Ten tips for beginner facilitators

1. Prepare your session step by step

The logic of preparing a session should start with looking at the target group and setting the learning objectives for the session or activity. Only then move towards building a skeleton of the session and look at possible methods.  

2. Divide responsibilities

If designing and implementing a non-formal learning activity in a team, it is a good idea to divide responsibilities after the learning objectives are set and a session structure is created. It will save you time and also provide space for distribution of the session when facilitating it. It is important to do frequent check-ups to make sure everyone is aware of everything.

3. Be confident with the chosen approach/method

It is important to look at possible reactions and get confident with the methods you choose. Read about the method and identify possible pitfalls. Prepare your briefing, handouts if needed and flipcharts in advance. If you choose something very interactive, play it in your head as a participant first and make sure the flow is not “broken”. 

4. Be ready with a plan B

Not everything goes as planned when working with groups of learners. Timing of activities can get out of hand, so we advice to be flexible to shorten or drop some activity from the session but also have an extra activity prepared which you can use at the very end. “Be over-prepared but under-structured” is something that can be helpful to remember.  

5. Make a small personal checklist

It is easy to forget something during the session flow, so it is handy to have a short checklist for oneself at all times or the session outline printed out, so that you can always check if everything important has been covered. 

6. Be confident & flexible

Most likely, you will have to improvise with some part of your session(s), so be ready for it. Having a few energizers, prepared questions, ready and tested equipment, as well as extra materials will make it possible to improvise in a smoother way! Your confidence will also be passed to the group and they will feel more comfortable when facilitated by someone who has a plan and a smile on his/her face. 

7. Brief participants in chunks

Don’t throw all the information at your participants at once. Better look at your session and divide it into blocks, think what is logical to present at what time and provide this information step by step. It will be easier for the participants to comprehend and for you to be in charge of the process. Explain only what they need to know at this exact moment. 

8. Take the experience as a learning opportunity

It is on a very rare occasion that everything will go perfect, so don’t even expect it. Remember that the main part you can extract learning from is the debriefing session. Even if the participants didn’t succeed in the task or they are not fully satisfied with how it went, take the opportunity and dig deep into the reasons and ways to avoid such situation in the future. 

9. Don’t hurry your debriefing

Even if your session will finish a few minutes later, it is OK as long as the debriefing will be fruitful and you will close the experience for participants as it’s needed. It is important to lead the group through the debriefing process and make sure they are moving from talking solely about the activity to discussing the correlation between the activity and real life finishing with verbalizing how this learning experience can be applied by them. 

10. Reflect, evaluate and assess

Look back at your own performance, you will find small details to take into account for the future in terms of session design, group dynamics or your own facilitation style. Talk to the team to get to know what they think about the overall activity, its structure, individual and team performance. Take up a habit of self-assessment and development tracking. Know and use your strengths while still working on your areas for development. The beauty of facilitating learning processes is that you are one of the learners!