Essential reading for facilitators

Chris Corrigan has just put up a great blog post called

The art of giving instructions: 7 practices for facilitators

I think one of the hardest things to do as a facilitator is master the art of giving instructions. Even for facilitators, public speaking can be a stressful experience, and there is nothing worse than trying to give instructions to a group while your knees are shaking and your mouth is dry. But for all facilitators, and and especially those of us who work with radically new ways of meeting, this is a whole art in itself. Giving instructions poorly leads to confusion and chaos and can quickly erode the trust of a group. Being too direct can shut people down and create a sterile meeting. The art is finding the space between the two.

and it continues here.

Hat-tip to Johnnie Moore for the initial re-posting.

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2 Responses to Essential reading for facilitators

  1. rhizome says:

    Thanks for the link – good article, though I’m not entirely sold on the public speakign and performance analogies. Facilitation is more reactive and ‘alive’ than that, perhaps…

  2. Pingback: rhizome: participation|activism|consensus

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