What will you learn?
Define the value proposition of a well-designed, well-facilitated workshop and articulate it to a potential “client”. Understand the role and mindset of the effective facilitator and what it looks like when done well (and not well.) Establish principles for the art of gathering in your context.
01 Explain the “Why?” of Facilitation
Discover and hone workshop outcomes. Choose the right framework and processes. Build an agenda and run of show that will deliver the outcomes and withstand the unexpected. Learn how to use online tools to support the design process.
02 Design the Blueprint
Create a physical space that inspires collaboration and engagement.
Open with an irresistible hook. Connect participants to purpose and to
each other from the outset. Create and maintain psychological safety that ensures all participants feel seen, understood, and appreciated.
03 Create the Container
Help the group make sense of their current situation and “feel the
problem” they are there to solve. Create a pool of shared understanding, reconciling multiple versions of the truth. Visualize data in digestible and palpable ways. Convert context into a “beautiful question” to be answered in the workshop.
04 Align on Context
Build a prompt that inspires creative ideas. Choose the right process for ideation that is friendly to both introverts and extroverts. Identify themes. Characterize ideas to understand their risk, reward, feasibility, and impact. Use artificial intelligence to supplement the ideation process.
05 Generate Possibilities
06 Choose the Mighty Few
Usher the group through “the groan zone” and deftly navigate
disagreement. Find a third way between conflicting opinions. Execute
repeatable processes to ruthlessly prioritize to find the “best” ideas to
pursue. Avoid cognitive biases that can impair good decision-making. test for commitment.
Design safe-to-fail experiments. Agree on how to measure and monitor success. Build a plan with corresponding roles for implementation. Close the session with a memorable moment of connection and inspiration.
07 Plan for Success
Listen actively using the 5A’s. Read the room and inject energy as
needed. Ply the never-fail methods to prevent multi-tasking, mind-
wandering, and nodding off. Command the room with your physical and verbal presence. Articulate your unique facilitation style.
08 Maintain Engagement
Ask the perfect questions to probe, clarify, connect, redirect, and provoke innovative thinking.
09 Ply the Art of the Question
Scan the group for behaviors that impede strong collaboration. Diagnose the root cause of the behavior, informed by brain science and our understanding of what makes humans tick. Intervene with firmness while retaining psychological safety and the group’s momentum.
10 Manage Group Dynamics
Understand your personal triggers and the underlying beliefs that feed them. Observe your emotional state, especially in situations where the group is questioning you. Redirect and reclaim command of your emotions when triggered so that you can return to serving the group over yourself.
11 Command Your Emotions
Transform your
Part I: Learning the Playbook
The Academy begins with a 12-week immersion in the playbook of masterful facilitation
✓ Onboarding one-on-one
✓ Weekly three-hour, live learning sessions led by Dennis
✓ Optional weekly “4th-hour” Q/A and coaching session
✓ In-between exercises to practice the skills each week
✓ Handbook with tips, tools, frameworks, and templates
Part II: Putting it Into Practice
The Academy continues with 9 months of deep support to turn the skills into habits
✓ Live one-on-one coaching sessions with Dennis
✓ Video critiques of your facilitation in action
✓ Monthly live skill-building webinars
✓ Quarterly, live AMA and show-and-tell sessions with alumni
✓ A diploma certifying you as a MTO “Facilitation Maestro”
What is it?
The MTO Facilitator Academy is an immersive, interactive, personalized learning experience. You will master the step-by-step playbook for designing and leading collaborative meetings and workshops that deliver amazing results every time. To ensure the learning sticks there are two phases to the program with a surge of learning followed by months of deep wraparound support.