Many workshop facilitators have their own style of facilitating, including using their own words or phrases to convey key concepts across to workshop participants. Or sometimes, you may have been in a workshop and have heard terms that you weren’t familiar with and may not have been comfortable asking about them.

Here are some terms I’ve either used for a long time or recently came across that made a lot of sense for me, and resonated with the participants I’ve used them with. Feel free to use the terminology that resonates most with you, or try all of them and see how they resonate with your participants:

Download

I discovered this term from one of my clients. To “download” means to share information you’ve learned. For example, if one goes to a training or workshop or decides to do more research on a topic on their own to share with others, they share what they’ve learned in the hopes that others will absorb the information. Think of downloading a new program on your laptop or desktop and saving it for future use.

Parking Lot/Bike Rack

Sometimes a participant will ask a question that you’re unsure how to answer. Or maybe you and the participants are so engrossed in an activity that asking a question might disrupt the flow of engagement. Saving the question for later in a “parking lot” or “bike rack” allows the facilitator to come back to the question or comment at a later time. You can create a parking lot/bike rack by dedicating a section of the room for participants to write questions or comments on post-it notes to place in that area. Towards the end of the workshop or if there’s a break in activity, go back read some of the questions or comments to share with the rest of the participants.

Modeling

“Modeling” is demonstrating something to your participants. If there is an activity that may be very intricate that it may take participants some time to understand, you show them what to do. Whether it’s showing a movement or performing a writing activity, modeling allows participants to see what they need to do.

Unpack

Sometimes a participant may make a comment or ask a question that receives a level of reaction from participants, and it may be something you’re interested in exploring further. So you’ll respond, “Let’s unpack this.” Unpacking means to take a deeper dive into a topic as a means to uncover more information. It’s important to do this in a way that doesn’t make a participant feel put on the spot, so do this in a way that honors the perspective of the participant while also allowing everyone to add their own insights.

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Ask Nicole: How Can I Get Hired for Workshops & Speaking Engagements?

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T19:04:37-04:00February 1st, 2017|Categories: Speaking & Facilitation|Tags: Ask Nicole, Facilitation, Speaking|0 Comments

Do you have a question to share with the Raise Your Voice community? Let me know.

Michelle, a social worker in Pennsylvania, writes:

I have been researching other options to become involved in within the [social work] field and came across your website. I was wondering if you [could] discuss how to get involved in facilitating workshops/speaking engagements. This is an area I’m very interested in pursuing and am eager to build resources and network with other professionals.

I’m always excited to hear fellow social workers eager to show their expertise in a variety of ways.

I’ve been facilitating workshops in some capacity since 2003-ish. I started co-facilitating workshops as a student, with other youth activists around the country, then as a Reproductive Justice activist and professional social worker. Because I was so new to it, I leaned a lot on my peers to guide the workshop facilitation. I also sought out people who have a delivery style you like or who speak on topics that interests you. The goal isn’t to imitate them, but observe how they engage their audience. Whenever I co-faciliate a workshop or training with someone, I focus on how they engage the audience, how they interject personal experiences that tie into their content, or how they tie in real-world examples to illustrate their content. I eventually found a facilitation style that worked for me.

First, determine what your interests are and what you want to share your expertise in. Next, brainstorm how you want to deliver your information. I’ve written a series on preparing and facilitating workshops (Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four). We tend to think of workshops as being in person, but you can also deliver great content via online formats such as GoToMeeting or Zoom. In my Blog Archives, there’s a section on workshops where I share my own experiences with workshop facilitating as well as exercises I’ve facilitated in workshops.

Secondly (and probably most important), let people know that you’re available for workshops and speaking engagements! Word of mouth has been a driving force for my business and for lots of people interested in professional speaking and workshop facilitation.

Next, find ways to show your expertise before going into a conference or workshop space. My preferred method to show my interests and expertise has been through blogging, and in using my social media platforms to promote my thoughts. Blogging has been a good way for me to show my expertise, gain clients, and have folks invite me to speak. (I view it as an online business card). Blogging has also given me a platform to share my perspective AND has allowed me to revisit my stance to either strengthen my voice or to share a new perspective. Blogging may be that for you as well. Or it may be podcasting or sharing your perspective via YouTube. You can also engage with folks via live feeds on Instagram, Facebook, or Periscope. You can curate the topics you like to talk about and it aids in developing your personal approach and what you’re known for (aka, your brand), which then helps people associate you with certain speaking topics. I recently updated my Speaking page to show what my interests are as well as what I’m most requested to speak on.