How to lead a successful workshop?

 

       How to lead a successful workshop?

Hi today I want to share with you how I think about and organize any presentation or workshop I do? if you want to become a successful thought leader, author, speaker, workshop leader, where you simply want to share your message with the world. You must understand the thought process necessary to get the result you want. Design a content for your workshop or a speech by determining what is the desired outcome, you want for your attendees. Is that they help them find the true purpose? improve their business? increase their income? learn new skill ? develop a new habit? 

You see determining the purpose will then help you determine who should attend your workshop? How many people it should be? And where should it be? and ofcourse it's important to know who your audience is? So did you have relevant examples and stories that they can relate too? In my work I used to pre- programmed questionnaire that is filled out by the meeting planner or the individual attendees will be coming to the workshop so I'm clear on what outcomes we're looking to create for them now, I'm sharing a template that provides me with the structure I need to stay on track all covers the key ingredients. I've discovered that make a presentation clear that make it engaging and then make it memorable for your audience clarify your purpose and goals for the seminar of the talk, what is the central purpose of your vendor presentation, what do you want people to go away from the seminar knowing an experience and being or doing next 2nd point you have to set the tone for the day. Tell your audience why this message is important to you what I refer to as your why what makes you so passionate about, what are you going to share with them, tell them a story perhaps of how you became so committed to share this subject and more open and transparent you are with your audience the more connected and safe they will feel with you, 3rd point you need to include some kind of humour, you can tell a funny story, you can add cartoons into your presentation or you can show a funny video no matter how serious your topic is. Using a humor is the best way to connect with your audience and get everyone relaxed, 4th point is you need to introduce an ice breaker activity which is specifically designed to create a safe space and give you and group a chance to bond quickly and officially it could be short as a ninety seconds exercise,  a short  5 to 10 minutes game or even an hour in a longer workshop filled with several short exercises done in a specific order to create a specific effect, now you could introduce an exercise to complete in a small groups or simply have everyone stand up and walk around the room and share two things are grateful for or why they chose to attend your presentation what they're hoping to get out of it, so use your imagination and always demonstrate what are you asking them to do before you have them do it for example if you're asking them to share a recent success they've had or to share one thing they hope to take away from the presentation today tell them how you would answer that question before you have them do and again betotally honest and transparent so the group gets to see that you're human too, this will build huge levels of trust in the room. Now a 5th thing I focused is on you've got to take time to give them what they came for introduce a concept or principle that will deliver on your promise to them and why it's important in my case I typically start with the first principle in a book "the success principles" which is to take 100% responsibility for your life and your results this is the fundamental principle that everything else now 6th is introducing the concept create credibility by sharing any research, any statistics, any case studies that validate what you're teaching them then go ahead and 7th point I focused is to drive your message home with a story that will illustrate the concept. Stories are a great way to velcro your message or your concepts that you're teaching into their long-term memory and stories. Keep your audience engaged, everybody loves a good story and it's even better if it's a story from your own life, now that's not always possible but personal stories have the deepest impact the is in order to appeal to all types of learners I typically follow up with the 8th point which is an interactive exercise or demonstration to drive the point home even deeper I like to ask for a volunteer and invite them to come up on stage with me and do a demonstration for the whole group which works best for shorter presentations and workshops or one might have them fill out a worksheet and then get into groups and share their answers with each other while I walk around and help them along with some groups I have them to a total group. Activity like a meditation or a guided visualization. 9th point at the end of the workshop or the concept you're teaching I like to wrap it up with a debriefing session now you can do this by putting people in pairs you can put them in a small group of three or six people or you can simply have a few people share their Ahaz and their awareness in front of the whole group. Now this also gives the participants the opportunity to ask questions if they're feeling stuck or for something that understands now if one person has a question there's almost always other people who have that same question why you're doing this honor and celebrate the level of trust that has been established so far in your presentation, it's best to be impartial to their feedback in this part of the session don't necessarily evaluate their ideas or contribute more but definitely encourage their input and then go ahead and listen to what they have to say. Last 10th thing is one more step when everything has been reviewed, get everyone to commit to one action step that they can take to get them closer to their goal or closer to apply what it is that you've taught them today and then have them write it down better, yet have them commit it to a partner which we call an accountability partner that they have to call or send an email to once they've completed it, that makes people take it really seriously and lastly and very important make sure that you have a clear transition when you're moving from one and once you have introduced your next principle or topic all you need to do is repeat the same steps, we just went over again and when you've reached the end of your workshop whether it's one hour or a full day or many days.Have a final closure exercise and then wrap that up with a powerful story that will emotionally move them and have them leaving motivated and inspired ready to go home or back to work where they started from to go from where they are, to where they want to be.  One more thing remember whenever you can use visual aids whenever you're running a workshop or speaking there are basically three types of learners auditory, visual and kinesthetic. And if you follow the formula we've been discussing, plus some PowerPoint or keynote slides you will have accommodated and reached all three types and that's how you think like a trainer and lead a compelling and engaging workshop but ofcourse feel free to modify the outline provided to make your workshop your own.

10 tips to lead a successful workshop in points:

1. Start by engaging and memorable for your audience.

2. Set the tone of the day. 

3. Includes some humor.

4. Introduce an ice breaker activity.

5. Introduce a concept that will deliver on your promise.

6. Create credibility by sharing any research.

7. Drive your message home with a story.

8. Follow up with interactive exercise or demonstration to drive the point home even deeper.

9. Wind it up with a deep breathing session.

10. Get everyone to commit to one action step.

Thankyou for reading my article and remember nothing will change for the better until you do now.😇