Meet our Lead Conference Facilitator
Dan’s Facilitation Journey

My conference facilitation journey started in a Land Rover.
The vehicle wasn’t taking me to a conference centre. In fact, the delegates were sitting with me, inside the car. I was in the left-hand passenger seat with three attendees behind me and another taking the wheel, wearing a blind fold! In this confined and somewhat tense environment, I discovered the power of asking over telling.
My task was to persuade the driver to move off, trusting her colleagues to guide her around an undulating course in a Hertfordshire field.
On the face of it, this might appear to be a foolish corporate team exercise; in fact, it was a powerful lesson in communication. As each participant took a turn at the wheel, my role was to enquire how the team could improve their guidance. They made the following observations:
- Rather than us all yelling instructions, why don’t we appoint one spokesperson?
- Phrases like straighten up don’t make sense to a blind folded driver. Let’s agree on clear, understandable instructions
- As a blind driver, I need to know how I’m doing and where I am
In less than 20 minutes, this small team had refined their communication to a point where their performance (lap time) had improved by 200%. Following the final, fastest and most accurate lap, I asked what they’d each discovered. Four different insights were shared, the one that stuck with me was that the blind drivers had responded more to the way things were said than what was said. Intonation is more powerful than words.
As a facilitator, I’ve learned many equally powerful lessons from the groups I’ve worked with and I believe these groups have developed far more from thinking, debating and listening to one another than they could have from me lecturing to them.
And when an engaging activity is added to the mix the impact is multiplied.
If you would like to discuss how I can help facilitate productive conferences or corporate meetings then click the contact button below and I’ll get back to you asap.