Engaging a group in a workshop

Do you ever wonder how to engage a group of people in a workshop?

Imagine you're running a training, or a meeting, or a school lesson, or a wine-tasting — how do you get that group engaged?

Personally, I find this at the same time both very easy and very hard. Here are some thoughts:

1. Connect authentically to each person

At the beginning, greet everyone. Build rapport with each person. Remember things about them that you can come back to.

For instance, you can remember their personal workshop outcome, and keep referring back to that. Or their favourite bottle of wine!

2. Connect people to each other

The dynamic becomes more powerful when you are connecting workshop participants to each other. Notice the similarities between people, and highlight them — two people who have similar challenges, or similar names, or like the same wines.

3. Build a group identity

Try to build a group identity. This can be explicit — "We are a Merlot-loving group!" — or referring back to shared group jokes or moments. Or it could be softer, such as working on "our group goals". It's a lot of using plural group pronouns: "we", "us", "our".

4. Unleash the group to use that dynamic to help each other

This part is harder. Being good at helping people connect to each other and creating a powerful dynamic is one thing — but in more formal workshop settings with outcomes, it takes more. The aim is to channel the group dynamic into working together, not just towards you as the facilitator.