Library of facilitation techniques

Help people to share their individual way of navigating an activity - such as doing their work, or attending an event - by combining the revealing power of metaphor with a series of simple interactions.

When people are hesitant to engage with each other, for example at the beginning of an event, you can help them to actively feel heard, and create a space where discovering and sharing rarely-noticed personal talents and insights becomes straightforward.

Once participants feel heard and have begun to share, they will be more inclined to trust, to work together, and to take interpersonal risks. And each person will have created an enduring personal image to carry with them and to share with others.

I've been using this for years as a Clean Language introduction, and recently submitted it as a candidate Liberating Structure because I'd love to see loads of other people trying it out.

Works in person or online, with six to 600+ people.

Robo Word Finder sits your team around a giant letter board where little robots walk the tiles, hunting hidden words together. Everyone draws from a single shared pool of letter picks, so nobody can sweep the board alone — someone spots a word, someone walks it, and the team decides together whether it's worth the picks. Quick to teach and easy to drop in, it's a short, collaborative break for a remote team, with boards in nine languages.

Rythm Instruments is a fun way to break the ice in groups, helping each participant to feel involved and create something from "scratch".

"ice melter" to connect participants in small groups around something unusual they have in common (created by Jan Keck, of Ask Deep Questions)

Energiser pour se mettre en mouvement, nécessite de l'attention et être rapide et précis.
Parfait pour redémarrer une pause ou démarrer une activité.

Mindfulness of body is a foundational skill for Social Presencing Theater. And like any skill, we learn it through practice. The 20-minute Dance is a practice in which we pay attention to the feeling of the body, without thinking about it or judging it. We are not trying to fix or change or accomplish anything. We welcome every moment.

Most people have a repertoire of song lyrics in their head. This activity offers the fun of recalling them, the opportunity to belt them out without anxiety about singing "well", and the aspect of learning which songs "everyone" in the group knows and which are familiar to only you.

Something fun to bring people away from their seat, get on their feet and knowing more about each other.

Circle players up and let them know they will play catch, which is very easy. The difference is that the "ball" is a sound they make up in the moment and it will change with every throw to the next player

Player 1 "throws" by making a sound accompanied by a gesture/eye contact to indicate who they are throwing to

Player 2 "catches" by making the same sound back to player 1

Player 2 is then player 1 and creates a new sound to throw to a new player 2

Play for a few minutes and see how players adjust and relax. Pause midway if needed to help them along with key questions like "are you looking for a right or a cool sound?" or "how much are you in your head?"

Debrief:

What improved it and smoothed it out?

What did you have to let go of?

How risky did it feel?

• Clear send/receive
• Waiting
• Willingness to look a little silly

Discussions can go in many directions, let the players discover their own answers.

Virtual Adaptation:

Number the players - make sure the numeral is in front of their name so it stays visible, ex 3 James, and have them "throw" to the next number.

OR

Have players call on one another before they "throw," ex "Mary, ooga boogah!"

Any creative endeavour can generate a certain amount of anxiety. The first step is always the hardest… has anyone not heard that before?

In his book ‘Being Creative’, Michael Avatar suggests that we draw inspiration from the Zen Buddhist idea of the 'beginner's mind' - where everything is beginning. In a beginner's mind there is possibility, openness, curiosity: all qualities that are useful for an exploration of creativity. This activity is a short, grounding ideation and exploration that taps into the beginner's mind.