The June 2024 Newsletter is here
Take a peek at Liana’s Visual Thinking on facebook
I have created a place where you can find out more about visual thinking on facebook here. If you like and share you can learn about events and new ideas pronto (and it would make me happy!).
Stay safe!
Collective Wisdom: 9 actions for Ninja Facilitation
The Great thing about the Extraordinary Facilitation courses I run, is that they bring together many interesting people with a wide variety of facilitation experience.
At the beginning of every course we participate in an appreciative enquiry exercise which draws out our knowledge about what makes facilitation extraordinary and what you could do more of, if you want more extraordinary.
Out of interest, I have compiled the results from at least 6 of these enquiries and it is remarkable how consistent the answers are. I have boiled it down to 9 critical actions you can take to make your facilitation extraordinary. The table below collates the original statements; the graphic above pulls it all together.
Get in touch if you want better resolution copies of these resources….
WHAT A FACILITATOR CAN DO TO GO FROM ORDINARY TO EXTRAORDINARY – COMPILATION OF 6 plus COURSES | |
TAKE THE TIME | Time and creating space for unfolding |
Time | |
Slowing down and allowing time | |
Taking time to reflect and use intuition | |
Not rushing things allow more time for ideas, discussion connection | |
Create space and time for mindfulness | |
Hone your time management and awareness | |
FOCUS ON THE WHY | Focus and braveness |
Bring clarity of purpose and clearly identify it | |
Know the why – what is the purpose | |
Focus (reducing workload or distractions) | |
CENTRE YOURSELF | Focussed and regular self -reflection |
Know what natural skills you bring | |
Where is your passion and energy coming from? – feed it and plug in | |
Step outside of yourself | |
Equanimity (avoiding imbalance) | |
Centred | |
Embrace vulnerability | |
Find the real bit of you, you can share or be today | |
Share and empower the group to share | |
Lose the imposter syndrome | |
Have faith and passion | |
Believe in yourself | |
Be aware of yourself | |
Clarity | |
refresh yourself | |
Self care | |
Self check = open | |
ROLE MODEL WHAT YOU NEED | Model open risk taking behaviour “the stripped back exposure of humanity |
Be a courageous example | |
Come from the heart – purposeful self disclosure | |
Speak from your truth making an invitation | |
Share | |
HEARKEN TO THE GROUP | Listen, really listen |
Watch, really watch | |
Actively Listen | |
Sensitive, watchful, observant, tuned in | |
Be consciously aware of issues in the group – writing them out, looking at them, acting upon them | |
Be aware of the group | |
Deep curious listening to others and self | |
Acknowledge they may have other stuff going on | |
Have the eyes of a child | |
CREATE A CULTURE OF CONNECTION | Nurture and enabling a group culture to develop as a priority |
Pepeha or mihimihi | |
Invite people to bring a symbol or a story | |
More getting to know each other and icebreakers | |
Cultural symbolism matters, developing common language matters – music, symbolism, words | |
invite people to share | |
Safety | |
Clear outcomes expectations and boundaries | |
Create a safe space for people to engage for a common purpose – taking the time to draw out contributions | |
Connection | |
Build relationship | |
Humanize | |
Affirm and value emotional intelligence | |
Empower those with passion | |
Empower and sharing | |
Connection and trust | |
Break the ice | |
CREATIVELY AND AUTHENTICALLY ACTIVATE AND ENGAGE | Activities and mixing it up to make it fun and engaging |
Good food good place | |
Prioritising fun and lightness when designing | |
As enjoyable for everyone a possible | |
Creative thinking | |
Create opportunities | |
Get people outside | |
Movement | |
Engaging and funny – like a video clip | |
Evoke | |
More cool tools | |
Be open to trying new things | |
Real – real content | |
Create ways to engage deeply | |
Play – activities with a core focus on trust in order to build trust organically | |
Develop interaction and play | |
Make action | |
Get people Moving | |
Engage with the group | |
Create honeypots | |
Ask great questions | |
Less about content, more about enabling | |
Challenge | |
Lead by doing – everyone is in it together | |
Use questioning techniques that lead to self learning | |
Create activities and encourage them | |
NIMBLY RESPOND | Manage turning points in the process, create enough structure and content, then be open to outcomes |
Be receptive to the vibe and be flexible | |
Let go of attachment to outcomes | |
Trust and openness- no preconceived ideas | |
Be open | |
Change the state | |
Be responsive | |
Know what needs preparation | |
Open to change, flexible | |
Take risks, let go of rigidness | |
Noticing – look out for the opportunity in the moment | |
See what is emergent for the diversity of the group | |
Go with the flow of each group | |
Relaxing control | |
KEEP LEARNING THROUGH DOING AND REFLECTION | Practice |
Feedback loops and reviews | |
Try, reflect, learn | |
Make mistakes to learn what works | |
Self reflection and keep learning | |
Celebrate success | |
Broaden your exposure – find a mentor, go to workshops |
Facilitation Face Palm or How to make the most of your facilitator
The Facilitation Face Palm reference is a bit of fun with serious intent. My sketchnote* above sets out what I would love more of my clients to know – that is
You could get even more value out of me!
If you are contemplating hiring a facilitator here are some things to think about first.
*Of course, this bears no resemblance to any actual clients and no clients were harmed in the making of this sketch 😉
You can download a PDF here or let me know what you think or if you want a bigger printable copy of the sketch
And 2 day facilitation course coming up in Wellington Region- only 4 tickets left tickets here
New for you in 2019: visual thinking course, keeping the community in conservation and more…
February Newsletter
You asked for a 1 day Introduction to Facilitation
A one day course for emerging facilitators and leaders interested in broadening their people and meeting skills. This intense and dynamic training is a fantastic way pick up out of the ordinary skills in effective facilitation and leadership so that you can be more engaging and bring about deeper change for the people you work with.
Who is it for?
The course is for people who have already started facilitating or leading groups of people and who are hungry to branch out and try more effective techniques and ideas from outside the box. This course will expose you to dozens of new tactics and give you are chance to hone your skills in a fun and supportive setting.
Here’s what previous participants said:
“Amazing “
“Great modelling of facilitation – experience it before you try it”
“Very practical experiential learning – heaps of fun – gets you thinking outside the box”
“Come with an open mind – I’ve discovered for example, that I can be more creative than I thought and I can facilitate this for others too”
“Really great for a wide range of previous experiences from novice to experienced. I learned so much and would definitely come back for a part II”
Learning Outcomes
- Deepen your understanding of ideas behind facilitation and participatory leadership
- Develop a bigger tool kit of practical techniques and skills and the strategies to collate them to make facilitation more effective
- Experience dozens of common and uncommon facilitation techniques including:
- Working in non-office settings to achieve more impact
- Developing greater self-mastery in tricky or challenging situations
- Dealing with controversial issues and divergent perspectives
- Developing a wider repertoire non-verbal communication skills
- Try out new techniques for themselves and receive feedback
- Reflect on your own personal strengths and develop your own follow up action plan
Who runs it?
Your guide is Liana Stupples a facilitator with over 20 years international experience. Liana has drawn from her diverse work co-ordinating everything from international human rights campaigns, community engagement for controversial resource management issues, national social innovation projects, youth going on outdoor adventures to community singing and distilled the most powerful and extraordinary facilitation techniques for you.
She has worked for all sectors including business, government and not for profit and understands the challenges of good leadership and facilitation in each. She has trained an equally wide range of people from international diplomats, to woman in prison.
Liana somehow helps you feel relaxed and open to new experiences; she will stick beside you as you challenge yourself. She can find the playful side of most things and she commits to bringing an engaging energy as well as sensitive facilitation skills to every event she runs. Despite the fun she is serious about building the capacity of people and organisations to tackle the real and the tough stuff. That is why she has been curious all her life about how to better facilitate and lead and wants you to practically benefit from this insight.
Liana developed the successful 2 day Extraordinary Facilitation Course
What you get:
- Full day training in a fantastic venue
- Full e-handbook of techniques and tips
- Free follow up coaching session and peer support forum
[This course is designed to perfectly complement the Introduction to Extraordinary facilitation 1 day course]
Tauranga’s Historic Village
Date(s) – 25/03/2019
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Cost: Extra-ordinary Facilitation (1 day) only $125, or
Extra-ordinary Facilitation and Visual Thinking (2 days)- $200
Register with SociaLink
Also coming up: 2 day course in Paekakariki Wellington May 30 and 31 $550. Tickets are here
contact Liana.stupples@gmail.com to reserve your place