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07 February 2019

Creative facilitation in London


At Laughology HQ we often get asked for tips on how best to engage people in meetings and updates, to ensure they remember the information presented.  Luckily, we are experts in creative delivery and facilitation, so we thought we’d host a course to let people learn the best techniques themselves. 

Our interactive creative facilitation one-day course was delivered by Stephanie Davies and gave delegates plenty of opportunity to try new techniques and to work on their own content and presentations with the benefit of our expert advice. Delegates came from a variety of workplaces including food companies, universities and law firms. Each gave a different perspective on how others present and facilitate.

The day covered:

    • Holding better and more productive meetings
    • Presenting information in a fun and engaging way
    • The importance of connecting emotionally
    • Understanding how people learn
    • Being aware of different thinking and communication styles, and how to tune into them all and be flexible
    • Taking on challenging audiences
    • Developing confidence
    • Creating a message to remember

Here are some of our top tips on how to prepare your next meeting or presentation creatively:

      1. Know your audience. Before you present, think about who they are and what their expectations might be. If possible, go and meet them prior to the event and ask them how they prefer to be given information. Always prepare with your audience in mind.

      2. Establish your main message. This may sound obvious, but 95 per cent of presentations have no clear objective and the message isn’t apparent until close to the end. Audiences need to know what your talk is about right from the start. The human brain needs a ‘why’, so make this clear, then go into the ‘what’ and ‘how’.

      3. Grab their attention. Give your audience a good reason to listen to you and show them how they will benefit from what you have to say. Emotional connection is important, so perhaps grab their attention with a strong question, picture or activity at the start.

      4. Keep it simple, but interesting. Too much detail can turn people off, too little detail can leave an audience confused. Use simple language, examples and stories to bring your topic to life. If you need to present facts, think creatively. In the past Laughology has done things such as created quizzes and stuck lottery tickets with specific numbers under chairs. Remember hand-outs can be useful, rather than adding lots of facts and details on a slide.

      5. Use positive language throughout. The language you use needs to be encouraging, solution-focused and, where appropriate, instructional. Use a conversational tone and try not to use unfamiliar terms, jargon or phrases that baffle or alienate your audience.

      6. Sum up. Reiterate your main message, sum up and end decisively on a positive note. What do you want your audience to take away? Is there a call to action?

      7. Deliver with impact and enthusiasm. Create energy by using your hands, as you would do in everyday conversation. Emit warmth and confidence by smiling and making eye contact. Ask open questions and give people time to discuss, before you ask for answers.

      8. Visualisation. Spend time visualising how you want your presentation to go. Focus on feeling calm. This will help when presenting for real.

      9. Practice, practice, practice. Make sure you dedicate plenty of time to rehearsing what you want to say.

      10. Be you. Be natural. Try not to remember the presentation line for line, it flows better when you tell it naturally. Rather than a script, try bullet points to remember what you’re saying.

If people enjoy the way they hear the information, they are more likely to remember it. 

If you’re interested in attending Laughology workshop you can find more info on our public learning and development workshop page


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