workshops work Podcast
This is a podcast about facilitation: the practice of creating conditions for people to think better together.
Whether you’re leading strategy, navigating change or developing leaders, the quality of your conversations shapes the quality of your decisions.
Hosted by Dr Myriam Hadnes, behavioural economist, facilitator and founder of workshops.work, each episode explores the human dynamics of working together: how psychological safety is built, why some conversations lead to action while others stall, how leaders foster genuine participation, and what behavioural science can teach us about collaboration. Alongside these conversations, Dr Hadnes shares reflections from her own client work, offering practical insights from the realities of designing and facilitating workshops in organisations.
Recognised as the facilitation community’s most-recommended podcast in SessionLab’s State of Facilitation reports from 2024 to 2026, the show has grown into an archive of more than 350 conversations spanning the craft, the inner work, and the unexpected edges of facilitation. Whether you’re a facilitator, leader, consultant or L&D professional, you'll come away with sharper questions and a few ideas worth borrowing.
workshops work Podcast
217 - Finding Your Facilitator Flow: The Art of Balancing Presence and Process with Sean Blair
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Do you have a presence when you facilitate? (Hint: we all do, whether we mean to or not!)
The thing is, not all of us know it or practice it. Our presence is a combination of how we show up and how we give out our energy to the room. It’s not just about being present, but the way we do it.
Sean Blair has been experimenting with his presence for many years now and has found some surprising results. He’s learned that presence is a flexible force that can positively influence outcomes and experiences in workshops - now he wants to help other facilitators understand and use it.
Find out about:
- What Sean defines as presence and how it differs being from present
- Why a facilitator’s presence is best when it’s flexible and adaptable
- How to assess a group or situation and dial in your presence to suit it
- Working out when it’s right to provoke the group and when to hold back
- The variables that affect how a group behaves and receives you - and how presence can influence that
- How to harness our energy and direct it in a way that is beneficial for the group
- How to relate to the group before you meet them and why it can be so helpful
Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.
Links
Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.
Connect to Sean:
On LinkedIn
SERIOUSWORK, Sean’s LEGO® Serious Play™ company
ProMeet, Sean’s facilitation business
Any thoughts? Share them with us!
👉 Are you looking for the Unprofessionalism podcast? https://unprofessionalism.buzzsprout.com/ 👈
