First Time Facilitator

Send Leanne a message When you reflect on the workshops and conferences you deliver, each of us has a different style and a different way of bringing yourself to the party. These are my 12 Rules for Facilitation. My non-negotiables. I started writing this episode when I was debriefing my ‘lessons learnt’ after facilitating a two day conference this week. […] The post 12 Rules for Facilitation: Par...

Send Leanne a message As I’ve explored in earlier episodes, when you’re up delivering and facilitating workshops, you’re not only using a lot of mental load, but it’s very much a physical job, too.  Today’s guest recognises that and he’s a pretty cool system of checking in and making sure he handles that physicality, I’ll let him explain in […] The post The small truths of facilitation (and taking...

Send Leanne a message Today’s guest runs the coolest workshops I’ve ever heard of, no joke. And how does he embed learning at the end of these workshops? By making people practice the skills they’ve learn, when they rock up to Sir Elton John’s Oscars after-party. Not too many people can say that to their clients…But today’s guest, is a […] The post Facilitating once in a lifetime workshop experien...

Send Leanne a message Team building. Love it? Hate it? Don’t really bother? It’s an interesting concept. I actually LOVE teambuilding and taking any opportunity I can, especially during work hours, to have fun with my peers. It seems though, over the years, team-building has got a bit of a bad wrap. The other week, I posted an article […] The post Team-Building: How to create appealing (and less e...

Send Leanne a message In a perfect world, we would be working alongside newly formed teams, newly promoted managers and helping to set the scene, create a team vision, purpose and values and define ways of working.  The reality is, we’re usually called in when things are either starting to crack in a team environment. And it can be […] The post Team Coaching: How to help teams have the conversatio...

Send Leanne a message Dr Cathryn Lloyd is a facilitator, educator, researcher, arts practitioner, and creative development coach. She describes herself as a ‘bricoleur’ in the way she brings together different methodologies and processes to help people work well with one another. Dr. Cathryn brings in ‘Artful Inquiry’ processes and facilitation to move creativity into action and to create […] The...

Send Leanne a message Our guest today knows that in every poor presentation, there is a brilliant presentation waiting to be unleashed. A wizard of PowerPoint design and presentation physicality, Thomas comes with a deep understanding built from dedicating years to the art of presenting. Fun is his primary weapon and he uses it to break down all walls […] The post PowerPoint tips every facilitator...

Send Leanne a message In this episode, I sit down in the guests's seat, and reflect on 50 episodes of the First Time Facilitator podcast. Sean Lavin guides a great conversation on what I've learnt from my guests, what I've learnt about myself in the process, and what's happened as a result of launching the podcast. The post What I’ve learnt during 50 episodes of the First Time...

Send Leanne a message There’s really common theme when I ask facilitators what skills they think are necessary for facilitation.  The answer? It’s about the ability to listen. Not only to the words, but listening in to what’s happening in the room, listening to what’s not being said, listening into the nonverbal cues.  Knowing this, I brought on a […] The post Great facilitators notice patterns in...

Send Leanne a message Her alarm is set for 3.45am every week day. Meet Petra Zink, a Coach, Speaker and Consultant on all things Career & the Future of Work. In this episode, we talk about building your credibility as a facilitator when you’re first starting out, and how to market yourself without feeling like you’re bragging about you. […] The post Don’t sell the plane, sell the holiday: How...

Send Leanne a message This episode is coming to you on 31 December 2018, the last day of yet another year. I know it’s cliche setting new year’s resolutions and I don’t really do those, but I do find that this time of the year is really great for taking the time out to reflect, reset and refocus for […] The post Reflect, refocus, reset: Simple tools to make 2019 your best year ever (Episode 47) ap...

Send Leanne a message Happy Christmas eve to all of you, and I hope you are taking the time to relax with family and friend’s and also recharging for a big 2019. Today’s guest is Kerry Brocks, and she is the CEO and Founder of the Institute for Learning Professionals. We met up over a coffee in Brisbane around […] The post Learning is not a stand-alone event with Kerry Brocks (Episode 46) appeared...

Send Leanne a message In today’s episode, I talk to Julian Treasure. Julian is a sought-after and top-rated international sound and communication expert. He is a gripping speaker with 5 TED talks online which have been viewed around 40 million times. Julian travels the world training people to listen better and create healthier sound. His vision is to transform […] The post One question you need t...

Send Leanne a message I recently co-facilitated a leadership course for mid-level leaders and as part of that, explained the SCARF mode.  This is a brain based model created by David Rock in 2008; a summary of important discoveries from neuroscience about the way people interact socially. Rock combines all the research and makes it easy for people that […] The post Creating rewarding workshop expe...

Send Leanne a message If you’ve ever wondered how to make communication in meetings easier, and what x-factor tools can help you bring a conference together and really support your skills in facilitation, then you’ll love hearing from today’s guest. His name is Matteo Becchi and he’s based in Washington DC. He was recommended by Aminata N’Doye, one of […] The post No artistry required: Rediscoveri...

Send Leanne a message In this episode, I chat to 2018 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee, Dave Jackson.  He’s been podcasting since April 2005, and has been the host of nearly a dozen different podcasts over the last decade. Most people chat to Dave about creating or improving their podcast but I wanted to focus on the fact that […] The post Edutainment: How to combine knowledge, wit and interaction in...

Send Leanne a message Today’s guest is on a mission to liberate innovation, creativity and leadership within organisations. On this episode, you’ll hear how Dr Irena Yashin-Shaw transitioned from a high school teacher to become Australia’s leading expert on creativity and innovation.  Listen in when she discusses the strategies she uses to facilitate knowledge retention and behaviour change in […]...

Send Leanne a message The challenge with facilitating or running any type of training program, is ensuring that the lessons stick with participants. This week, I chat to Martin Probst from PROfound leadership on how you can help your learners retain their knowledge, and change their behaviour long after they have left the workshop. Martin is an author, a Career […] The post A conversation with a C...

Send Leanne a message Sarah McVanel is a recognition expert, author, an experienced and dynamic speaker and coach. She helps leaders leverage the exponential power of recognition to retain top talent and sustain healthy bottom-lines.  She helps organisations by curating healthy workplace cultures through her FROG methodology (Forever Recognize Others’ Greatness), as well as through speaking, train...

Send Leanne a message How do you go about packing when you’re off to deliver a workshop? I’ve been travelling quite a bit and spending a lot of time and energy packing.  I thought it was high time I developed some kind of system or checklist around this because spending time and energy on things that can be automated, […] The post The ultimate facilitator packing checklist (and how the MOST method...

Send Leanne a message This week’s episode is a bit unusual, it’s a lot shorter than others and it’s really an announcement episode. For a while, like more than six weeks, I’ve promised to launch a Facebook group for the First Time Facilitator audience, or really, anyone that wants to become a better facilitator, trainer or workshop content developer. […] The post Announcement: Facebook Group is fi...

Send Leanne a message What does it take to get to get to superhero status in the facilitation game? In this solo episode, Leanne Hughes explores and explains the 7 key attributes she thinks are critical to becoming a superhero facilitator. So, how does a facilitator carry out the responsibilities of a facilitator like a superhero (Lycra optional)? Listen […] The post 7 attributes of a superhero fa...

Send Leanne a message In today’s episode, I talk to Hadiya Nuriddin. Hadiya is a speaker, a learning strategist, instructional designer and an e-Learning Developer based in Chicago. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in all levels of learning and development and has extensive experience in designing, developing, and delivering both technical and professional development courses. Hadiya is extreme...

Send Leanne a message In today’s episode, I talk to Toon Verlinden. Toon is an international presentation coach and expert in scientific communication. He is a freelance science and travel journalist and a Biochemical Engineer by profession. Together with Hans Van de Water, they started a blog and wrote a book called ‘The Floor is Yours: Because Life is too […] The post How a chemical engineer is...

Send Leanne a message On today’s show, I chat to Steph Clarke. Steph is originally from the UK and is now based in Melbourne, Australia. She runs her own business, using her experience in learning, leadership development and executive coaching to develop courses to help organisations develop and professionals become more confident, productive and effective leaders. We cover topics […] The post The...