The Inspirational Facilitator May - June 2024

Please note webinar dates with more detail further down the page:

Part 1: How to Make the Most of Virtual - you’ll participate in one 90-minute webinar on Tuesday 14th May at 4pm (UK Time).

Part 2: Finding Your Most Effective Style - you’ll participate in one 90-minute webinar on Tuesday 28th May at 4pm (UK Time).

Part 3: Flourishing as Facilitation Changes - you'll participate in one 90 minute webinar on Tuesday 11th June @ 4pm (UK Time).

WHY THE INSPIRATIONAL FACILITATOR?

Too many face-to-face meetings, workshops and conferences are bitterly disappointing. Poorly structured, ineptly hosted and devoid of either energy or results, they leave you wondering why the event took place at all.

And particularly since the arrival of Covid, the same is true of online events.

The Inspirational Facilitator is a three-part online series and set of 9 videos, which will help you expand your range of facilitation skills to ensure you and your business remain effective.

Paul Z Jackson will be sharing his wealth of experience to show you how to design and host meetings, workshops and conferences that rock and keep your audiences coming back for more.

IS THE INSPIRATIONAL FACILITATOR FOR YOU?

If you’ve ever struggled with how to…

• Engage participants from start to finish
• Make events flow naturally, without resistance
• Ensure learning, action and clear results

...Then this practical programme offers you all the tips and techniques you need to be a more confident and creative facilitator, both face-to-face and online.

You’ll enhance your design and hosting skills, while participating in an exclusive collaborative network. You’ll gain a competitive edge that keeps you in demand for the fulfilling work you want.

During the course you’ll learn dozens of instantly-useable tips and tools, including:

• How to spark creativity in a virtual session
• 3 activities to engage your group right from the start
• Why ‘Zoom fatigue’ is mostly a myth - and how to keep things energised
• How to begin an online event with a bang - even when participants are slow to engage
• How to make ice-breakers enticing, relevant and purposeful
• One simple failsafe step to get participants actively involved
• How to connect every exercise with the topics of your event

WHAT'S IN THE PACKAGE?

1. You’ll be able to attend 3 live webinars with me, Paul Z Jackson, and your fellow participants.
2. You’ll receive a set of 9 tip-filled videos at the start of the course.
3. You’ll be invited to join an exclusive Online Forum where you can share with your peers, ask and get answers to your questions and challenges, along with links to dozens of useful resources.
4. A new bonus material booklet enabling you to benefit from what we’ve all been learning as facilitators and participants on virtual calls: Virtual Facilitation – what works well.

IN MORE DETAIL - The 3 Live Webinars

Part 1: How to Make the Most of Virtual - you’ll participate in one 90-minute webinar on Tuesday 14th May at 4pm (UK Time).

The focus is on how to effectively adapt your facilitator style in an online world, including:

• How to spark creativity in a virtual session
• Why ‘Zoom fatigue’ is mostly a myth - and how to keep things energised
• Three activities to engage your group right from the start

Part 2: Finding Your Most Effective Style - you’ll participate in one 90-minute webinar on Tuesday 28th May at 4pm (UK Time).

We will be identifying and making the most of your facilitator style – so that you stand out in the market and find the right clients for your approach. Also case examples in which you get to grips practically with a design to create flow and engagement.

Part 3: Flourishing as Facilitation Changes - you'll participate in one 90 minute webinar on Tuesday 11th June @ 4pm (UK Time).

We'll be making sense of the new trends in Facilitation and discovering what you need to know to take advantage of the rapid changes in the facilitation landscape.

IN MORE DETAIL - The 9 Videos

Watch these nine videos, drawing on material from Paul’s final pre-Covid specially-recorded face-to-face training.

1. Getting your group from A to B: The Essence of Facilitation
2. Setting up the physical space for a productive workshop
3. How to turn strangers into a network that’s ready to learn together
4. Top 10 skills that are most important for a facilitator to develop
5. How to use breakouts effectively to increase diversity and productivity
6. The 3-part structure that gets the most from any exercise
7. How to use variety and timings for maximum engagement
8. What treasures you need to pack in the old kit bag
9. The 5 endings that make any event memorable and complete

PRICE TO ATTEND:

£399 per person (early bird discount already applied until 14th April when the rate will increase to £450).

Places are limited to 20 participants, so your presence counts in our participative, experiential webinars.

YOUR HOST:

Paul Z Jackson has extensive experience in facilitation, both face-to-face and virtual. He designs and leads projects, workshops and training programmes that transform lives by developing collaborative skills. These recently include:

• Design and facilitation of four annual conferences of The Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre
• Design and hosting of face-to-face and online events for CHS Alliance
• Co-designer of ‘Participate!’ – a new online certification programme for teaching participatory methods in the humanitarian and voluntary sectors
• Masterclass sessions for IAF England and IAF World, ODiN, and Association of Business Communicators
• Organiser of online conferences for the Applied Improvisation Network and SF24

He is a leader in the application of improvisation in the UK and around the world. Co-founder, long-time President and current Board member of the Applied Improvisation Network, Paul has also trained more than 1,000 coaches in the solutions-focused (SF) approach.

WHERE CAN I APPLY MY NEW SKILLS?

We will be exploring facilitation in a whole range of contexts – both face-to-face and online. That means the learning will be relevant to all sorts of events, including:

• 1-to-1 or team coaching
• Formal or informal meetings – with clients, customers, your own teams
• Workshop sessions
• Conferences with hundreds of participants

Everything in the programme is designed to be easy to follow and easy to apply to your own work. We’ll also explore the application of improvisational principles to designing and delivering events. In short, you’ll gain confidence to extend your range, and add satisfyingly useful skills and lots of value to your marketability.

Testimonials: what people say about Paul Z Jackson’s work:

Adam St.John Lawrence, co-founder of WorkPlayExperience, and co-initiator of the Global Service Jam

“When I choose a course, I’m looking for things I can steal and perhaps go on to teach. I’m hoping to challenge my own models about what facilitation is. I want new angles to look at it from, new ways of framing and describing things.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed everything I’ve ever been in that you facilitated, even if it was for a third or fourth time.”

Neville Bharucha, Facilitator, Mumbai, India

“On your courses, even if you take the material out of the equation, you learn so much from the teacher – how the teaching is done. Since doing the course, my classes are a lot more effective and more enjoyable. I understand the concepts and moving parts of facilitation. The exercises were a big plus point for me – all the games. I got so many of Paul’s games and use them all the time – in different combinations and variations, off-line and online. It was a huge takeaway.”

Alex Menham, Trainer & Facilitator, Course Attendee, February 2020

“So much useful learning! Many thanks Paul. Too much to list. It was all helpful and your gentle facilitation gave us a great role model.”

Virtual attendees of the Virtual Global CHS Exchange 2020

“Really excellent facilitation once again from Mr Jackson.”

“Excellent hosting and facilitation and impressive use of technology – few events have been run so smoothly!”

“Both the panel discussions and breakout rooms today have been really engaging and cultivated fervent conversation.”

“Impressive use of Zoom and jam boards, etc. Do we ever need to meet physically again.Think of the carbon we’ve saved!”

FAQs

What if I can’t make that date?

No worries. If you can’t join the live session, you’ll have access to a recording.

Is this a one-way lecture in which I don’t get to ask my question or make my point?

The webinars offer a practical demonstration of how to engage participants from start to finish. It’s a mix of presentations, conversations and peer networking with a group of fellow practitioners. We’re not only describing how to make events flow naturally, with energy and without resistance, we’re also experiencing it.

What sort of topics do we cover?

If you ever experience:

• Sessions that get stuck or drained of energy
• That sinking feeling of more resistance and less progress
• Activities that leave participants uninspired

We’ll learn how to turn those around. Instead of failed events, with muddled outcomes and too little learning or action, you'll rediscover your creativity and apply it effectively in any environment.