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How to facilitate a session
Facilitation is about ensuring a session runs smoothly. It involves different types of communication, bringing people together and ensuring everyone is able to contribute.
- Need to be prepared, but flexible and responsive to any changes.
- Need to be confident to speak but not dominate conversations.
- Need to make sure you are understood, and everyone knows what is happening.
In this article we aim to cover some handy aspects of what being a facilitator involves and skills that you’ll need to use when facilitating a session. We’ve assumed that you’ve planned the event, advertised it or invited your audience and you’ve arranged your venue (online, in-person or hybrid).
What does a facilitator do?
A facilitator anchors an event by:
- engaging the participants
- encouraging and managing participation
- ensuring the session keeps to both topic and time
- asking thought or discussion prompting questions
Range of session types
Sessions can be considered in terms of the degree of audience participation required. Typically, the greater the amount of audience participation, or the larger the audience, the more involved it’ll be to facilitate.
Here we’ve broadly grouped a list of common session types from most interactive to least. This list isn’t exhaustive or set in stone!
1. Highly interactive, lots of audience interaction required
Variable audience size. As facilitator you may be taking the participants through some material, interspersed with active audience participation (polls, group and individual tasks, discussions in smaller groups, feeding into group discussions, asking questions, making comments throughout the session and so on). See Prosper's development session resources here.
Small groups (approx. 5 –15). As facilitator you may very briefly introduce the tasks to set audience off, getting them to re-group or come back to share at the end. Examples include LinkedIn profile exchange with peers, interview question practice and CV speed reading.
Variable audience size. You act as the focal point for people to come together to meet each other. No need for any slides or formalities. Can ask a question or two at the start to get people talking but no obligation to stick strictly to the theme (if there is one). See Prosper's social event resources here.
Small group you gently guide through a discussion around the chosen topic to collect their feedback. See Prosper's focus group resources here.
2. Moderate interaction, a reasonable degree of audience interaction required
Variable audience size. As the facilitator you’re responsible to ensure the session flows and keeps to time. You’ll introduce the speakers, ask questions and field questions from audience. You need to make sure all panel members get to speak, balancing how much time each speaker has. See Prosper's panel session resources here.
3. Less interactive, a lower degree of audience interaction required
Variable audience size. As the facilitator you’re responsible to ensure the keeps to time. You may only be required to briefly go through the housekeeping, introduce the speaker and manage questions from the audience.
Session formats
Here we’ll touch on three session formats; in-person, online, and hybrid (simultaneously has an audience online and in-person).
It’s also worth considering how you facilitate your event if you’re recording it. Consider the purpose of recording the event. Do you want the recording to enable participants to have an aide-memoire for later? Or do you want the recording to become a resource that people who didn’t attend live can get an equivalent outcome to the live participants did? Consider if recording the session will impair the openness of discussions or conversations. In you are recording a live event ensure that you have the expressed permission of the audience members and anyone else involved.
Regardless of your session format there are some common tips.
When planning the session think about how many facilitators you need to effectively run the session. The more participants or technology involved will typically require more facilitators.
Take care not to cram too much into a single session. Be realistic about how much you can achieve in the given time. You can always plan for more but adapt on the day, in response to your audience.
Don’t try to be both a participant and a facilitator simultaneously. Consider which tasks you can usefully delegate to participants. This could include things such as note taking, spokesperson, time-keeper for a specific activity and so on.
Remember to build in thinking time, silences and pauses. Your audience will likely consist of people with a range of learning styles so it’s worth aiming to use a range of approaches to appeal to everyone.
Start the session with house-keeping. If you’re in person this should include the location of fire exits, toilets, drinking water/refreshments and if a fire drill is expected. If you’re online, you might want to invite folks to switch on their cameras and mute their microphones. You may wish to say if you’ll take questions throughout the session or at the end and if you’ll do this via the chat or raised hand and so on.
Set out how the session will run. Set the expectations of your participants, tell them the format of the session, when breaks will be (and how long for), the nature of any interactive tasks, and when can they ask questions. Take this opportunity to let the participants know how you plan to facilitate the session, especially if you’ll step in to stop a discussion in the interests of time or going off topic. Ask the audience ‘What are you hoping to come away with?’, ‘What are you hoping to get out of this session?’, ‘What do you want to achieve in today’s session?’.
End the session with a brief recap or review. Summarise any actions and next steps at the end of the session. Encourage the participants to do this for themselves. Thank all for their participation.
Skills you need as a facilitator
The ability to ‘read the room’. Can you gauge if your audience is engaged or not? Are they unclear on what their task is? Check in with them if you think they may be disengaged, ask ‘Is this resonating with you?’
Be flexible and adaptable. You have prepared your session but you may find that you need to adapt to the needs of the participants in front of you on the day. Challenges you may face could be things such as the venue set-up wasn’t as described, the duration of your session has changed, the size of the audience has changed, the audiences needs or priorities are different to what you’d planned for.
Communicate effectively. Are you able to clearly communicate with participants so they understand what’s required of them? Can you listen attentively? Are you able to summarise and check-back with participants contributions?
Manage the participants. Can you moderate the event in order to make space for everyone to contribute? Perhaps you could go around the room, rather than always asking for volunteers to help encourage quieter participants.
Keep to time. Think about how you’ll keep the event to time. Will you move the conversation on in the interests of time? Will you use a timer or buzzer to keep on schedule?
Stay on topic. How will you steer the session back onto topic? You may wish to have a ‘car park’ to capture off-topic thoughts and comments which can be reviewed at another moment. The ‘car park’ is simply a blank sheet of paper (or virtual equivalent) the whole group can access and write their off-topic thoughts onto.
Be enthusiastic. You don’t need to be an extrovert or have a very outgoing personality to be an excellent facilitator. Be engaged with your topic and audience and show your enthusiasm in your voice.
Set the tone. Be clear on what the purpose or outcome/s of the event your facilitating is. What do you want the postdocs to know or be able to do by the end of the session that they couldn’t before?
Facilitating a hybrid session
Facilitating a hybrid session, where you have both in-person and remote participants, presents some unique challenges.
Choose the right technology. Select a reliable video conferencing platform that supports hybrid meetings and offers features like screen sharing, chat, breakout rooms, and virtual whiteboards.
Check the technology in the room you’ll be using for the in-person attendees. Where are the web cameras? If they are relatively fixed (or have a narrow field of view) you may need to consider the room layout, as you might not be able to move furniture/tables. Where is the microphone/s in the room? Will these pick-up people’s voices in all seats/locations in the room? Again you may need to either arrange additional microphones or arrange seating to where their voices will be clearly picked up by the microphone/s.
Inform participants: Clearly communicate to participants that the session will be hybrid. Share details about how to join the virtual session and any other relevant information. Ask about any accessibility requirements. Do you want in-person attendees to login to the online meeting too (so they’ll need to bring along their laptop/phone/tablet)?
Test the technology: Test the video conferencing setup, audio, and internet connection before the session to avoid technical issues during the session. Test the screen sharing and other features to ensure they’ll work correctly for both in-person and remote participants. Ideally, use a room with a large screen and good-quality speakers or microphones to facilitate communication.
Get a colleague to remotely access the room whilst you’re testing it, as this will help you check the clarity of the audio and video feed at all positions around the room. It’ll also allow you check that the in-person participants will be able to easily see and hear the remote attendees.
Structure the session in a way that accommodates both in-person and remote participants. Allocate time for different activities, discussions, and breaks.
Be mindful of time zones: If online participants are in different time zones, consider scheduling the session at a time that is convenient for all.
Encourage interaction between in-person and remote participants. Use ice-breakers and warm-up activities to build connections among everyone.
Use virtual breakout rooms for small group discussions. Assign a mix of in-person and remote participants to each group. This can require additional technology or requesting the in-person participants to login to the online version on their phone or laptop. Remember to mute the in-person room microphone/s whilst this is happening!
Appoint a co-facilitator or technical support person (or both) to manage the virtual platform during the session. They can help address technical issues and monitor the chat.
Make a conscious effort to include the online participants in discussions. Ask them questions directly and use their names to involve them in the conversation.
Encourage remote participants to use virtual hand-raising or chat to ask questions or contribute to discussions.
Ensure that any materials or visuals used during the session are accessible to remote participants. Share digital copies or use screen sharing.
Be mindful of potential barriers to remote participants' engagement and strive to create an inclusive environment.
Regularly summarise key points discussed during the session to keep everyone on the same page, especially for online participants who might experience more distractions.
At the end of the session, recap the main takeaways and provide information about any follow-up steps.
After the session, ask for feedback from both in-person and remote participants. Use this feedback to improve future hybrid sessions.
By being proactive, flexible, and inclusive, you can facilitate a successful hybrid session that provides value and engagement for all participants, regardless of their location.
Recommendations
- Plan your session well in advance (consider doing a full run through to boost your confidence if you’re a bit unsure) and keep to time
- When advertising your session ask participants to let you know in advance if they’ve a disability requiring any adjustments to the way the material is presented or the session format.
- Decide if you need more than one facilitator (for example the co-facilitator could monitor breakout groups, take notes, record the session, manage any technology and so on.)
- If you have additional speakers, ask them to arrive 5 to 10 minutes early (if online) perhaps more like 15 to 20 minutes early in-person, so you can brief them on the session and do any last-minute checks (such as screen sharing, microphones, polling, recording and so on).
- If in-person, factor in 15 to 30 minutes for yourself ahead of the session to arrive and settle in, getting refreshments and so on. If you’ve technology to setup or need to alter the configuration of the room, consider giving yourself more time.
- At start of session, cover any housekeeping (things like are there any scheduled fire alarms, where restrooms are, refreshments, state if the session will be recorded and if people are not happy with that, if virtual then to switch off camera and mic, if in-person to let you know at the end.) Say how session will work in term of audience participation.
- Introduce the topic of session and learning outcomes or objectives for the session and prompt your audience to consider what they want from the session right from the start.
- Aim to schedule in a short break if sessions are over 45 mins in length
- When taking questions or comments from audience, tell them how this will be done (such as by raising hands - real or virtual). Go around the room so can hear as many voices as possible and use encouraging language to hear from people that might be reticent. Avoid putting people on the spot. Encourage people to expand on their comments and questions. Ask for any clarification as necessary.
- Be attentive to the audience to gauge their mood and look for contributions.
- Use slides thoughtfully. Don’t put too much text on each slide. Talk around content on slides and leave open to questions.
- When setting group activities, consider asking each group to assign a speaker to feedback a key point (or two) to the room when activity ends.
- Collect feedback at end of session, however you’d like to do so.
- If possible on your platform, allow the waiting room to build up with participants before admitting everyone. Write a message to the waiting room to let them know you are waiting for more people to arrive before admitting them. Admit any late arrivals as they come or ask your co-facilitator/s to do so on your behalf.
- If you’ve a large audience, ask them to stay on mute to prevent background noises and only to unmute if they are invited to do so (to ask a question for example). Tell audience that they can post questions and comments in the chat and you will come to them, time permitting.
- Check that polls work and how to present results to your audience.
- If confident of the registered attendees coming to the session, you can set breakout rooms in advance if you are planning discussions/tasks. (Do be aware that if they log into the session using an alternate email address you’ll have to re-create the breakout room assignments in the session).
- Check any videos work and can be heard in advance (make sure you’ve selected ‘computer audio’ and switched off any other apps or programmes notifications!).
- Practice screen sharing, and switching to any other online tools (such as virtual whiteboards) if you plan to do this.
- Depending on the size of audience, consider creating name tags and a register for attendees.
- Consider any additional information/event pack to give to attendees.
- Book the room with padding time either side of session (if possible) for your pre-session set-up and tidy-up at the end.
- Depending on the session, you may have created a table or seating plan so you might need help to ensure people sit in the right place.
- Make sure you know how to use the technology and equipment beforehand.
- Consider having an additional facilitator that is online to inform you of any problems or fix problems. (They can be situated in the physical room or accessing the session remotely).
- Ensure you make an expressed effort to include and engage the participants accessing the session remotely.
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