STEP SEVEN

Build in Facilitation Techniques to Engage Your Audience

You’ve designed and developed a great presentation about a new process that not only will have a big impact on the company’s bottom line but will make completing daily tasks easier for everyone who touches the process. This is a huge win for the organization and you just know that the audience will be as excited as you are as soon as they hear your message. You present the information—wait for cheers—and instead could hear crickets chirping. In your mind, you think, “Hmm, why don’t they get it?” “Why aren’t they asking questions?” “Why aren’t they asking more about how this will change their daily tasks for the better?”

Perhaps they didn’t pick up on key points of your presentation—or perhaps they didn’t know that it was OK to ask questions. Sometimes presenters face big barriers preventing interactive discussions because of time constraints, setup of the facility, group size, organizational culture, and so on. Whatever the reason, successful presenters know how to use their effective communication skills to encourage participation naturally.

Facilitation is a technique used by a presenter to involve the audience and help them to learn from one another through open sharing of thoughts, opinions, and ideas. In the role of facilitator, the presenter uses such techniques as questioning, silence, paraphrasing, and various nonverbal cues to encourage audience participation.

Characteristics of Effective

Some presenters are natural-born facilitators who intuitively know how to apply certain techniques to engage an audience and elicit participation. For others, a sound understanding of effective facilitation techniques and practice is all that is required. Effective facilitators are able to

• create an open environment by encouraging people to participate in the presentation and learning, while maintaining people’s self-esteem
• set guidelines for audience participation, by respecting others’ thoughts and ideas, ensuring that there are no unnecessary interruptions, and staying on point
• acknowledge people who participate by praising and thanking them for their contributions and encouraging them to continue to participate
• create transitions between questions asked and answered by audience members, as well as between topics
• be honest with what they know and don’t know; acknowledging what is opinion and what is fact
• express an opinion when appropriate but make sure that audience members’ feelings and opinions are not being judged as invalid or wrong
• give everyone an opportunity to participate but never forces anyone who chooses not to
• keep the discussion flowing and on target while recognizing when to end a discussion and move on.

Encouraging Participation with Facilitation Techniques

Successful presenters leverage myriad facilitation techniques and master when to use a particular technique as much as how to use it. By understanding the basics of each technique and when to apply them, you will add more arrows in your quiver and deliver a powerful presentation that provides value to participants. Some basic facilitation techniques include

• Asking questions—this is probably the most common way to encourage participation from a group—and is a skill that serves business professionals both inside and outside of a meeting room. There are several types of questions including open-ended, closed, hypothetical, and rhetorical.
• Listening—if you expect the audience to participate, then you need to be sure to listen to what they are saying. After posing a question, pause and give them time to think and formulate their responses. When someone begins to respond, avoid assuming that you know what he or she is going to say. Nothing turns an audience off faster than a presenter who interrupts or jumps to hasty conclusions about a particular point—which may be incorrect. Pose a question, give the audience time to think, and then truly listen to participant input.
• Accepting different opinions and views—if you are asking for ideas, comments, and thoughts on a topic, then be prepared for views that differ from yours. If you don’t agree with something, be sure that you do not leave the audience with the impression that you agree or that the information is correct if it is not. If answers to questions aren’t quite on target, then redirect the question and open it up to others by asking, “What do the rest of you think?”
• Silence—silence is an effective facilitation technique and one that novice presenters often struggle with the most. Pausing enables the audience to process what you are saying and to form their own thoughts and opinions.

This next section delves into each of these techniques to help you to hone your facilitation skills.

Questioning Techniques

Not every presentation that you make will require you to facilitate discussions. However, for today’s business professionals the ability to facilitate discussions is often an expected part of business acumen. As a result, it is crucial for every business professional to know how to use various facilitation techniques. The ability to ask strong questions requires skill, practice, and planning.

Open-Ended Questions

Open-ended questions usually require participants to respond using more than one word. These questions enable the audience to express their thoughts, ideas, feelings, and opinions.

For example, what if the presenter at the beginning of this chapter had stated at the start of the presentation

that he was not only excited about the upcoming process changes, but wanted to ensure that there was plenty of time during the session for the audience to ask questions to clarify their understanding. If the presenter stated the expectation up front and then sprinkled open-ended questions throughout the presentation, the level of interactivity and enthusiasm of the audience about the process change may have been dramatically different.

For example:

• “With a show of hands, how many of you currently spend at least 30 minutes each day on _____ process? An hour? More than an hour?”
• “Based on what we’ve discussed so far, how do you think this new process will affect your job?”
• “What do you think you need to be successful with this new process change?”
• “How do you think that you can begin to implement this process change now?”

Asking an open-ended question is an excellent way of getting the audience involved in the presentation. It increases the energy level of the session and generates group synergy. Open-ended questions often start with

• “Tell me about...”
• “Why...”
• “What do you think about...”
• “How...”

Usually questions that start this way help the audience to expound on their answers, revealing information that can be helpful in discussion.

Closed-Ended Questions

Closed-ended questions are sometimes preferable to open-ended ones in certain situations. Closed-ended questions are excellent for getting at specific facts and information.

For example, what if members of the audience were expected to read information about the new process change prior to attending the presentation. You could ask a closed-ended question requiring a yes or no response to gauge how many read the information, such as: “How many of you had a chance to read the information that I sent about the new process change last week?” You aren’t interested at this point whether or not they agree with or are excited about the change, only the percentage of the group that has some baseline understanding of your presentation content.

Closed-ended questions often begin with:

• “Who...?”
• “Where...”
• “When...”
• “Did you...”

Hypothetical Questions

Hypothetical questions are great to get people thinking freely in situations in which many answers may be valid. They often start with “What if...?”

For example, “What if we could implement a new process regarding ______ that would reduce the amount of time you spend on that task by 50 percent every day?” or “Where do you think this process will affect your workflow the most each day?”

Hypothetical questions are excellent discussion starters because they allow the audience to internalize a situation, think through any issues, problems, or solutions, and then actively discuss the impact and their ideas. One warning—since hypothetical discussions are so effective at getting the audience to open up and join in the discussion, as a presenter you may need to reign things in a bit to meet your time constraints.

Rhetorical Questions

Rhetorical questions—although really not questions at all—are used primarily to get your audience thinking when you don’t expect them to answer the question aloud. These types of questions are used primarily for effect and to create excitement or interest in the presentation content to come.

For example, “We’ve all heard about the new process change and I know that change is sometimes difficult. But what if I told you that this new process has been proven to reduce workflow downtime by 50 percent?”

The success of rhetorical questions, just like the other facilitation techniques discussed in this section, is directly related to how you ask the question as much as what you ask. When using this technique, vary the pace of your speech to emphasize key words and then end with silence. Allow the audience time to process what you have said since rhetorical questions are a great way to prime an audience to hear the key and supporting points of your presentation.

Question and Answer Sessions

Many presentations include “Q&A” sessions—meaning, a designated amount of time and a place in the presentation when the audience can ask you questions about a particular topic. For many presenters, these sessions can instill butterflies and cause knocking knees. If that sounds like you, but sure to read the sidebar called “Taking the Dread Out of Q&A.”

Q&A sessions provide an excellent opportunity for a presenter to not only “show his or her stuff,” but also to self-evaluate the effectiveness of the presentation based on the type of questions posed from the audience. Usually the presenter controls when the Q&A will occur, whether during the presentation or at the end. To help you decide where Q&A should be placed in the structure of the presentation, ask yourself three questions:

• What is the purpose of my presentation?
  If your presentation is a “need to know” and not just a “nice to know,” try your best to work in at least some time for questions during the presentation.
• How much time do I have to deliver the presentation?
  If you are constrained by time limits and have a lot of important content to convey, then you may wish to hold Q&A until the end of the session to ensure that you have enough time to get through the requisite information. Be sure to set this up in the beginning by saying, “After my presentation, we’ll have a little time for questions.”
• How large is the group?
  A large, eager group plus limited time often leads to many questions. If you are going to start a Q&A session, set a time when you will stop—and stick to it.

Pointers for Conducting Q&A Sessions

Here are some pointers to remember as you conduct a Q&A session:

• Think before asking your question; know what your goal is and what information you seek.
• Ask the question first and then allow the audience enough time (at least six to eight seconds) to respond.
• Do a quick check for understanding. If you get confused looks, try rephrasing the question.
• Be careful not to single out one person to answer the question before you ask it.
• Wait for hands to go up, and choose someone who you think knows the answer.
• Don’t call on the same people over and over or you’ll run the risk of discouraging the rest of the group from asking questions.
• When calling on people to answer questions, address them by first name when possible.
• If someone’s answer is clearly off base or seems to indicate that he or she didn’t quite understand the question, very gently let the person off the hook by asking it again in a slightly different way. For example, “That’s one way of looking at it, but what I was asking about was...”
• Thank the person for answering the question and move on.

Guidelines for Answering Questions from the Audience

Consider these guidelines when answering questions posed by the audience:

• When creating or practicing your presentation, anticipate the questions that might be asked and plan your response.
• Before answering, make sure that you understand the question. If not, ask for clarification.
• Consider repeating the question for large audiences and rooms to ensure that everyone heard the question before you respond.
• If possible, plan for a wireless microphone to be available to pass around in large group sessions to facilitate a quick and smooth Q&A session and ensure that everyone can hear the questions asked.
• If you don’t know an answer, add it to the parking lot and tell the audience member that you will find out the answer as soon as possible.
• Keep answers brief and to the point. If you prattle on about statistics, large amounts of data, or complicated information you will confuse and possibly lose your audience.
• After answering a question, check the audience’s body language and facial expressions to see if your answer was clear. Clarify if necessary.
• Always thank the person who asked the question.

Worksheet 7.1 will help you plan the facilitation techniques that will work best with your presentation. It will also test your listening skills so you can maximize your effectiveness during Q&A sessions.

Listening to Verbal and Nonverbal Messages

Effective facilitators not only know how to appropriately structure and ask questions at precisely the right time, but they are also extremely good listeners. Active listening, while especially useful during Q&A sessions, requires concentration. You are not only employing auditory skills to listen to the words used in posing the question, but also paying attention to the underlying emotion expressed. This part of the message is often reflected in the person’s tone of voice or inflection as well as nonverbal messages, such as facial expression and gesture. This underlying message usually reflects the true meaning of what is being expressed.

For example, how often have you asked a friend or co-worker if she or he understands something and while getting an affirmative “yes” or nod, you see a look of confusion or a wrinkled brow that indicates otherwise?

Good facilitators use paraphrasing—a technique of repeating back (in their own words) to an audience member what they think was asked—as an effective technique for verifying that the presenter and the audience all heard the question correctly. Paraphrasing also helps you to “buy time” as well by pausing, repeating the question, and giving you time to think through the answer.

Using Silence to Create Tension

In our society, even short periods of silence have a way of making people uncomfortable. Nevertheless, silence can be an excellent facilitation tool because it creates just enough tension to make people uncomfortable and get them thinking! The trick to using silence to your advantage is not to let people off the hook by answering for them or by rephrasing the question right away.

Keep in mind that the audience hears and processes information at a slower rate than you speak, so silence not only gives them time to let ideas and information rattle around in their heads, it is necessary when facilitating.

To use silence effectively, pose your question to the audience, then wait at least 6 to 8 seconds. If no one responds or the audience seems confused, try rephrasing the question—but do not answer for them.

For example, you could ask, “What was one challenge that you remember from the last time a new workflow change was initiated?” After your period of silence, try to rephrase the question along the lines of, “Okay, what if we narrow that down to what was one challenge that you experienced in your department as a result of the ______ workflow change?”

Advantages and Disadvantages of Questioning Techniques

Questioning provides participants with an opportunity to display their understanding of key points. Participants’ responses not only tell you how effective your presentation is but also indicate how to adjust your delivery. When posing questions, you can address participants by name and involve them in presentations. Questioning also gives you the opportunity to provide positive feedback and reinforcement to ensure that participants understand the presentation content.

WORKSHEET 7.1

Facilitation Skills Worksheet

This worksheet will help you to determine which facilitation techniques you want to use during the presentation to engage participants and anticipate questions or issues. Remember, facilitation techniques are not only designed to engage the audience, but also to help facilitate learning from each other as much as from the speaker. Leverage some of the techniques in this section—including questioning,silence, paraphrasing, and nonverbal cues—to hone your skills and encourage participation.

Questioning Technique	Purpose	Include?	How can I implement this technique in the presentation?
Open-Ended Questions	Used to engage participants and have them respond with more than a yes or no answer
Closed-Ended Questions	Excellent for obtaining yes/no answers and getting at specific facts and information.
Hypothetical Questions	Used to get people thinking freely in situations where many answers may be valid. They often start with “What if...?”
Rhetorical Questions	Used primarily to get your audience thinking when you don’t really expect them to answer the question aloud. These types of questions are used for effect and to create excitement or interest in the presentation content to come.

Other Planning Questions:

Item	Answer
Will you have a Q&A Session?
Are there any hot topics or pitfalls that you expect the audience to question during the presentation?
What types of questions do you think you will field from the audience?
What should your response be for each of the anticipated questions?
If you cannot answer all of the audience questions, how will you help the audience to find the answer (e.g., table & follow-up via e-mail with the answers, point them to Internet or other resources for additional information)?

Listening Self-Assessment Checklist

If you are going to take questions from the audience, you need to ensure that your listening skills are on par with those of other successful presenters. Use this self-assessment to think about your current listening skills and if you need to do anything different during the presentation.

Question	Answer
When people speak to me, I often feel that they are wasting my time.
I tend to anticipate what someone is asking me, interrupting others, and jump in with an answer before the full question is asked.
I have trouble listening when there is noise or a distracting activity nearby.
When someone asks me a question, I often focus more on the next part of my presentation or the conversation rather than actively listening to the question being asked.
I take notes to record the facts or details when someone asks a question to ensure that I have heard what is asked correctly.
I often paraphrase a question back to the audience to ensure that I heard the question correctly and to ensure that everyone else heard the question.
I keep my emotions under control when sensitive topics or opposing views are raised by others.

Advantages

The use of questioning and reinforcement is useful for the following reasons:

• it involves all participants in the presentation
• it stimulates and motivates participants
• it provides participants with an opportunity to display their understanding of the topic
• it promotes active, not passive participation
• participants have an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills you have presented
• responses to questions provide feedback as to the effectiveness of the delivery of the presentation
• the questioning process helps you to evaluate individual comprehension
• questions create variety in presentations.

Disadvantages

There are, however, some aspects of questioning and reinforcement that can detract from your presentation:

• the overuse of low-level or short-answer questions may not challenge the participants
• questioning can be time-consuming
• some participants may not wish to get involved in the interaction process
• some participants may attempt to dominate the interaction process.

NOTES