workshops work
Welcome to “workshops work,” the podcast that transforms how professionals engage, inspire, and lead groups. Hosted by Dr Myriam Hadnes, a behavioural economist and facilitation evangelist, each episode dives into facilitation techniques and mindsets that make workshops successful.
Join us every week as we sit down with world-renowned facilitators and uncover their secrets to creating psychological safety, fostering collaboration, and sparking innovation. Whether you’re a Facilitator, L&D professional, HR leader, manager, coach or trainer, you’ll find practical tips, inspiring stories, and actionable insights to elevate your group dynamics.
From navigating conflict to unlocking creativity, “workshops work” blends theory with practice, ensuring you walk away with tools you can immediately apply. Dr Myriam Hadnes doesn’t just interview; she facilitates enriching conversations that shift perspectives and deepen understanding.
Let’s democratise facilitation, one workshop at a time.
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Visit https://workshops.work/podcast for a free 1-page summary of each episode.
workshops work
017 - Master the room! How to create engagement with your audience - with Derek Bruce
In this episode, I talk to Derek Bruce. He is a Leadership Development Director, and has worked in HR, Learning & Development and is also an expert keynote speaker and event moderator and host.
Derek and I speak about the importance of engaging the audience - whether it is in a workshop, meeting or at a conference. When our audience feels engaged, they will listen to us and interact, they will feel enabled to act upon the content we try to bring across.
Besides engaging the audience, Derek and I touch on a million other topics: the skillset of managers to survive the “future of work”, the impact of preparation on our mindset and the workshop atmosphere, and: why you may want to ask your audience to take a selfie.
Don’t miss the part when Derek shares his lessons learned from facilitating a workshop where half the participants were physically present and the other half joined via video call. Tune in to learn how to assure that the virtual participants are as engaged as if they sat in the same room….
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Feeling inspired by the conversation in this episode? We can have our own - take a seat at my virtual table as part of a Mastermind Group.
Questions and Answers
[1:32] If you were a hashtag, what would it be?
[1:53] What is your story? Where does your energy and your skill to engage the audience come from?
[2:56] What have you learned from your roles in HR and Learning & Development about facilitation?
[4:34] Where do you see the challenges and benefits of being a corporate versus an external facilitator?
[8:02] What is your experience in collaborating with an external facilitator?
[8:52] How do you measure success?
[10:32] What does it take to engage an audience?
[12:54] To what extent does seating matter and how do you set up the room?
[14:06] Do you use different approaches to engage the audience depending on whether it is a meeting, workshop or conference?
[19:50] When you say that engagement starts within the first minute and you often use humour. What have you learned from improv or stand-up comedy about engagement?
[22:59] Stand-up is scripted whereas improv is not. Would you script your first joke when coming on stage?
[24:41] So, does “humour” boil down to “authenticity”?
[25:35] What makes for you a good facilitator?
[28:26] Do facilitators of e.g. Design Sprints need different skills than facilitators who teach groups?
[31:18] How did you connect the virtual and physical participants in the beginning? What were the exercises?
[33:41] For anyone who hasn’t facilitated a partly virtual workshop – what would you advise?
[35:40] What is your opinion on the statement that in the future of work, every manager must develop facilitation skills?
[38:22] Wh
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If you're keen to master the art of facilitation, discover our expert-led live, online Facilitation Courses at the NDB Academy.
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