Walk & Talk: The Secret to a Great Workshop #91

After all, all art is experience. And we're live. Hello, Gary.

George, we're here. This is a live walk and talk.

It's a walk and talk.

It's the first walk and talk.

We're very pleased with the name, so we're going to be saying it a lot throughout the course of this episode. And on this first walk and talk, we're talking about workshops. You've been doing a lot of workshops recently. You've been in and out of the house going all over London and all over the country running workshops, and I realized that I had no idea really what that involved and what you were doing on these trips. So I've prepared a series of questions.

That's good, but just the first thing before we get started, we look a bit menacing, don't you think?

We certainly do.

Yeah, we're making a workshop for you.

We might be hit by a car.

You might be hit by a car, but this is live broadcasting.

That's what it's all about.

This is what goes on. So go on then, hit me with your first question.

Okay, I'm gonna kick off. And you'll know this because I know, I have no doubt that all of your workshops are fantastic. But question 1 is, what makes a great workshop? Oh, blimey.

Well, I think the first thing is that you've got to understand the purpose of your workshop. So what is the outcome you want and what does good look like if it goes well?

Yeah.

And I think if you start with that, then you reverse engineer it so that it works as intended rather than just rocking up and hoping it's okay.

Okay, so preparation is the name of the game.

Well, yeah, and the outcome is like, why are you doing the workshop? What do you want to happen as a result? And what does good look like if it works? Then you're on your road, on the way.

Nice. And how do you— because you spend a lot of time prepping these, as I've seen— how do you structure an excellent workshop for maximum engagement?

Well, I think most people have had an experience of a bad workshop, so their expectations are not very high and they're kind of a bit cynical. So they normally come in ready to roll their eyes. And so with that in mind, you want to start as you mean to go on. So I think it's all about energy, that people know that the speakers are not boring.

Yeah.

That they're going to get something out of it. They learn something that they didn't know already, hopefully at the end of it. So the starting point for me is that it is in the preparation. But as people come in, we want some music. We want to create energy. Yeah. We want people to look forward to what's about to happen. That's kind of my starting point. So start as you mean to go on. So it's like, when I come, yeah, you show time when someone comes in.

Yeah. So get people pumped early on. Pumped up. Yeah. And I think this probably leads in quite nicely, but what are some common mistakes that people make? So in these bad workshops that we've all experienced, what are the things that people do that they can change to sort of increase the engagement and success?

That's a good question, actually. I think if I'm running a workshop, I want to control the agenda.

Yeah.

Because the agenda is kind of the plan that's going to happen during the session, obviously. And for that agenda is trying to work out again, what is the message? What's the journey you're trying to take people on? Yeah. And then trying to make sure each session, if there's multiple sessions, is planned well. So it's not like people boring people with PowerPoint. Yeah. So by controlling the agenda, you end up trying to make sure that everything's going to work well. So you're looking through the lens of each session. Try and— and people try to put too much in. So like they want to get maximum out of the day, start at 8, finish at 6, and you know, it's too much.

Yeah.

So you're better off doing less, giving people a chance to network, but making sure each session is really going to work.

Nice. I like that because you can definitely do overkill, can't you? You know, you don't want to be that final session, they're like, I can't wait to go.

Yeah, when's it going to be finished?

Everyone's given up. We may have another car coming, but I think we're going to do it.

We're live broadcast. Yeah, we can do this.

Anything, uh, anything can happen at this stage. Um, sometimes Sometimes you may get a difficult or annoying participant or someone that's not engaging or is being disruptive. How do you deal with that?

Ooh, I like that one. Yeah, it does happen. And I think the main thing is handling objections in advance. So I normally say to people, I try to build a relationship with people in the room before I start, which is not always easy because if they all come in together.

Yeah.

By trying to build a relationship so I can relate to everyone in the room. So I remember where they came from or something they told me. And then basically handle the objections in advance. So I actually start off my workshop by saying, you're probably wondering 3 things. Who is he? What does he want? And what time does it finish?

Yeah, nice.

So I start there and I say to them, we've all been to these workshops before. My wife told me to paint my eyeballs on the back of my eyelids so that I can have a sleep in the back. And I've been there before, but that is not what's going to happen here. So I'm kind of handling that objection up front. We're going to get killed by a car again.

Tesla.

Did we choose the busiest road to have this little walk?

I think we might have done.

So that, you know, that's kind of the— so that's the way to handle it. Then if someone's in the room and they're being difficult, you know, never be defensive because once you're defensive— everyone's watched The Apprentice. Yeah. And they do the interview section. As soon as you're defensive, you lost it.

It's over. Yeah.

Okay, great.

So don't try and defend.

No, but just, you know, just listen to people, uh, answer it, you know, maybe put it on a— on the parking lot, you know, come back to it later. That's a good question, but, you know, it's slightly off topic for now, or "Let's put it, you know, let's grab that, or talk in the break, or, you know, just try to not make it the center, but don't be defensive." No, I like that.

And how would you measure the success? So, when you've— workshop's finished, it's a bit like this podcast sometimes, you know, we finish, we might have no idea how that went. I'm sure we'll be asking ourselves that very soon.

Was it good? Was that any good?

When you finish a workshop, how do you measure whether or not it's been successful? And should we turn around and go back the way we come?

Let's do, let's do go right here. Turn right so no one can notice that we're turning.

How about that?

Nice. Do you like it?

Yeah, it's not working. It's not—

is it? You're not turning. Why are you not turning? We're not turning. Okay, we're going to keep going. Fine. I was going to turn, but you know— oh, I see, you're not going to turn. I was going to turn, but you didn't seem to want to.

Okay, let's try it again. Let's maneuver.

Okay, we're going to the right, everyone who's watching. Or George is still not going to the right. There we go. Oh, there we go. We did it. We're all cool. We're all cool. We're going the other way now.

Okay, success.

Yeah, what is success? Well, a lot of it is down to, you know, asking people, right? So I tend to calibrate if that's the right word, at every stage. So during the break, going for coffee, and I just say, how's it going for you? And then people say, you're a complete waste of time. They normally say, yeah, it's good actually, it'd be nice to get more of blah blah blah or whatever. And I just use that as a measuring point. Yeah. And then obviously at the end, you know, different people want to do different things. Sometimes you might want to do a survey or just ask people what they think.

Okay.

But generally, don't be scared of finding out how it went and improving, because you should always look to improve.

Yeah. Certainly. And, you know, we've all been to these workshops where technology is a massive problem. For whatever reason, the tech isn't working. What role does tech play, do you think, in modern workshops? Are these other sort of digital tools that are facilitating and helping with engagement that you found?

Yeah, there's a number of things actually, as you were talking about it, conjures up. The first one is that tech is in the back anyway for getting the modern versions of things. Yeah. And so it's really important to be there really early or the night before and make sure everything's going to work. Experience tells me that if you don't do that, it's going to go wrong. And sometimes even if you do that, it's going to go wrong. Yeah. So I think it's really critical to make sure everything's working. So don't rock up, plug in, and hope it's all going to work because it's not going to work that way. First thing. Second thing is there's lots of tech that helps with different ideas. For example, there's certain technology that give you live polls, or you can get breakouts and all sorts of other things. But my advice would be just keep it simple. Technology goes wrong and don't let the technology take over from what you're trying to do. That's why if you've decided what is the reason for doing the workshop and then you focus so much on the technology, before you know it, it's like not working, you're spending time getting it to work and you lose the room. Right. So there's something called Slido, which is good for doing polls and things like that. There's various other tools. It depends on the size of the event. But don't put it in because you like tech, put it in because it's going to make a difference to what you're trying to do.

Nice. I like that. And it all, as you say, it all stems from the reason for doing the workshop in the first place. Exactly. I like it. One of the main things, I guess, when you finish a workshop is that you want people to turn what you've told them into action. And are there any sort of good ways of ensuring that insights from workshop lead to real action? How do you sort of ensure follow-up?

That's a really nice question. I think there's a couple of things. I think, If you're doing any kind of presentation, whether it's a workshop or presenting, you should always try to think about what you want people to do as a result of this presentation, of this workshop. Yeah. And therefore, in advance, prep that to make sure it's what you wanted. So example would be, if I'm doing this workshop, this particular session, what do I want the audience to do as a result of it?

Yeah.

And that kind of leads you to decide what you should do next. I think the biggest mistake people make is they try to solve the world in one meeting. It's half a day, it's a day, it's an hour, whatever. Don't put yourself under that pressure. Just, but the most important thing is to follow up. So if you want, for example, the team to go and work on a particular problem or come up with this top priority and work on it. Yeah. Most organizations drop the ball after the meeting, all excited, everyone goes off fist pumping and then nothing happens and there's no follow-up. So decide upfront, but make sure there's a part 2 and a 3.

Nice, I like that. I'm just gonna wipe my eye because I've got tears streaming down my face. It's a really lovely day.

Because your answers are so beautiful.

So beautiful. It's a cold day.

It's a beautiful world. What a beautiful world.

We've got a couple more questions for you.

Let's go for it. On the walk and talk. Yeah, I'm loving this.

And what, you know, you've done so many of these over the years, what has been, or, you know, one or some of the most memorable or surprising workshop experiences that you can recall?

Oh wow.

It's a toughie.

It is a toughie. Oh, I'm trying to think about the very first one I did, which I was really scared about doing, and it was for a kind of fuel company, petrochemical company, and it was their kind of global fuel marketing conference. Yeah, in a posh venue. It was one of my first workshops, and the person that was in charge of it was very forthright, shall we say. And my first introduction, uh, is this person looked at me because I was all booted and suited because I was my first one. I want to be impressive. Yeah. And they said to me, you're not wearing that, are you? That was my opening gambit. But you know, I improved from there and I, I changed, you know.

Tell me, so you were told off for wearing a suit?

I was told off for wearing a suit, and that was before it wasn't cool to wear suits. So that's the way these things work.

Right.

But probably my most memorable experience has been I was asked to facilitate a 3-day workshop. Yeah. For a company. And there were some people there from Gartner and some of those very large and successful organizations. And at the end of it, the person from Gartner said, I've forgotten how important facilitation is. He said, that was the best facilitated workshop I've ever been to.

All right.

And I thought, okay, well, that shows the value of, you know, it wasn't because of me, just because someone knows what they're doing, having a chance to do these sorts of things. And it just, it made me feel that We're making a difference. It's worth having because here's the message. It's very hard to facilitate and participate in your own meeting. Yeah. Don't try at home.

Nice. I like that. I've got one more for you. And I think, imagine a lot of people listening to this may be people who are thinking of running a workshop. Maybe they've come to this because they have got one coming up and they want some advice. We often do 3 takeaways. I'm not going to put you on the spot and ask for 3 takeaways.

You can try.

Maybe I will, but I'll start off by asking for one piece of advice you'd give to someone who's running their first workshop?

I will give 3, actually. Now you asked for one, I'm going to give you 3.

Great.

I think the first one is what we alluded to before, which is it's all about the preparation. So before you even start, map it out and make it a journey that you're taking people on, because what you're trying to do is get inside people's heads. You're not trying to present at them, you're trying to connect with them and get inside their heads. So the agenda, my number one goal is owning the agenda. Whoever's doing the, whoever's meeting is, I've got to do that. The second one is I want to connect with people there. So I spend time researching the people that are coming. Yeah, if I can. Sometimes I can't. And trying to meet as many people as they come in to build a connection with them. And then I link back to everyone and everything I can during the whole process. Right. Because then people feel that they are connected to it and it's not someone just talking at them.

Yeah.

And then probably the third one is, is keeping energy so that people enjoy the experience. If it doesn't go well, it's down to me. It's not down to anyone else. I can't blame the audience. So I try to keep energy. Yeah. And keep people on their toes and get them involved. And particularly people that are not loud. Turn down the loud ones, turn up the quiet ones.

Nice.

That would be my three tips.

Well, I'm going to go off script actually quickly. Go for it. How do you keep that energy up if you've got an audience who aren't giving back and you're sort of throwing everything you've got at them and they're just— there's no sort of participation, either because they're inexperienced or for whatever reason, they're not giving you what you need. How do you maintain that level of energy? Or do you just sort of not bother and sort of crumble and, you know, leave it something? Start crying. Yeah, crying as I currently am.

I'm crying. Yeah, you are crying. To be honest, again, it's down to me. So I turn up my energy sometimes. I'm kind of more extrovert than introvert, but I'm not a massive extrovert. But for anyone running a workshop or running a meeting, you've got to turn up whatever your level is. If you're an introvert, it's fine, but you still need to turn it up. So I basically force myself to be even more energetic than I would normally be. It's up to me to do it. And probably the best way to get engagement is to ask questions. Yeah. So the more questions you can ask, the more— and use a bit of humor, right? So take the piss out of people without being too rude. Don't be disrespectful. But I do that. And, and like I did a session at a university the other day, and quite rightly, younger people are not as brave as people in corporate life because they want to show off what they're doing. And I had to work bloody hard, but I still got the— I kept the energy there through the whole session. People commented it was a high-energy session. Yeah, it did drain my batteries, but I just worked it and I kept asking questions. I kept being positive. Yeah. And I didn't give up.

Excellent, and there were some really positive things that came after that, so obviously it did the trick. So well done to you, Gary. Well done for you all for sticking with us while we've been walking around the neighborhood looking menacing. Yeah, terrifying the neighbors.

We have terrified the neighbors. And also, did you notice how people were like, you know, steering their cars around us? They don't run you over if you keep walking.

Yeah, well, if you've got a camera and a microphone, people just leave you alone. Thank you very much, Gary. That was great. Our very first walk and talk.

Thanks all, and thanks George. I really enjoyed it. Yeah, let's walk and talk again. Yeah, definitely. See you next time. Have a good one.