how I thought I’d get started doing workshops? Heck, no! But in the course of a month and a half I ended up running 7 rounds of Write Your Own Rules. Opportunity can come where you least expect it…
We all want to have everything “figured out” but at some point you have to start. You can find endless inspiration, learn from other workshops, and think through every moment, but until you get in front of a group of people you can’t fully predict how it may go. Part of my overwhelm came from not knowing what of the wide spectrum of things I could teach would be of interest to people. Sometimes you just have to START SOMEWHERE.
For the record, even after I agree to a workshop, I usually don’t have my slides done or everything figured out completely until the morning of! Having a super rough plan is all you need to say yes.
Lesson 4: Prototype and test out your ideas
Trying things out on real humans is the best way you can get a sense of what works and what doesn’t. Of course try out your ideas on yourself first, but know at some point the best feedback will come from trying things out on others. Workshops like any other project—even life—are iterative. You learn from each one and you can continue to tweak and improve your offering, or reinvent it in new forms.
Write Your Own Rules evolved out of design principles I taught in a UX class for OpenClassrooms, which inspired a 20-min Product Crunch Paris talk, and eventually became a 2-hour in person turned online interactive online workshop where it took a name of it’s own. I have a feeling this is not the last iteration either…
Lesson 5: It’s OK to start small
Whatever doesn’t have to be an “official” or big thing with a full launch. You can start small. Invite friends. Readers. Followers. Whoever supports your work and endeavors likely will be willing participants. Don’t force anything. Often strangers and people you don’t know well will be the best “guinea pigs” and aren’t scared to give you honest feedback. After each workshop I always ask for feedback so I can learn what worked and what could be improved.
Lesson 6: Keep a collection of ideas
We can easily fall into the research trap of looking for more inspiration. At some point you need to stop and DO SOMETHING with it. Otherwise it just rots in your head. I keep a running list of ideas for workshop prompts, exercises, formats, and activities in a “wiki” I started (I use Notion.so because it’s so clean and simple). More recently I started writing my favorite ideas that I’ve worked with on index cards which I store as if they’re a “recipe box” of the analog variety. As I’m putting workshop concepts together I can mix and match ideas to create new combinations for workshops.
Once I launched my first online workshop, it turned out three more followed within the same month, and yet another the following. Create a system that let’s you grow and flourish.
Lesson 7: Remix ideas to make them work for you
This has been one of the most fun things for me. Not only do I recombine past exercises I’ve used in other workshops, I regularly take tools from UX and design thinking and put my own twist on them. This also means it’s not some exercise people have done many times before. It helps them pause and makes them think.
I usually try to include easy warm-up activities with a low barrier of entry to get people thinking out of the box. The trick of course is tying it back to the overall workshop theme and goals. I like to try out new ideas all the time. It keeps things interesting for me too.
Lesson 8: Make it participatory
Workshops by nature are participatory rather than one directional. Still, it can be easy to fall into the trap of talking to an audience. Even if participants aren’t speaking out loud, getting them working on exercises can be a great way to engage them. Ideally split them in pairs or small groups to get them sharing. More than ever people crave connection with each other. Meeting people who are somewhere for a similar reason to them gives them a launching off point to connect. This all can be recreated online too.
Lesson 9: Know what you want out of the workshop
Working with schools taught me a lot about having learning goals/outcomes for workshops. The more you can drill down into what you want participants to get out of the workshop, the stronger it will be. I’ve come to find that participants really love leaving with something tangible that they’ve contributed to. This may be a worksheet, or in the case of my Write Your Own Rules Workshop, participants leave with their very own “rule book” [zine] that is something tangible that they take away with them and can refer to regularly.
Lesson 10: Make it fun
“It should be fun” is one of my recent life mantra’s that I picked up from my grandfather (he was born in 1901 BTW). I think the trouble happens when we start to get too serious. We start to lose the point of why we’re doing things. The fun is also where so much of the innovation and creativity comes. (In my CreativeMornings “Make A Map!” virtual FieldTrip I have participants draw maps on bananas—if that’s not a crazy idea, I don’t know what is.)
Sure wild ideas may need to be reigned in at some point, but it’s better to let the mind go too far than not far enough. I see workshops as a way to shake things up. People are looking for an escape from the every day. It should be fun!
So to answer my dad’s question, was I thinking about workshops during our trip? I had one seed planted, and I responded, “yes, let’s talk, it’s something I’ve been wanting to do more of.” Other than that it was a far off idea, but by having it in the back of my mind, and leaning into the opportunities that started to present themselves, the rest just spiraled.
And while this blog post is about my journey into workshops and facilitation, I’d say these lessons apply to most any work I do.
Looking for a facilitator to support your organization or team? Check out my current and past workshops, and teaching experience to get a sense of what I can bring to you. I announce my workshops open to the public through my weekly newsletter, Connect the Dots.