In my opinion, presenters and facilitators are different. If you are a presenter, then it’s mostly your voice the audience expects to hear; however, if you are a facilitator then there should be a back-and-forth with the audience. As a facilitator, your role is to share air time with the audience. Ideally, everyone in the audience engages and contributes to the conversation. Hearing a variety of opinions and thoughts enhances the conversation and learning.
We all know that some people are more comfortable talking in a group setting as compared to others. As a facilitator, you want all voices heard. To accomplish this, you want to create a safe space for the audience to step into and join the conversation.
Here are 3 tips to help your audience feel safe so that they will engage:
- Lead by example. Be vulnerable with the audience by sharing your own experiences. If the audience sees you opening up and sharing a story, they are more likely to engage. Don’t ask the audience to respond to a question that you are unwilling to answer.
- Listen! When a participant talks, give your full attention to them through your eye contact, body position and a follow up comment. Through these small gestures you send a message that you value their thoughts. You may want to paraphrase back to the audience the main points which further shows how closely you listened and how important the comment was.
- Provide a variety of opportunities. Open-ended questions to the entire audience, small group discussions, writing reflections, and flipchart activities are ways that people can share. The goal is to offer enough options that everyone finds a place of comfort to engage.
Maximum engagement occurs in safe spaces!