workshops work

Mohsin Memon is a gaming expert—but he’s not spending his days playing shoot ‘em ups. Mohsin’s expertise lies at the crossroads of learning and gaming, where he spends his time creating immersive experiences and teaching others how to do the same.Our conversation in this episode was a speed-run of all things experiential learning, from the nuts-and-bolts details of what makes a game enjoyable, to the more cerebral questions around ‘fair play’ and childhood experiences.If you’re interested in alternative approaches to learning, novel applications of facilitation skills, or adapting your methods to the needs of the group—you’re going to thoroughly enjoy this episode.Find out about:How Mohsin (and the wider world) defines and understands gamesHow games hold up a lens to our behaviour patterns and show us fascinating distortionsWhy games are a vehicle for interaction and connectionHow our childhood experiences dictate our expectations of gamesHow our culture shapes our appreciation and proclivity for certain types of gamesWhat it means to play a game fairly—and what happens when that isn’t assuredDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.LinksGamitar - The company Mohsin represents. This is also the official publisher of the games.Evivve - The Leadership Game - A game designed for virtual and physical facilitated learning experiences on a range of leadership competencies.Connect to Mohsin:On LinkedInShare your thoughts about our conversation!Support the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

There are few spaces in which facilitation skills have a greater impact than diplomacy, yet conversations connecting the two are rare.This episode changes that.With over 30 years of experience in mediation and mediation training, Ron Ton has unique and unparalleled insights to share. Explore the incredible world of diplomacy, negotiation, and mediation with one of its pre-eminent experts.Tune in to learn how facilitation skills intersect across Ron’s work—and how his approach has changed over time.And, as a separate note, this is one of my first in-person recordings in 2+ years. What a joy!Find out about:What diplomacy, mediation, and facilitation have in commonHow to balance defending one’s interests with finding a mutually agreeable path forwardWhy so much of Ron’s work comes back to facilitating collaborationThe three levels of awareness Ron focuses on in any negotiationWhy your workshops starts before you’re in the roomHow humility can take us away from unspoken agendas and towards deeper understandingWhat to do if a group gets stuck on a disagreement early on in a workshop Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.LinksConnect to Ron:On LinkedInShare your thoughts about our conversation!Support the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

When you think of business transformation, what do you picture?Expensive consultants armed with long presentations and a briefcase of jargon? Or a voluntary grassroots movement of trust, equity, and contractual safety within an organisation?Douglas Breitbart sees it one way and one way only. You may be able to guess which method gets his vote.This episode was hugely refreshing and inspiring. Douglas’ conviction and confidence in the power of internally led transformation projects — and the methods required to facilitate them effectively — are a blueprint for the agile and empathetic businesses of the future.Find out about:How sharing, not enforcing, power creates changeWhy Douglas believes organisations can (and shall) change without new resources or inputsWhy many leaders end up ignoring the most powerful energetic potential in their organisationWhy an attachment to outcomes causes harm to the facilitator and their workshop participantsWhat changes when a voluntary team leads a transformation processHow to use values audits in business transformationWhy workshop participants are waiting for ‘enrolment’ — and how you can provide itDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.Links2BElemental, Douglas’ coaching, insights, and collaboration businessBeing In Systems, Douglas’ emergence facilitation businessThe Values Foundation, Douglas’ value-alignment businessConnect to Douglas:On LinkedInShare your thoughts about our conversation!Support the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Love is wonderful, it’s all around. Love is the finest thing in the world… but what’s it got to do with facilitation?Spend and hour with Lorenz Sell and you’ll see the many threads that connect love and facilitation together. From creating connection and honest communication to presence and validation — facilitators may as well be love incarnate!Lorenz and I discuss a range of themes in this episode, from the nitty-gritty of learning and sharing to the beautiful soft light of love and attention. Conversation with Lorenz flows so lightly and thoughtfully, this episode is equally perfect for a candle-lit Saturday night or a slow summer Sunday morning. Enjoy it — whichever way you choose to listen.Find out about:Why the labels we assign to objects, feelings, or states cannot override their universal valuesHow online learning fell into an imbalance of content vs. connectionWhy Lorenz sees ‘coherence’ as the great challenge of his facilitation practiceHow Lorenz defines ‘the space’ in a workshopWhat the difference is between hearing, seeing, and feeling another personWhy Lorenz thinks facilitators need to get comfortable with the darkest corners of themselvesDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.LinksConnect to Lorenz:On LinkedInOn TwitterShare your thoughts about our conversation!Support the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Games or card decks are often used as fun activities in workshops. They’re seen as good tools for keeping a group energised and interested… but they can also be a tool for connection and communication.Nick Kellet, the founder of Deckible, understands the power the right game can have in group settings. Whether it’s giving participants new ways of expressing themselves or creating a container for a specific conversation, Nick knows how to use games and card decks to best effect.I wanted to speak with Nick to explore the deeper value of games, play, and cards — beyond being fun activities — to really understand how we can facilitate feelings and create magic.Find out about:What happens when we embrace new ways to communicate and understand emotionsWhy it is valuable to work on ‘desire generation’ for participantsHow to keep game design, participant feelings, and creative flow in constant conversationHow games and play can get us into a flow state without realisingWhy it’s worth investing in a repertoire of tools to facilitate inclusionWhat idea generation and marriage have in commonDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.LinksDeckible’s websiteConnect to Nick:On LinkedInOn TwitterOn InstagramShare your thoughts about our conversation!Support the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Presence — it sounds like a simple concept, but it is littered with deeper questions.Does our presence change when we are in a physical workshop or an online one? How can we work with a group that lacks presence? Can we push ourselves to be more present?To interrogate this challenging topic, we need a special format. This episode is a live recording of a NeverDoneBefore Seedling forum — our incubator for budding facilitators who are guided towards hosting their own NDB workshops at the festival.Facilitated by Michelle Howard and featuring Oscar Trimboli and Lily Gros, this episode explores what it means to be present as a facilitator, how we can influence our sense of presence, and what our limits are.Find out about:How presence extends far beyond our physical availabilityWhy we must first be present with — and in — ourselves before we can be present with the groupWhy our physical wellbeing is a precursor to our quality of presenceWhat facilitators can do for themselves to increase their presenceHow to use breaks and breakout sessions to protect and restore your energyHow you can help a group become more present individually and collectivelyDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.LinksConnect to Oscar, Lily, and Michelle:Oscar on LinkedInLily on LinkedInMichelle on LinkedInShare your thoughts about our conversation!Support the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Before a workshop, training, or speech, which do you spend more time thinking about: what you will say or how you will say it?Joep Hegger would argue that your voice — your tonality and delivery — are just as critical to successful communication as the words you use. And he has plenty of research to back this up!In this episode, Joep and I explore the enormous power of vocal training and the impact an intentionally projected voice can have on outcomes. This feels like a topic we will hear much more about in the future — you can get ahead of the trend and add it to your repertoire with this episode!Find out about:How science explains why our voices make our first impressionsWhy mirroring isn’t exclusive to our body languageWhat happens when a facilitator speaks with openness, calmness, and confidenceWhat defines a trustworthy voiceThe relationship between physical tension and outward expressionHow you can change different vocal elements to communicate in different waysDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.LinksThe Vocal Coach websiteConnect to Joep:On LinkedInShare your thoughts about our conversation!Support the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Facilitation is such a broad brush with which to paint. Why is it, then, that so much of our work takes the form of workshops?Meeting our clients’ needs and desired outcomes requires a flexible approach - one that will sometimes take us beyond the workshop format. But what does that look like and how can we step into new ways of working?Joeri Schilders, founder of innovation specialists The Magic Sauce, is well versed in finding new ways to facilitate innovation and creativity. As you’ll soon hear for yourself in this episode, that experience has made him a goldmine of insights!Find out about:Why it’s best for everyone to accept that a workshop isn’t always the answerHow you can facilitate innovation processes without a single workshopWhy facilitators should identify as problem solvers, not workshop hostsHow Joeri is learning to control his enthusiasm for the sake of the groupWhy negative workshop experiences don’t just waste time, but leave a mark against the formatHow Joeri’s free videos solving clients’ smaller problems double-up as an effective marketing toolDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.LinksThe Magic Sauce websiteThe Magic Sauce YouTube channelConnect to Joeri:On LinkedInOn InstagramShare your thoughts about our conversation!Support the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!

Matthew Bellringer, an advocate for neurodiversity and creative problem-solving, shares his insights on embracing uncertainty. He discusses the differences between risk and uncertainty, arguing that the latter can spark creativity. Listeners learn how to foster empathy for neurodivergent participants and the importance of psychological safety in collaborative settings. Matthew emphasizes that workshop success is defined by the learning experience rather than strict outcomes, and he advocates for cyclic thinking as a powerful tool to explore new opportunities.

Play is for kids, playgrounds, and light-hearted fun. It’s just not ‘the done thing’ in corporate settings, is it?If you speak with Susanne Heiss, you’ll soon see why play is so powerful - especially in the most straight-laced, professional spaces. In fact, you’ll quickly learn that professional and playful don’t have to be antonyms.A playful spirit and attitude can unlock new perspectives on old challenges and strengthen our connections to colleagues. It’s an underappreciated method for team-building and problem-solving. Thankfully, facilitators like Susanne are putting in the work to make play a priority for organisations of all shapes and sizes.Find out about:How to use play with purpose, directing creative energy into learningWhy debriefs are critical to long-term impact when groups learn through playWhy giving play another name can make it more palatable in corporate settingsHow the facilitator’s energy and intention determines the success of a gameWhat to do if your client isn’t receptive to the idea of introducing playfulnessHow to use the analogy of texture to understand a group’s current stateDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.And download the free 1-page summary, so you can always have the key points of this episode to hand.LinksSusanne’s business, The TexturalistsConnect to Susanne:On LinkedInShare your thoughts about our conversation!Support the show✨✨✨Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more:https://workshops.work/podcast✨✨✨Did you know? You can search all episodes by keyword to find exactly what you need via our Buzzsprout page!