Whether you’re a beginner facilitator just starting out, or you’re an expert who makes a living from facilitating, training, and leading groups, this blog post is for you. I’m going to break down the top five facilitation skills, but with a twist—I’ll map them out on a timeline. From the moment your session begins to the closing moments, I’ll show you what you need to be thinking about to become a better facilitator, from start to finish.
1. The Unofficial Start: Be Remarkably Welcoming
The first facilitation skill happens before your session officially begins, during what my friend Mark Collard calls the unofficial start. This is the time, say, 8:45 to 9:05 if your session starts at 9 a.m. It’s not about what you do during this period—it’s about who you are being.
“Are you saying this with your words and body language, or are you saying this with your being?” I often remind myself before a session, “This is not about me. It’s about the person who just walked through the door.” Your job is to make people feel like they’re meant to be there, and that their time will be valuable.
One way to do this is by flipping on your curiosity. Pay attention to what participants are wearing or bringing into the room, and ask them about it. For example, my colleague Steven walked in wearing a shirt that said “Allegheny Goatscape,” and I simply asked, “What’s that all about?” This led to a conversation about a herd of goats that roam Pittsburgh eating invasive plants—a perfect way to connect.
The key is noticing your participants in a subtle, welcoming way. People feel good when they’re noticed—not in a spotlighted way, but in a warm, inclusive way.
2. Get to the Point: Clarity of Purpose
Sheryl Sandberg, the former COO of Facebook, famously said, “This meeting is really expensive. Let’s get started.” In facilitation, you need to get crystal clear about the purpose of your session, not just for you, but for your participants. Why are they really there? It might not be for the reason you think—sometimes they’re there because they had to be.
A key facilitation skill is stating your intent and purpose in a clear, punchy sentence. I call this the context hook. It helps participants know exactly why they should invest their time and attention. For example, during a virtual session with 300 executives, I asked how many hours they spend in meetings per week. Responses ranged from 20 to 40 hours. I then said, “My intent is to make sure this session serves as a painkiller for your next 120 hours of meetings.” This grabbed their attention because it directly related to a pain point they were experiencing.
3. Strategic Connection Before Content
“Without relatedness, no real work can occur,” Peter Block wisely said. This brings us to the third skill: connection before content. As a facilitator, you must set the tone for contribution, not just consumption, early on.
For example, if you’re leading a session on wilderness first aid, instead of doing a random icebreaker, you might ask participants to share their most challenging experience in the wilderness. This short exercise helps everyone connect on a personal level that’s tied to the session’s purpose.
Great facilitators don’t say, “Now that we’ve done the icebreaker, let’s start the real work.” Instead, they weave personal stories into the fabric of the session. This connection lays the groundwork for deeper engagement throughout the rest of the program.
4. Design Content for Contribution, Not Just Consumption
Here’s the truth: learning doesn’t happen through one-way presentations. A great facilitator takes content and designs it for contribution. This means taking the material and turning it into an experience where participants actively engage with it.
For example, instead of just showing a dense PowerPoint slide, I might say, “Take 30 seconds to read the slide, then share what you find least or most relevant to your job.” This simple shift makes the content experiential. Participants feel like they’re contributing to the learning process, which increases engagement and retention.
When you design your content for contribution, it also takes the pressure off you as the facilitator to be an entertainer. You don’t need to perform or “wow” the audience. You can be effortless in your facilitation, allowing the group to do the work and, ultimately, the learning.
5. End with Purpose
The most forgotten facilitation skill is how to end with intention. According to the primacy-recency effect, people remember the beginning and end of a session the most. Yet, so often, facilitators run out of time and rush through the closing.
To avoid this pitfall, I set an alarm for 15 minutes before the session is scheduled to end. When that alarm goes off (I like the song Don’t Worry, Be Happy), I know it’s time to shift into closing mode. I’ll say something like, “We have 15 minutes left, and I want to close with intention.” From there, I guide the group through a thoughtful closing exercise.
Remember, great facilitators don’t leave the ending to chance. They design it to ensure that participants walk away with clarity, purpose, and a sense of accomplishment.
I’m Chad Littlefield. There are 500 other videos like this with really useful stuff. Consider subscribing. Have an awesome day!