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
027 - Beyond the spreadsheet-brain: How to invoke participants' brains, hearts and bellies? - with Tenneson Woolf
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On episode 027, I talk to Tenneson Woolf, a facilitator, workshop leader, teacher, blogger, and coach. Tenneson is committed to improving the quality of collaboration and imagination for groups, teams, and organizations. And, you can hear that and learn from that on the podcast.
Tenneson and I speak about the art of facilitation in general and what it takes to help individuals to collectively imagine and collaborate. We also spend time clarifying semantics, such as the differences between being a facilitator and a host and the meaning of “honest meetings”.
I particularly enjoyed our conversation about different art forms and how to use them to stimulate creative brains. Throughout the show, you will learn how to help participants to turn off their spreadsheet-brain to invoke their hearts and bellies.
Don’t miss the part when Tenneson reads out a poem and guides us through the steps on how to use it as an insightful ice-breaker. His multiple examples that will inspire you to deliver workshops that work.
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Questions and Answers
[2:27] When did you start calling yourself a "facilitator"?
[5:15] If you were a hashtag, what would you be?
[5:56] What makes a meeting "honest"?
[8:42] What would be a "dishonest" meeting?
[16:33] How does a facilitator help the group to fully explore a topic without derailing?
[20:37] How do you assure that everyone is aligned on the workshop purpose and topic?
[23:51] What does it take to help people to be "smarter together"?
[31:26] You use poems to start business meetings/ workshops - Can you share how you do that and why?
[40:35] What's your favourite exercise?
[46:44] What shall a listener remember from our conversation?
Related links for you to check out
- Tenneson's business page: www.tennesonwoolf.com
- Glimpses: 50 Poems by Jim Quigley (Amazon)
- Our sponsor SessionLab
Connect to Tenneson
on LinkedIn
follow on Twitter @tennesonwoolf
Any thoughts? Share them with us!
👉 Are you looking for the Unprofessionalism podcast? https://unprofessionalism.buzzsprout.com/ 👈
