Lights, Camera, Action - Mastering the Art of Virtual Facilitation

Section 1: Set the Tone

Start each meeting or session with a purpose and hook that engage the group, followed by the art of developing a mutually agreed upon agenda with an outcome.

Section 2: Building Trust When Starting a Virtual Meeting, Workshop or Webinar

The group will discuss ways to start meetings in order to build trust, reduce stress and have staff open up.

Section 3: Establishing Ground Rules

Participants will discuss ground rules and why they are so important in this new world of virtual meetings. They will also work together to generate a list of ground rules for the remainder of the workshop.

Section 4: Facilitators’ Skill Sets to Guide the Experience

Next, participants will explore key facilitation skills, levels of facilitation, facilitation language, and things to do to ensure facilitation success.

Section 5: Communication Skills

This session will explore the building blocks of good communication: active listening, questioning skills, probing techniques, and managing your body language.

Section 6: Active Listening

Participants will test their active listening skills in a unique and fun way – by listening to a fairy tale. Their levels of judgement and assumptions will be examined during this exercise.

Section 7: Handling Controversial Issues

In this session, participants will learn how to handle controversial issues in a neutral and professional way.

Section 8: Dealing with Difficult Dynamics

Participants will complete a mix and match exercise to identify possible difficult behaviours and ways to manage them.

Section 9: Lights, Camera, Virtual

Virtual is not live. Don’t try to recreate it. Participants will receive the tools to bring out their best in a virtual setting.

Workshop Wrap-Up

At the end of the course, students will have an opportunity to ask questions and fill out an action plan.