An Introvert’s Guide to Successful Facilitation
By Paulina Carlos, Associate Director, Design Research & Strategy at Insitum
Being around people drains me, and I know I am not alone in feeling this. Researchers estimate that 50–74% of the population is introverted. Surely a portion of those introverts, like me, have ended up in rewarding jobs where they are required to routinely speak in public, manage project teams, entertain and host clients, as well as facilitate co-design sessions for large organizations looking to innovate and reinvent their business strategies, right?
For the past five years, I’ve led co-design workshops and trained companies on how to use and implement Human-Centered Design and Design Thinking methodologies; and for the past five years, I have always walked away from those sessions feeling exhausted like I’ve just run a marathon and need to find the nearest aid station because I’ve expended all of my energy and sanity.
As an introvert, the mental and physical bandwidth I have for these types of high engagement events is limited. It takes everything within me in order to stay “on” — something that I see my extroverted colleagues excelling at. They seem to walk out of the sessions feeling rejuvenated, almost invigorated. I say all of this not because I hate my job — I enjoy it immensely — but every now and then I do find myself saying facilitation sucks as I prepare my mind and body for yet another workshop.
Just last month, I facilitated a workshop with four of my colleagues. I was the project lead as well as the workshop leader, which included managing and directing my team and keeping all of the participants engaged. Many of our clients had travelled long distances to attend this workshop, and we were asking for their unwavering attention throughout the next two days. In order to make sure that it was all a success, we had to be friendly and approachable, lead discussions, appear energized, constantly project an aura of positivity, keep people on task, read the room, battle with unresponsive technology, make sure the coffee pots were filled, and if that list isn’t exhaustive enough, we had to field all of the other quagmires that Murphy’s Law decided to throw at us.
But after conducting a successful workshop, I was able to sit down — collapse, rather — and reflect on what specific qualities and actions help an introvert like me become a successful and engaged facilitator and workshop moderator.
Tactic I: You just have to turn it on
Pretend you have an alter-ego. It may feel like you are not yourself — like you are an imposter pretending to be someone you are not — chatty and unreserved (eww, not me!). However exaggerated it may seem to you though, it doesn’t read that way to the client if you are making a genuine effort. They are looking at you to infuse the room with a little bit of energy and enthusiasm. They need you so they can feed off of that energy and produce valuable and creative work.
How do you turn it on though? Find a colleague you can trust and practice your presentation delivery in different styles and ask them for feedback. Practice projecting your voice, while staying conscious of your body language and tone. Find a stance that is comfortable and makes you feel confident. You will project how you feel. Additionally, find some ice breakers or verbal molecules you are comfortable using between introductions, presentation slides, or time breaks. These can include content-related jokes and punchlines, as well as an appropriate amount of self-deprecating humor to help everyone laugh and relax. Practice these until you have a confident and captivating delivery. (You’ll see how easy it is to feel on top of the world when all you thought you wanted was to hide away from it!)
Tactic II: Read the room
While this may sound abstract or overly esoteric, it is important to pay attention to the atmosphere, the level of energy, as well as how participants are interacting with each other. Take note of factors such as interpersonal dynamics, or even hierarchical dynamics, and observe how senior level participants interact with more junior level participants. In fact, the introverted qualities including self-awareness, the ability to listen and observe, as well as the ability to be unbiased in complex situations are actually huge strengths when it comes to being sensitive to the dynamics and variables in the room.
Reading the room is key to adjusting your own tone and approach before standing up in front of the group(s) and guiding everyone through the planned activities. Maybe the energy in the room is low and you need to spend some time doing an energizer; maybe someone’s ideas are being routinely shut down and you need to rotate the teams; maybe the participants are bored and you need to cut this activity short. These are all common problems that require focus and awareness, that you, as an introvert have the ability to excel at!
Don’t fret. Channel your anxiety and allow yourself to be a fly on the wall for a second. Make note of everything you see, and you will be surprised at how on point your observations can be.
Tactic III: You’re there to work, but you’re also there to entertain
As an introvert, I thrive doing heads-down work. I have an incredible ability to focus and be alone for long periods of time without needing to take a break. However, not all people have the same needs, and sometimes this makes me come off as aloof or disengaged. And on the opposite end of that spectrum are the people who require distractions in order to concentrate — however contradictory that sounds.
At some point, you’ll be called upon to recharge and wake everyone up before asking them to stay engaged with activities that require a lot of cerebral energy and creative thinking. For me, this is often the hardest part of facilitating (barring the occasional instance of reengineering the whole workshop plan due to an unforeseen scope change conveniently announced an hour before the workshop is supposed to begin). *heavy audible sigh*
So get those energizers ready and roll out the slow clap, the wave, charades, and pictionary, anything that gets their minds and bodies moving and thinking. And don’t forget humor. Humor is paramount. As a facilitator, you are there to ease the stress and on occasion act as the comic relief. To me, it is the extroverts that are able to deliver flawless off-the-cuff jokes, but the introverted ability to read and observe the interests and personalities of everyone in the room allows us to tailor our jokes to suit our audience. It may feel unnatural at first, but even a small effort goes a long way. The presence of humor permits people to relax, feel more comfortable, and breathe easier.
Remember, people want to laugh. Sometimes, you’re expected to make them laugh. Maybe this is the excuse you need to go and watch that new John Mulaney or Dave Chappelle special on Netflix. Write and practice your own standup routine. Or read this tool guide to help your alter-ego acquire some pertinent skills when it comes to humoring top clients and stakeholders.
Tactic IV: Leave yourself some time to unwind and recharge
After multiple days of turning it on, reading the room and entertaining people, introverts need some me-time. Take a personal day or book a flight back that allows you a few extra hours at the airport of down time. Treat yourself to a glass, or a goblet, of your favorite beverage. I find it helpful to give myself a day between the workshop and the creation of the deliverable. Even if it means working a few extra hours on another day, just having a full day to relax, recharge, and reflect means that my mind will be much more fresh and free to create a meaningful deliverable. I know it’s not always possible, but do everything you can to put yourself into a position where you don’t have to jump from the workshop back to work. Take that restful detour for yourself!
So what’s next?
For me, it is paramount to be able to reflect on the whirlwind that can be co-designs and workshops, be it alone or with my team in a post-mortem debrief. In collaboration with my fellow introverted colleagues, we came up with some key questions that helped us capture insights from our experiences in order to deeply reflect and make changes to our facilitation styles:
- What was the tone / nature of the workshop?
- How did I react?
- What were some of the specific things I said?
- What will I do differently next time?
- In what areas did I feel most confident / least confident?
- What factors may have contributed to my confidence or lack thereof?
- How can I react differently next time something like this happens?
This set of questions and those four tactics have helped me to overcome my introverted hesitancies and conduct kick-ass workshops; hopefully, they can help you too, fellow introvert. Good luck in all of your future facilitation endeavors!
