230 - Shaping the Room: Power, Vulnerability, and the Art of Facilitation with Michelle Howard

Everybody in the workshop process experiences some element of vulnerability.

The client is taking a risk on your skills and the outcomes that might emerge from using them. The participants are taking a risk in showing up, bringing what they bring to the room, and trusting (or fighting) the process. You — the facilitator — is taking a risk on your work, reputation, and ability.

So why should we expect any of us to be the perfect picture of confidence throughout?

Michelle Howard helps me understand the value of vulnerability (and its inevitability) in this episode, explaining the dance between power and vulnerability that happens in workshops — no matter who you are.

Find out about:

• Why vulnerability and courage are two sides of the same coin
• Understanding how our individual actions can be responses to and prompts for the collective
• Why a facilitator built of 100% confidence is unlikely to produce great results
• How community acts as a crucial filter for the shiny new objects/tools/trends in facilitation
• Why addressing individual needs makes a big difference to the whole group
• How to help clients relax their desire for the safest route and embrace the risk of empowering the group

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Collaborations, Michelle’s company.

Connect to Michelle:

On LinkedIn.

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

✨✨✨

If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/