Episode 1: Just Rock It! Facilitation and training tips from leadership guru Sonia McDonald
Welcome to the first ever episode of the First Time Facilitator podcast.
Episode 1 First Time Facilitator podcast with Sonia McDonald
This podcast is for those of you that are experts and want to share your knowledge and skills with others. In my experience, it can be difficult taking that first step to become a facilitator.Today’s guest, and our very first, Sonia McDonald, will share some amazing advice and some tips and tricks on facilitation and training.Sonia was recently named in the top 250 influential women across the globe by Richtopia. She’s an entrepreneur, though leader, a keynote speaker, executive coach, board advisor, and author. She’s the CEO and founder of Leadership HQ and is launching her latest book ‘Just Rock It’ in February.
IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL FIND OUT ABOUT:
Sonia’s response when someone asked if she knew anything about leadership.
How she was unprepared for what was to come when founding Leadership HQ.
Her success expectation after she created the leadership blog.
An insightful piece of advice to people that need that extra push or courage to stand at the front of the room.
How she’s able to fill the room with immense energy while presenting.
Key skills you need to learn so as to engage people in a workshop.
Skills she’s improved over the years and how she did it.
How she’s able to communicate in different styles to different types of audiences.
Best way to embed learning after a workshop.
The biggest challenge in the leadership space.
Why you should read Sonia’s new book, 'Just Rock It', and the motivation behind writing it.
Best advice to a first time facilitator.
Her go-to icebreaker.
RESOURCES
Video: Your body language may shape who you are by Amy Cuddy
Websites: Leadership HQ and Sonia McDonald
Book: Just Rock It by Sonia McDonald
SHOW TRANSCRIPT
Leanne: Hi I'm Leanne, and I live in Brisbane Australia. I've created this podcast to really help those of you who are experts - or look if you don't like that word, you’re pretty good at what you do, and now you wanna take that leap, and share your skills and knowledge with others. From my experience, I remember that it's difficult taking that first step to become a facilitator. So through this show, I'll be interviewing some amazing guests who will share their tips, tricks, and give you actionable advice. Also from time to time I’ll record some solo episodes that really hone in on specific training, and facilitation skills.Interviews and links that we talk about on the show can be found at firsttimefacilitator.com, and I’d love you to support the podcast by subscribing to it in iTunes. Now let's move on to our very first guest Sonia McDonald from Leadership HQ. She's an absolute power house. And I hope you feel inspired to take the leap into facilitation after hearing her story.Welcome to the show Sonia McDonald.Sonia: Hello lovely Leanne. How are you? I'm so honoured. Thank you so much for asking me.Leanne: It's an absolute pleasure. I’ve attended some of your workshops, and it's so true about the energy that you convey.Sonia: I am very passionate with what I do in the leadership space. Thank you very much for the lovely words.Leanne: I wanted to start with a bit about your story. And I’ve heard this one in of the workshops that you've run for us. You were working in HR roles overseas, and returned back to Australia. And you were given a start by someone who asked you if you knew a bit about leadership. What was your response to that?Sonia: My response was I know so much about leadership, and I faked it. I completely faked it. Look I wasn't faking that I could do brain surgery. However, I did have some confidence in my ability obviously with my background, and people, and culture in HR. However, I did have that belief in myself that I could definitely learn it to get myself up to space. So I did fake that I knew a lot in the interview.Leanne: I love that. How did you prepare with what was to come?Sonia: That's a great question. I think for me… I saw the opportunity was going be a great opportunity. I was on the train travelling home to the Gold Coast and I thought, “Okay, what's my plan?” And I just went online and I bought every single book I could on Amazon on leadership. And I just read, and I researched, and I read blogs, and I read articles.And I just kind of put my hands on everything that I could read, and watch, and research. And I also think the thing that also made a big difference is that I made sure that I put it into practice, and learnt by doing. I also started writing a blog called ‘Leadership HQ’ to help me learn. So I thought all it really helped me learn not only by doing that by writing about my learnings, and my insights.Leanne: Yeah, I’ve heard that quite a bit. A lot of people say that the best way to learn a new skill is teach someone else. So with your leadership blog did you have any idea it was going to turn into what it is today?Sonia: No, no, not in a million years. If you had said to me, ‘If we had a time machine. Sonia, we're going to go ten years in the future and this is where you’ll be…” I would have said “No, you're on some sort of drug.” It’s amazing how the world works. I feel so blessed that this is what I'm doing today.Leanne: That’s so great. And look I work with colleagues and sit in workshops with them and hear them say, ‘Oh! I could have run that workshop.” But they never actually take that step, and stand in front of a classroom. I know that’s a bit daunting. What is your advice to people who have the knowledge, but need a bit of a push to get up to the front of the room? What would you say to them?Sonia: Oh gosh! I mean I suppose this is what leadership is about. I think leadership is sometimes about doing things that make you feel uncomfortable, that take you out of that comfort zone - where you have the courage to just give it a go. And also leadership for me is about making a difference. I do that through developing and encouraging others. So I get a lot of people that say to me that they would really love to be able to stand up in front of a room, and be out to do I’m doing, or be able to public speaking, or run workshops. I think the only way you can do it - is do it.I suppose it helps if you watch by others, and figure out what works for you, what doesn't work for you. Also maybe even look online, or watch videos on YouTube, or TED talks. By having the courage to stand up and do it, and even going go to things like Toast Masters. And you know you and I spoke at that Disrupt HR, and you just rocked it. I was like sitting there going, “Oh my gosh! I mean Leanne you just rocked it.” And it takes a lot of courage to get up there.I imagine how it's going to feel when I get up onstage, and or I've stood up in front of that room, or I've presented some knowledge, or some insights; How I'm going to feel that I could make a difference, or help someone else in that room.It’s focusing on the feeling after you do it. And go you know what? I did it. I had the courage to do it. And also learning from it. I mean I remember the first couple of times I started presenting and speaking on stage, and doing workshops. Oh my gosh! There was so many these things I stopped. But it was so good for me to stuff up because I thought, “Well this is what I’ll do differently next time.” And I didn’t let the stuff-ups stop me because it is the best feeling, Leanne. I mean Leanne how did you feel after you…?Leanne: Yeah, it's such an amazing feeling. I sort of likened it to… I used to play netball quite competitively when I was a bit younger - that adrenaline that you get before a big match. It was the same feeling, and I hadn't had that feeling in quite a while. Yeah obviously time, blood, sweat, and tears went into that Disrupt HR speech. And afterwards, all the speakers are floating, and high five-ing, and I felt that feeling for days. It was great- definitely worth it.Sonia: Yeah, it is. Isn’t it?Leanne: Just do it, absolutely. So I guess what you're talking about in terms of attitude and having that confidence to be a leader - well that's what I learnt when I went to one of your breakfast events last year; the Leadership Attitude workshop. And I remember walking into the room. It was about 7:00 in the morning. Looking around - well, no one has been caffeinated yet. It's pretty quiet.When we left an hour an a half later, the volume of that room was amplified, everyone was talking to each other, there was really great energy in the room. And I think that reflects on your style of presenting and providing that energy. How did you learn to do that? Is this something that is just Sonia? Or, did you have to learn that skill?Sonia: I’d have to say maybe a little bit of both. It was more around again trial and error and putting myself out there, and kind of getting a sense around what worked for me in terms of my style. I think it is because I'm so passionate about this space - that for me to be that authentic self when I’m presenting and speaking it… it’s because I'm so passionate about it, I let it come out.And I’m not afraid to be vulnerable, and to kind of make a fool of myself if I need to help inspire others to get that sense of purpose and passion within themselves. So I think it's a combination. I think it was much of our successes and you know lots of failures to find my style.Leanne: Now I’d like to delve into some information on how to help others become facilitator. In your observation, what do you think the core skills are that someone needs to learn to be good at engaging people in a workshop?Sonia: I think you've got to put your ego aside. Like put it at the front door when you walk into a room. It's not about you. It's about them, and their experience. Practice is really important.. When I was facilitate all workshops understanding what the client wants, what the audience wants in terms of action - what do you want them to walk away with? How do you want them to feel, or how do you want to make them feel? What sort of key things do you want them to take away? It's important that you think about the end goal and what outcomes you're wanting to achieve; but not bombard them with too much information - think about the top five things you want them to walk away with. Obviously energy is really important; the energy that you bring to the group.Also think about your audience. For example, I’ll adjust my facilitation style to say a group of emerging leaders versus an executive leadership team or a CEO.Also I'm very visual. So for me, it's making sure that I blend anything that I facilitate. I bring in lots of a lot of visual pictures, particularly if I show slides.. I won’t stand in front of them and go blah, blah, blah, blah. Thanks very much, okay bye.I’ll share a couple of slides, share a couple of key points and ask, “Okay, how does everyone feel about that? Let's talk about that talk to the person next to you. Let's share those insights”. In this way, they are thinking about what I've said and what it means to them.So I think those sort of things work really well. Also not being afraid. I think some people in times when they facilitate they are, “What if I say something stupid, or what happens if someone disagrees with me?” Gosh, that's happened to me.Leanne: Oh has it? What did you do?Sonia: I just hid under the table. I’m not kidding; oh!Leanne: I think that is a huge fear.Sonia: Yeah look I always thank people like oh wow okay thank you, that's a really interesting insight - tell me why, let's talk about that. And again, it’s ego out to the door. It's not about me, it's about them.It's about you being the facilitator and saying, “Okay, all right. Let's talk about this. What's the rest of the group think about this?" And sometimes I've even been in workshops or I’ve facilitated, or when you’re running a type of team-building or high performance team, where the group dynamics, or teams disagree.Sometimes people have become quite aggressive and you have to say, “Hey look, let's not go down that road. It might not be taking us in the direction we want to go. Let’s park it and talk about it another time.”That's where the facilitator is really important. You're checking in with the energy of the group, and you're watching body language. So with facilitation there's more to just getting up in front of people, and showing slides, or talking, or sharing insights of learnings.It takes so much out of you because you've also got to be listening to the group, but also looking at the body language of the group. If I feel that the group, or the energy is feeling a little bit low, or this is getting a little bit too much, I'll say, “Guys let's take a 5-minute brain break. Let's go out, let's stretch. So reading the energy, and the body language of the group is really important too.Leanne: I mean that's really great, and really comprehensive. I’m just curious about the picking up on the dynamics of the group. Would you say that something that you've improved at over the years?Sonia: I think that's where you just need to be really present. So when you are presenting, you’re also reading the room (and not sitting there thinking “I don't know what to make for dinner tonight”). If you are noticing something you’re not afraid to say “Mary, or Jim. I've noticed that your energy is changing. Is there something that you'd like to share?” It could be even in the break, you might go up to someone and say, “I have noticed something with your body language - is everything okay? Because nine out of ten people say, “Hi thanks for asking me - yes, I wasn't comfortable with this, or I wouldn't mind sharing this next. Is that okay?” Yeah of course, I thought I'd check in with you.Leanne: Yeah this is something I experienced something last year. You're absolutely right. It's all about checking in, taking breaks, and just making sure they’re comfortable and that you can bring it together. Because one person can have a huge impact on the group dynamics.Sonia: Yeah that's a really good learning for you as well. So thanks for sharing that.Leanne: You mentioned before that you run sessions for a diverse audience. Sometimes you’re delivering workshops for teenagers, but equally you can feel very comfortable in boardrooms. So what is it about your communication that changes - what do you pitch differently?Sonia: That's a really good question. Last week, when I walked into a room with over 200 teenagers, I walked into the room with a lot of energy. I was wearing jeans, and a suit jacket because I wanted to relate to them. I didn't want to go in there too corporate. I watched how I was presenting myself. Because I have a teenage daughter I also adjusted my language slightly. It was really important for that I connected with the group.I was also probably be a little bit more relaxed with a group of 200 teenagers. I was running up and down the room. First is I'm probably a little less formal. I did use the word friggin’. They were looking at me going, “I think you friggin’ understand this.”. They all just laughed. I was able to laugh, and make a joke about my slide - I put a picture up of myself when I was 15 with like pants, and big blue glasses.So I try to see how I could connect with them. So then they would feel comfortable that, “Oh my gosh! This is the CEO of Leadership HQ talking. But if I was working with an executive leadership teamI probably wouldn't put a picture of myself, and I probably wouldn't go, “Hey, how are you all friggin’ going today” I would be more polished and structured while still being my authentic self. So I do have a style which I know you've seen it. So I think you do need adjust your style depending on the audience. I think that's really important.Leanne: So, you see people enjoying a workshop and they have learnt all this great information and leadership tools. Then, when you check in a couple weeks later, and they’re not implementing them. What's the right way to embed learnings following a workshop?Sonia: Wow that is… Isn’t that the zillion dollar question? I always say to groups, “What do you really want to get out today? Why is today important?” And at the end of the workshop I also ask “What are three things you've learnt today? What are three things that you could change? What would happen if you did change these three things, and what would happen if you didn't change these three things?”I always follow up especially if I'm doing a leadership program, or where I’m spending a day with the team. I always follow up and say to the stakeholders, “Look can you send these article on, or can you send this video to the participants.”Even in between workshop program when I roll out 12 month leadership programs, I always keep the learnings front of mind. I email participants and ask, “Okay, tell me what did you get from that. Tell me what you've done differently, what actions have you implemented, what successes have you had?”. Let's share that with the group.If it's front of mind and the more seriously you take your self-development, the more serious others are going to take you. I find the coaching really transformational because we’re meeting with them once a month. And each month, we're having a conversations, they’re going off to put it into action. We send them their goals or what they need to do. Like to focus on here’s an article you could read, here’s some resources on a platform you could look at.They're actually seeing the change because they're actually focused on it, and they're committed to it, and they want to do it. And that takes champions. It takes people like yourself or myself to go out there and keep them engaged. Does that make sense?Leanne: Oh, absolutely. It’s completely right in terms of just having that frequent kind of touch point, but also the accountability. I think all of us kind of need someone to be accountable to - there's so much else going on in life and at work. It’s hard to keep focused on some of these things.Sonia: This is why when I do any sort of leadership program, or coaching, it's about having the managers involved. I say to them, “Can you please have conversations with your people around what they're learning, and what they got out of it.” You can also have an accountability buddy, someone on the program that you meet once a month.Leanne: Yeah, really good tactical advice about the accountability buddy and the importance of the line manager and their involvement.I'd like to quickly to segue on to leadership, and I this is probably a really open question. But what do you think the biggest challenge is in the leadership space? What are you finding?Sonia: This is what I am out there pretty much standing on top of the mountain screaming about; you know trying to influence others and inspire others. Leadership isn't about a role title - it’s an attitude, mindset, and behaviours. The other thing that I'm seeing I suppose it that there’s so much going on in the world today. We're kind of looking at leaders to have more resilience, and being more agile, and being more vulnerable; and we need more great examples of leadership.I’m seeing people having more discussions around not willing to accept poor behaviour, and poor leadership, and I'm wanting more. I'm wanting stronger leaders out there. I’m wanting to see more examples, more leaders that we can follow, more leaders we can learn from, or more leaders we can see as showing the way that what makes a great leader. What I'm finding is a lot of people are wanting not only to step-up and be that great leader, but they're looking for more great leaders as examples.Leanne: When you ask, “Who are the famous leaders in the world?” We always sort of go to the Nelson Mandela’s, Oprah’s and the Mother Theresa’s where leadership seems unattainable. So it's really good that we can identify people around us who can aspire to.Sonia: Yeah, it is. It's just that's what I think sometimes because we make leadership bigger than what it is because of those examples. You know we kind of go, “Oh man, we can never amount to that.” Well leadership is fundamentally about making a difference, and helping each other shine.Leanne: We do and that leads me on to the question of the premise behind your latest book; ‘Just RockIt’. What's it about?Sonia: ‘Just RockIt’ is all about helping everyone step up and stand tall and go for what they really want. Whether it's to be that best version of you; to a great leader; to start a business; to step up in your career…Whatever you want to do in terms of taking on the world.The last decade I’ve been working in the space. And you know how passionate I am about mental health especially the younger leaders, future leaders. We’re still afraid to put ourselves out there.I want people to start to go ‘You know want? I only have this one life. I don't want to get to that day where I look back on my life; and didn’t lead the life I wanted to lead”. I want people to get out there and work it, and help others work it as well. I want help you be the best you can be as well.Leanne: That is such a great message. I'll definitely get a copy and I'll be at your launch!Sonia: Oh thanks!Leanne: Yeah, I do hear people say things like “Oh I can’t do that”. They have limiting beliefs. And I say “Yes, you can. You can absolutely do it.”Sonia: I don't want to hear "I'll try/I should have/I could have". I always say, “If I can do it, you can too.” I started a company from a blog, and I came back to Australia as a full-time mother with only 2,000 dollars in the bank. And I had to move back in with my parents, and I was like oh boy.And I'm not saying that I dance on rainbows every day. We're all human. I definitely have my ups and downs, and my knocks. However, I focus on what makes me rock.I focus on how I can make my life rock, and help others rock it. One of the chapters in my book is not to give it crap. And it's… you know, I know how it's difficult. And some days I go, “Oh my gosh! I do give a crap about that.”But it's about caring about what, or giving a crap about what really matters to you, and only focusing on that - focus on what makes you beautiful and unique.Leanne: That’s lovely. I couldn't have said it any better myself. So, what's the best advice that you could offer to someone; to a first time facilitator?Sonia: Other than the fact that it’s awesome that you doing this, I would just say, “Think of the end in mind, and think about what outcomes, or think about the audience and what do you think they’ll need. So think about what outcomes or key messages you wanna get across to the great, and then work backwards.When I first started, I would get the flip chart out and think, “Okay, this is what I want them to walk away with" and then I work backwards and then I'd start to map it out, like chapters of a book. What do you want each component of the workshop to entail? What key messages, what sort of learnings can you bring to the group, or to the workshop? What sort of methods could you use? Like videos, brainstorming. What sort of creative stuff could you bring in?I always say that when you're a first time facilitator to not be afraid of being creative. Bring in play-doh, big coloured pencils, crayons, or stickers, or paper. Think about thing that can bring out the creativity in the room. Begin with the end in mind and then work backwards.Leanne: Recently I was looking through some old workshops notes I presented a few years ago and reading through my facilitator notes. I had even written down my own name (like hello, my name is Leanne), c’mon! My notes were written to a tee. It’s really funny looking back and comparing it to what I do now, today I don’t script the detail. I know what the idea is, but it's really about creating that interaction. So you definitely have to start from somewhere. And you're right, it's about the audience. What's your go-to icebreaker?Sonia: A go to icebreaker? Look there’s so many different icebreakers. There's lots of different things I bring - I’ve got an activity or a nuclear bomb exercise which is quite fun, and quite funny, we use body language to decode a code. I also love to get people up and I say, “Okay, brainstorm. What are your top three strengths? What are your three passions? I call it the strengths sharing super-fast session. I think we did that in Leadership Attitude which you came to the last year.Leanne: Yeah, that was really fun. Yeah everyone was buzzing and it's so positive people can't wait to share their strengths. It's a good one.Sonia: Yeah, it is a good one. There’s also these great websites where you can pick up different resources cards. I'll put the cards at the table, and go, “Choose a card, or a quote, or a word, that resonates to you. Now let's go out go and talk to people around the room Why did you pick that card?Leanne: Sonia you absolutely rock. Thank you so much for all of you insights on this interview. I've learned a lot and I hope our audience has as well. Finally, where can people find you?Sonia: Where can they find me? They can find me on social media. You know I'm pretty active on that - LinkedIn or Facebook - also leadershiphq.com.au, or soniamcdonald.com.au as well.Leanne: Fantastic! Thank you so much for joining us on ‘First TimeFacilitator’.Sonia: Oh, you rock. Thank you so much.