In this third of three articles, John Scarrott shares insights and ideas on Preparing, Performing and Personal Growth for chairs and facilitators - a useful read, whether you’re about to volunteer or if you have some experience.Chairing and Facilitating at Conferences
John Scarrott, Communications Skills Trainer and Coach, and an AAE trainer, spoke with Barbara Grobicki, Executive Director of the The Strategic Management Society, Linda Pereira, CEO of CPL Events & Chair of many associations and Lisa Collins, Managing Director of Dovetail Creative and former Head of Membership Engagement at IABM.
Part 3: Personal Confidence - It’s all about getting involved
Are you wondering about volunteering for a chair or facilitator’s role at your Association’s next conference? I spoke with Linda Pereira, CEO of CPL Events, Barbara Grobicki, Executive Director, The Strategic Management Society and Lisa Collins, Managing Director of Dovetail Creative. They shared why they do it, how to get started and what qualities you might already possess to do well.
Personal benefits
If you want to become more confident, one approach is to do something that requires you to be more confident to be successful. This can charge you up with the confidence you’re looking for. This was true for Lisa Collins. “As a young person I had less confidence. Putting myself out there and getting to know people gave me more. And having people get to know me has had the same effect. My daughter works for me now and was somewhat amazed at how many people knew me, “Mum you’re famous!” This was fun to hear and gave a little boost to my self-image!”
Barbara Grobicki has been similarly galvanised by her involvement which “has instilled in me a sense of confidence and accomplishment. I’m proud of the session I put together.” The boost for Collins extends to future endeavours. “I see more opportunities ahead. I have ambitions to write a book. I’ll be prepared for more speaking opportunities coming to me as a result which I am confident about and looking forward to.” Getting involved in an event also acted as a boost for Grobicki. For her, “Going through the creative process to deliver the session inspired me and truth be told, woke me up a bit.”
Benefits to your organisation and industry
Collins also sees her involvement as a way to give to the sector. “I want to see the associations sector improve and grow. There is good work happening already and there could be even more. Being involved in events is my way of putting my shoulder to the wheel.” Grobicki also sees future benefits arising from her efforts. She states that “I’m going to use my session with my team so it is being shared within the organisation. And I’ll be able to use some of the material as part of future presentations.”
‘Have I got what it takes?'
If you’re hesitating about stepping forward, it’s worth bearing in mind that you might be underestimating what you know and what you have to offer. Grobicki makes the point that “it’s easy to take what you know for granted. This is true for me. I think what I know is obvious. But when I talk to other people, I realise it’s not. I believe many people are in this position.” What’s more likely to be true is that you have something to share and some skills and qualities that can serve you well to convey it.
Linda Periera highlights a number of qualities that would be useful for aspiring chairs and facilitators. She says “If a cool head and organisational skills are part of your current role these will be useful to you as an event chair. Things can and do go wrong at events. A willingness to walk towards whatever you’re faced with, rather than freeze in front of it is useful. Another good quality is resilience. A chair or facilitator needs to remain buoyant in the face of such challenges.”
When leading a session, there won’t always be agreement with how you respond to a situation, because there is usually more than one right way to do something. Periera says “an ability to take criticism and turn it into feedback is also a useful quality to possess.”
With facilitation in mind, Pereira believes that if you negotiate in your day-to-day role, you have skills you can put to use. She cites “active listening, understanding your participants, keeping the conversation focussed and diplomacy and delicacy as useful qualities for a facilitator”.
The best way to get started.
Periera suggests starting on home turf. “Begin in a world that is familiar to you. For example, if you work in the medical profession, research events in your area of specialism. The content that you will be managing will be familiar to you which will help you to be effective. It creates a level of comfort in you and you can inhabit the mindset of the audience and get close to them.”
Grobicki advises to “be prepared to invest your time to make your involvement a good one. And ask your employer for some of their time, make clear that there are benefits to them. And be prepared to do some work out of hours for the personal benefits to your career.”
Some reassuring thoughts.
If at first you don’t succeed...
Collins’ experience will give you hope. “My first opportunity to speak was when I was 22 years old. I went along but when my turn to speak came up, I froze. I couldn’t do it. And a colleague took my place. This dented me a bit, but it didn’t stop me from having another go.”
You might not need or want to be 100% confident
Collins suggests aiming for comfort might not even be desirable. “Even with the many events I’ve been involved with, it still doesn’t feel like a 100% comfortable experience. I’m not sure it should be. If there’s no fear, there is risk, of being safe, becoming complacent or arrogant. A healthy level of fear drives my passion to develop.”
Keep growing and show up
Collins sees ongoing personal growth as key to a successful career. As she puts it, “I can take criticism because it will help me to grow. Your audience is changing all the time. If you’re growing, you can keep up with them, maybe get a bit ahead. And stay relevant and useful.”
Periera, Grobicki and Collins are all passionate about educating others. They want to encourage others to do the same. Collins' final thoughts are a rallying call, “If you’re wondering if you have something worth sharing, the answer is probably ‘Yes’. The question is ‘What do you have to share?’ Find the right room, and share it. You’ll be so pleased that you did.”
A huge thank you to Barbara Grobicki, Lisa Collins, and Linda Periera for taking the time to share your experience and insights.
Thanks for reading, and happy chairing and facilitating.
John Scarrott is a trainer and coach specialising in the areas of presentations, conference speaking, chairing and facilitation. He offers bespoke training workshops to associations that want to support members to perform well at their events.
John provides in-house training to associations. View the training here.
You can find out more about John at www.johnscarrott.com and at LinkedIn
