I understand the reasons behind using music in workshops. But as a person who is easily overstimulated by background noise, I am curious to know how this plays out in the workshop world for other sensitive people. It's a brain thing for me: In person, I have a hard time holding my part in a conversation when there is background music (or, worse, talk radio or TV or another conversation happening nearby). I can't listen to music while I work or I get too distracted. It's like my brain can't prioritize what it's hearing. For what it's worth, I don't have ADHD. I find myself zoning out when there is background music, or struggling to focus on what a speaker is saying (and yes, this is true for me with some of the AJ&Smart YouTube videos as well). I wonder if others have run into this, either as facilitators or with your workshop participants. I am open to using very low-level music during workshops, or specific parts of workshops, if I can find some that I can tolerate. I would love to hear your thoughts -- and your playlists, if you have curated anything specifically with this in mind.

What personality traits, strengths and giftings are common amongst great facilitators?

Hi All! I'm working on proposals for a few clients where I'll be offering services that combine facilitation and consulting. I'm leaning towards a retainer vs billable hours for a set number of work hours monthly. I'm also working on day rates for workshops to support these relationships. Have any of you worked with a model like this before? How did you handing fees and pricing?

Just had a discovery call with a board member of a grass roots non-profit and "sold" a 90-minute workshop for $250. Celebration: This is my first ever stand-alone workshop sale! I'm so stoked!! What helped: So so grateful for the Capture Canvas framework to organize my questions. It also helped her get more clarity during the conversation. I could hear the relief in her voice towards the end of the call. My plan: 0) Before the workshop, speak briefly with each participant to collect and set expectations of what we will accomplish during the workshop 0.1) Icebreaker 1) Sailboat - When it comes to working in this team, what's moving us forward? What's holding us back/ slowing us down? Then Categorize 2) Dot Voting - What's priority? Vote on the challenges they identified in Step 1. 3) How Might We? Flesh out the ideas of the top 3 voted areas needing clarity 4) Idea Generation - Post top 10 ideas generated in answer to each How Might We? 5) Dot Voting - What's best? Vote on the ideas they generated in Step 4 6) Impact vs Effort - Get their vote on what order to tackle their ideas in 7) Assign who does what. 8) Have a debrief with the board member a few days after the workshop to learn what worked best for them and offer next steps (my mentoring). This is super fuzzy right now, but I will review materials to get clarity before the workshop (mid-late February). My ask: Any best practices or ice breaker suggestions you can share? I really appreciate learning from all of the wisdom and experience in this group! 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

Good Morning everyone, As I was watching the various videos and I think specifically the 5-1-6 video I noted that there was suggestion individuals do not really promote themselves as facilitators, that there is usually something else that they do or offer instead. So my question is, do you promote yourself as a facilitator and if not, how do you promote yourself? What tools/techniques do you use to get yourself those facilitation pieces of work? I look forward to hearing from you.