The ultimate facilitator packing checklist

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In the last few months, I've been travelling quite a bit and delivering/facilitating and MC'ing face-to-face workshops and conferences. One major highlight was sharing the stage with some of my podcasting great's at this year's 'We Are Podcast' conference in Brisbane.

It requires a lot of energy to deliver those sessions. It also requires time and energy to prepare - and I've realised that I spend a lot of energy on repetitive tasks in the lead-up to these events.Adam Stone, CEO for D-Tools said this quote, which I always keep in front of mind (and try to act on where I can), "Anything that you do more than twice has to be automated."So, I challenged myself to think up a packing system for a workshop. A good old checklist. To make it memorable, I've called it the MOST method (which I'll explain in a second).

Why a facilitator packing checklist?

Packing for a workshop can seem pretty straight-forward. And hey, it usually is. But when you get it slightly wrong, it can have massive implications.Have you ever been in a workshop and realised that you forgot the attendance sheet, or that the computer cables provided don't connect to the projector, or your video audio won't play in the room's speakers?Forgetting these items and wrangling with multimedia an hour before you're workshop starts can distract you from the task at hand - delivering a great learning experience.

The golf bag analogy

I enjoy a hit of social golf from time-to-time. I don’t have a handicap, I just enjoy the fresh air, the roller-coaster of emotions, and the conversations.The golf bag is an enabler. It stores your favourite driver, your lucky tees, balls, hat and gloves. A friend can call you and ask you for a round of golf, and you can grab that bag and be out the door in a moment's notice.Imagine if you receive the same call but all of your golf goodies are in different rooms around the house. Your tees are in some drawer in the garage, you forgot where you left your hat the last time you played. Having to pull together all these pieces means it's going to take some effort to even get out the door.Suddenly, accepting the offer to play golf seems like it's going to create a lot of work, and take up too much energy.What do you do? You reject the offer to play.That’s why I like the idea of having a dedicated facilitator bag (or kit).It’s about ‘grabbing and going’: If we want to up our professionalism as a facilitator, and to take opportunities that may come at a moment’s notice, it’s important we can ‘grab and go’ when required.

A facilitator packing list = confidence

There's nothing worse than waking up in the middle of the night before a workshop, thinking, ‘Oh gosh, did I pack that worksheet? Did I print that diagram?’.A checklist, ticked off the day before you deliver, is the best thing you can do to guarantee a good night's sleep.

Introducing my packing method: MOST

The model I’ve created to categorise my packing list, is an acronym called ‘MOST’.MOST stands for:

• M: Me

• OS: Office Supplies

• T: Technology

Let’s break each of these categories down:

Category One: ME

This category is all about taking care of yourself. The items under the ‘Me’ category are your personal essential items, and they’re probably very similar to the items you pack in your carry-on luggage when you’re flying somewhere.This category is all about the hygiene factors that help you operate well. If you forget any one of these, it will make your role as a human, let alone, a facilitator, a little bit trickier.This is a section you will customise depending on your needs. I’ll share what I pack on this list so it may trigger ideas for you. Ideally, you'll store all the gear here in a smaller bag, that you can throw into a handbag, a backpack, or whatever works for you.

• Drink-bottle: Water is your friend - it keeps your voice going. Invest in a good, insulated drink-bottle, refill at every break and you’re already winning the day...

• Snacks: Fruit, nuts, energy food that you can eat on the go. Don’t rely on the catered lunch. More often than not during the breaks, we’re often approached by participants/training coordinators/organisers for conversations, which make it tricky to stop and eat.

• Other hygiene type of essentials: Tissues, eye drops, mints, pack of soothers, panadol (it’s tough delivering a workshop when you have a banging headache!), green tea bag

• Pen

• Business cards

The only other thing you need on you, is a big back pocket, and I mean that metaphorically as we know, facilitators need to be able to anticipate and be flexible to what happens (although, wearing an outfit with a back pocket is helpful to store that all-elusive powerpoint clicker).

Category Two: Office Supplies

This category contains the majority of what you’ll be packing. Store these items in a clear box, so it’s easy to take stock of what you have and replenish when required. You can pick up these clear boxes at any discount store, Kmart, Bunnings, etc.

• Attendance sheet

• Feedback sheets: It's so easy to forget these. You may be going digital, but with feedback it’s always best to capture the feedback in the moment, when you’re audience is in the room. How do you improve as a facilitator? By getting feedback. This is an essential.

• A4 Clear protector sheets: Useful for storing attendance sheet and other handouts

• Tent cards / name badges

• Flipchart and stand

• Flipchart pens - Mr Sketch or Neuland

• Whiteboard markers and duster

• Ballpoint pens

• Blu-tac, sticky tape and scissors, stapler and staples

• Post-it notes: Great for brainstorming/ideation

• Sticky dot stickers: Great for voting, prioritising

• Course specific material: for example, workbooks, handouts.

• Mints/lollies for table / and bowls to store these

• Props: Items to give your workshop an x-factor environment - though make sure these props add value to your room / they serve a purpose

• Art of Conversation cards- Handy when you need some simple questions to open up a conversation

• Cymbal: Great for quieting robust discussions when you're working with large groups

It may be handy having a folding roller cart to lug all of these items around.

Category Three: TECH

I recommend storing all tech gear in a backpacker which has compartments for each item.

• Laptop

• Laptop charger

• Presentation - on your laptop, or saved onto a USB in case your computer dies (it's happened to all of us at some stage of our lives!)

• Resources like videos or presentations or handouts, also saved onto the USB

• Clicker and clicker batteries

• Computer adapters/cables: You can buy neat cables which have multiple inputs for HDMI, VGA, and USB all in one.

• Portable speakers with Bluetooth/AUX input (and AUX to AUX cable) - bring your charger/battery

• Your phone (find the First Time Facilitator playlist on Spotify, it’s a great pump up playlist to help channel your nervous energy into positive excitement; also ensure there’s memory on there if you want to take photos or video to document the workshop journey)

• Phone charger

And that's the MOST facilitator packing method!

What am I missing?

I’d like to hear your thoughts on this packing list. What would you add? Is there anything you wouldn't pack? Comment below.

Useful links

• Click here to grab a free copy of the Ultimate Facilitator packing checklist.

• Join a global community for facilitators on Facebook called 'The Flipchart' , a group for people who want to get better at their craft, and also more efficient at developing their workshop content. In this group, we share awesome training tips, hacks and recommendations to help you with the next workshop you deliver.

• Listen to me discuss my facilitator packing checklist on the First Time Facilitator podcast.