My Biggest Challenge as Facilitator

Facilitating is an art form. It can feel easy one day and challenging the next. After more than 15+ years of delivering courses and workshops both online and in-person, there are still times when being a facilitator is just plain difficult.

There are a lot of reasons for this. Everyone has their Achilles heel; I would love to share mine.

1.     Navigating the Gremlin  

As you’ll remember from The Journey, the Gremlin’s role is to flood the mind with negative self-talk. The Gremlin enjoys saying you’re not good enough and actively steers you off course. Over the years, I have noticed the Gremlin showing up for me as the most unwanted co-facilitator I could ever imagine.

Facilitating with the Gremlin means my mind is constantly flooded with negative thoughts like, ‘their going to catch you out’ and ‘they’ll never believe what you say.’ The more I listen to and believe these persistent put downs, the more I strive for perfection. All at the expense of being present for the participants.

I stop these thoughts from taking me over when I remember I don’t need to be the smartest person in the room to be the most present, connected, curious and articulate facilitator. Easier said than done, right?   

What happens first is that I notice its presence, usually associated with a nervous stomach and an inability to complete my sentences. Then, I pause and remind myself that the Gremlin is just trying to keep me safe and is never right. Then, I amplify my Champion.

To remind yourself of the Gremlin, the Champion and the Coaching Radio Station, check out your Journey Handbook or sign up to our Coaching Library for Advanced Coaches.  

2.     Managing my state

Every facilitator’s ideal state is different, but every facilitator’s challenge is the same – accessing and maintaining being at their best during facilitation, especially when things don’t go as planned.

I learned very early on that state management, just like facilitation, is an artform. This is why we teach it on The Art  and this is why I wish it was taught to students at school. Too often we rely on the outside world to create our internal experience. As a facilitator, one of your biggest strengths is your ability to manage you state regardless of what’s going on around you. 

State management has several elements and the simplest way to access and maintain your state is your posture. When I’m nervous or fearful, my pitch is high, my stomach is tight, my teeth are clenched, my breathing is in my chest. The presence of one or all of those ‘postures’ are the tale tell sign that I am in a poor state. And unsurprisingly, the opposite is true when I’m in a good state. When I’m at my best, my voice is low, my stomach and jaw are relaxed, and my breathing is in the depth of my belly.  

So, what do I do each time I approach a course, a meeting, or event when I want to be in my best state? I lower my voice, stick out my stomach, relax my face and take long deep breaths. I really do, and it really it works! 

If you feel a bit rusty on Posturing and State Management go back to The Art Workbook and consider what small change you can make in the way you hold yourself to create a big shift.

3.     Juggling the Focus Spheres

As you know, facilitating is a juggling act. And now adays with Live Online courses, there are more balls to juggle than ever before.

Two of the most common juggling challenges are knowing how to divide your attention across the facilitation Focus Spheres and choosing where to focus your attention in the moment.

For me, my greatest challenge comes when I get distracted by the Participant Sphere and allow my desire to meet the needs of one or two participants replace my desire to meet the needs of the group. We talk about this as the 80/20 rule – don’t give 80% of your time to 20% of the participants – but it isn’t always that easy. Sometimes the participants are really interesting, sometimes they’re funny, sometimes they’re difficult. 

When I find myself getting distracted it reminds me to check in with myself and reflect on my ego. This may sound odd at first, but it’s often my ego that’s the reason I am distracted. My ego wants the participants to like me, so I give too much attention to the one’s that seem aloof. Or, my ego is really enjoying a tangent, so I go off topic for far too long. When this happens, I push aside my ego and remember what I am there for.

Dive back into The Art Workbook to explore the three Focus Spheres: Timeline Sphere, Participant Sphere and Facilitator Sphere. If you’re facilitating Live Online or with a co-facilitator, those are two additional spheres you will want to consider.