Facilitator’s Holiday Gift Guide
Great gifts for the facilitator in your life!
FacilitatingXYZ Team
This is the account that the FacilitatingXYZ team uses. FacXYZ is co-facilitated by Meg and Sam, and brings in expertise, knowledge, and lived experience from facilitators far and wide. Read more about us here.
All Posts by FacXYZ
Authentic Social Justice Facilitation
Full length interview with social justice educator and facilitator, Tanya O. Williams.
Managing the Overtalkers
How to interrupt overtakers for the health of the group.
Fun and Play in Facilitation
Full length interview with experiential facilitator, author, and founder of playmeo.com, Mark Collard.
Questions For Your Host: A Checklist
Use this checklist to feel super prepared for your next facilitation with these question for your host!
Call for Submissions!
Facilitators! Share your ideas on FacilitatingXYZ.
Self-Exploration and Facilitation
Full length interview with facilitator, organizational development consultant, & professional drummer Solomon Masala.
How to Prioritize… When a Group Says EVERYTHING is Important
Barbara MacKay tackles the question, “How do you prioritize when everything is important?”
Unlocking Creative Facilitation
Full length interview with podcast host, creative, and experiential facilitator, Amy Climer.
Facilitation and Self-Disclosure: FacXYZ LIVE Roundtable
Navigating self-disclosure, when to/not to, rules to doing it well, and much more.
Self-Feedback Form
Sometimes the most valuable insight is the feedback you give yourself.
How to Facilitate Large Groups
What do you need to do differently when you’re facilitating a massive crowd of participants?
6 Questions to Ask Your Facilitation Host
Walk into your next facilitation gig well-prepared with these suggestions for communicating with you host.
10 Sure-Fire Icebreakers and Group Games: E-Book
10 Ice-breakers and group games to infuse a fun, create connections, and start making a difference in your facilitations.
Reflections from a Sexuality Facilitator
A deep dive conversation with Karen Rayne.
Eight Key Elements for a Successful Activity
You can know all the activities in the book but *how* you do them matters.
Co-Facilitator Checklist
25+ things to ask your co-fac, and find common ground on, before you get in front of a group.
How Facilitators Can Infuse Diversity and Inclusion into Everything We Do
Practical advice on ways to infuse diversity and inclusion into all your facilitation work.
5 Subtle Tips to Improve Any Workshop
Easy to implement tips for any workshop.
Navigating Triggers at Family Gatherings
Dr. Kathy Obear shows us how to use our facilitator skills during family gatherings.
“Relating In” with Participants
Dr. Kathy Obear highlights the power of identifying with participants (no matter what).
Holding Yourself Accountable to Your Good Intentions
Dr. Kathy Obear highlights the importance of sharing our intentions.
Navigating Triggers and [Holiday] Self Care
Full-length interview with social justice educator and life coach Dr. Kathy Obear.
A Moderator’s Struggle: Truth, Intervention & Neutrality
Debate moderators/facilitation: truth, neutrality, intervention, and more.
Team Building and Experiential Facilitation
Full-length interview with facilitator Michelle Cummings of Training Wheels.
Sexuality Education and Facilitation
Full-length interview with sexuality educator and facilitator Karen Rayne.
Chapter 11 UtMoF: Role Modeling Continuous Learning
“Technology’s moving so fast, man. It’s to the point where you can make stuff up, and people will believe you. – Mike Birbiglia
Chapter 10 UtMoF: Learning from Emotions
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
Chapter 9 UtMoF: Triggers
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” – Alice Walker
Chapter 8 UtMoF: Safe Spaces for Vulnerability
“Vulnerability is our most accurate measurement of courage” – Brené Brown
Chapter 7 UtMoF: Asking Good Questions
“Draw a monster. Why is it a monster?” – Janice Lee
Chapter 6 UtMoF: The “Yes, and…” Rule
“Say yes, and you’ll figure it out afterwards.” – Tina Fey
Chapter 5 UtMoF: Both/And > Or/But
“That’s what careless words do. They make people love you a little less.” – Arundhati Roy
Chapter 4 of UtMoF: How to Read a Group
“Listen and be led.” – L.M. Heroux
Chapter 3 UtMoF: Being Neutral
“You can’t be neutral on a moving train.” – Howard Zinn
Chapter 2 UtMoF: Facilitation vs. Teaching vs. Lecturing
“The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say, ‘The children are now working as if I did not exist.’”
– Maria Montessori
Facilitating Social Justice Conversations in Higher Ed
Full-length interview with Trey Boynton on about facilitating diversity and racial justice topics.
Chapter 1 UtMoF: Understanding Facilitation as a Nuanced Skill
“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” – Edgar Degas
Stop Talking and Trust the Group
Meg Bolger explains the importance of talking less and trusting the group more.
Leaving Shame Out of Facilitation
Sam Killermann shares the importance of leaving shame out of facilitation.
Prioritizing Learning or Enjoyment
Eric Boggs discusses the facilitator’s dilemma being real vs being popular.
Lecturing vs. Teaching vs. Facilitation
Sam Killermann highlights the differences between facilitation, teaching, and lecturing.
The Importance of a Beginner’s Mindset
Meg Bolger shares why it is so important to have a beginner’s mindset.
When to Push Back in Facilitation
Eric Boggs discusses when to push back or go along with your participants.
The Power “I don’t know” in Facilitation
Sam Killermann explains the value of saying, “I don’t know” as a facilitator.
Hip-Hop Pedagogy, Poetry, and Facilitation
Full-length interview with Wilson Okello spoken word poet and social justice facilitator.
Unlocking the Magic of Facilitation
11 Key Concepts You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know
How to Handle Conflict in Facilitation
Meg Bolger provides steps for handling conflict when it arises.
The Importance of Self-Differentiation in Facilitation
Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin explains the benefits of distinguishing your emotions from your participants’.
Welcome to FacilitatingXYZ
Allow us introduce you to the site.
Finding Your Facilitation Style
Wilson Okello talks about the importance of being you.
Experiential Facilitation in the Wilderness and Beyond
Full-length interview with higher ed professional and adventure facilitator Eric Boggs.
Facilitating in Mentor Relationships and Beyond
Full-length interview with Erik Tyler discussing facilitation mindset, mentorship, and more.
Connection and the Power of Facilitation
Full-length interview with Chad Littlefield about why he chooses connection over content and more.
Social Justice Facilitation for Outdoor & Experiential Ed
Full-length interview with Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin and Ava Holliday talk facilitation in social justice and environmental ed.
What is VITAL in Social Justice Facilitation?
Full-length interview with Aeriel and Kyle Ashlee about what is vital in social justice facilitation.