Episode 192: Stop designing workshops. Start designing experiences with Tricia Conyers
This week, we’re spinning our focus back onto the craft of facilitation with a guest who I so resonate with in terms of her enthusiasm for the work we do, her passion for trying different things and of course, because she throws away those powerpoint slides!
Tricia Conyers from Island Inspirations is a change coach, learning experience designer, trainer, facilitator, meeting designer, remote work strategist and graphic recorder.
She’s passionate about navigating change, making learning experiences powerful, making conversations visual and helping others solve problems by unlocking their best thinking.
And she’s based on the island of Trinidad.
In this conversation, Tricia shares ideas around how meetings drive culture - I could not agree with this any more, how she got her start in facilitation, she share’s a facilitation fail - though in fairness, I think she was set up(!).
All her ideas and ways of working really centre around the idea that we are not in the business of designing a workshop, we are in the business of designing experiences, and our goal is to create active experiences, not passive, and you’ll get a ton of different ideas on how you can do that by tuning in.
About today’s guest: Tricia Conyers
Tricia is the founder of Island Inspirations Ltd., a visual thinking, creativity sparking, graphic facilitation company. She believes that leaders should personify showing Heart, being Human and inspiring Hope in their interactions with others.
Island Inspirations Ltd specializes in facilitation (visual, virtual and in person), graphic recording, meeting design, learning experience design and experiential workshop design. Combing the power of visuals and facilitation to create powerful learning experiences and to accelerate change.
Tricia has 25+ yrs experience in change. She designs and facilitates learning experiences (LE) based on the fundamental belief that the LE is the intervention to unleash the latent capacity and higher potential in others. For over a decade, Tricia has led and supported teams remotely.
Meetings serve different purposes from communication to collaboration, performance management to decision-making, learning to creating. Each requires different protocols, facilitation styles, engagement etc.. Tricia is a meeting designer who designs for intent. She brings to her sessions a wide range of techniques and skills. She is an INIFAC Certified Master Facilitator and Certified Virtual Facilitator, a Certified LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Facilitator, a Twenty One Toys Empathy Toy® Facilitator and in progress of certifying as a Time to Think facilitator.
Tricia holds a Masters of Engineering, Masters of Arts and Bachelor of Arts with Distinction from Cambridge University, England and she enjoys traveling, pilates and photography.
In this episode, you will learn
Why it’s important to get your meetings right, given their impact on team and company culture
What Tricia learnt when things didn’t work out in one of her sessions
Some of the powerful questions Tricia asks to create new, impactful experiences with her groups (such as, “What can we gain from having virtual sessions?”)
How Tricia weaves in various types of visuals into her facilitation work
How to get your participants shifting from passive -> active participation
Resources mentioned:
Watch the full episode here!
About your host: Leanne Hughes
Leanne Hughes is an international facilitator, speaker and coach who loves creating unpredictable workshop experiences, that predictably work.
She combines her experience in Marketing, with her education in Human Resources and Psychology, to help leaders create engaging everyday experiences - that are so contagious they scale across teams, functions and regions.
Leanne has facilitated leadership, onboarding and team-development workshops across Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, and Singapore and believes in a strengths-centred approach to learning and development. She has over 14 years’ of experience across a range of industries including mining, government and tourism sectors.
She’s the host of the First Time Facilitator podcast and is a finalist in the 2021 Australian Learning Impact awards for Learning Professional of the Year.
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