Creative Facilitation: Bring Your Meetings and Training To Life

Do you have to deliver training or events with lots of content and information? Do you rely on Powerpoint slides, speakers, manuals, and Q and A? Are you a little bit bored with how you are facilitating?

This workshop for facilitators and trainers will give you practical ways of sharing information that keeps people engaged and interested. We'll also do some activities that enable people to share their own knowledge and experiences.

And we'll share some facilitation tips: the problem with some room set-ups; the importance of finishing on time; avoiding the Plenary Vortex and Teacher Trance...

This is our foundation workshop where we share processes and activities to bring more aliveness to training and events so as you can make the best use of people's time and energy. It complements the ideas in our book, , and offers hands-on learning in a small group.

Who should attend?

Anyone responsible for designing and leading training or events, especially where there's a lot of content to cover - whether it's internal, with clients, for consultation, feedback, generating ideas or learning. Anyone who is frustrated and a bit bored by existing approaches.

What can I expect?

You'll be surprised by the variety and depth of ways to engage people, and you'll experience for yourself what each feels like. You'll share your reactions and insights with other professionals grappling with the same issues that you are. You'll spend very little time sitting down, a lot of time doing; and while our appraoches are grounded in behavioural science, you won't be bombarded with theory. You'll leave with practical ideas to try at your next meeting or event. 

We will have different types of conversations, we’ll look at different ways of looking at the same thing, we’ll do activities, we’ll use the space we’re in, and the surroundings. It will be fun, and we'll sometimes challenge the conventions of training and facilitation.

There will be less formal structure than in conventional training; instead we'll be exploring how the whole group can create and shape the experience together - in some ways this is the metaskill of facilitation.

There will be lots of opportunities to share experiences, practice what you are learning and plan for lively events.

What topics do you cover?

Beyond traditional approaches - How to avoid the mistakes that traditional education teaches us about how people share, learn and interact.

Participatory approaches - Ways of sharing information, gathering ideas, and learning together that helps a group connect and engage with the content. How to create an environment of open-ness and trust, and getting people to work together.

Beyond words - How to get beyond wordy, and worthy, sometimes meaningless, words using photos, action and story.

Bravo! You as a performer - While the group, and the processes you use, are important, what about you? How do you deal with challenges, stage fright, a crisis of confidence? The second day of this workshop focuses on YOU and gives you tips and tools to manage yourself, especially when things go wrong. 

Your hosts...

Viv McWaters worked as a journalist, and in communications, and community education, training and strategy development. She now specialises in facilitation and participatory evaluation and draws on her background in the natural sciences and arts. Viv help groups discover new approaches to the work that matters for them, and designs workshops, conferences and training to bring them to life.

Viv studied agricultural science at Longerenong Agricultural College, and has a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies from RMIT University, and a Masters in Applied Science (Agriculture and Rural Development) from the University of Western Sydney.

Improvisation is a constant source of inspiration, as is nature, play and the surprising things that people say and do. Currently, Viv is researching the role of applied improvisation in preparing people to respond in uncertainty, particularly disaster response.

Chad Foulkes is a facilitator and process designer. He likes to work where things matter, people care and better is possible. His work has changed laws, policies, state-wide approaches, set-out long and short term visions, stopped stuff happening and started much more. He has been told that his thinking and his ways of work couldn’t fit in government yet are desperately needed.

His work moves between deliberative processes, facilitating, leadership (though not like that kind of leadership) and working to improve systems – you know improving the stuff that causes the symptoms.

Chad has racked up numerous awards for community engagement and public health initiatives. Chad has lived, studied and worked internationally. He is a community development practitioner with a Masters in International Development.

What others say about Viv and Chad

"Highly recommended. It was a refreshing and energising experience, excellent for those both new to facilitation and those with more experience wanting to reconnect with the art of facilitation. Creative Facilitation reinforces a strengths-based approach to working with groups. Ego-less facilitation; masterfully designed and facilitated, thanks to Viv." Lindy Amos, Collective Possibilities

"The most exciting and useful training I've ever engaged in! It was interactive, informative and incredibly useful. I will use this whenever I facilitate a group to ensure the best learning outcomes are acheived for the group participants." Participant in NSW Health Training

"The greatest part of the Creative Facilitation workshop is the learning space Viv creates. Not only do you learn her facilitation methods and theory, you get to live and breathe them by participating in activities and experiencing them for yourself. So valuable." Melanie Starr, Northcote Rental Housing Cooperative

On facilitating: “What a positive sentiment we had in the room last night. I really enjoy seeing how Chad welcomed people and set them at ease so quickly. Thank you for designing a set of activities that managed to deliver what we needed and what the community wants”

On leadership: “I have learnt a lot from Chad, especially how to lead, when I don't really know where I am leading to!”

Covid Stuff

There's no getting around it - we're still in a global pandemic and uncertainty abounds. If we cancel due to Covid-19 restrictions, or because we are unable to run the workshop, you will recive a full refund (or credit for a future course if you prefer - the choice is yours). If you are unable to attend because of Covid-19 you will receive a full refund. We will ask everyone to check-in on each day of the workshop and to show proof of double vaccination. We will use Covid-safe practices during the workshop.

The Small Print

GST of 10% is added to your registration fee.

Cost includes refreshments and lunch on both days.

We understand that sometimes plans change. If you find you need to cancel, we'll be sorry and will reimburse your registration fee less a 20% handling charge. We can't accept cancellations after June 1st, 2022. Substitutions are okay. See notes above about Covid-19 cancellations.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Adelaide Pavilion, Cnr South Terrace and Peacock Road, Adelaide, Australia