Key Takeaways from Networking Mastery

This post will be divided into 2 types of takeaways, feel free to skip to the section depending on what you’d like to learn about:

• Takeaways as an organizer/facilitator
• Takeaways on the topic

Takeaways as an organizer/facilitator

I think it was pretty killer for the first workshop. Great venue, great crowd, lots of good connections and the overall feedback was positive.

That said, there’s always room for improvement, both as an organizer and as a facilitator.

Volunteer Management

• Damn, that was a lot of people. I was expecting 50-60 people, 125 was an amazing 2X. Even with the 3 amazing volunteers (Thanks Hilda, Trung, and Joel!), it was still a lot of work for all of us. I should have:
  • The volunteers install the Eventbrite Organizer app on their phone before-hand to assist with checking-in people.
  • Told them to arrive at 5:20 to make sure I had enough time to brief them properly before early attendees started arriving.
  • Spent 10 minutes before the event reviewing who my volunteers are so that I remember their names during the event.
  • Saved all their phone numbers on my phone & unsilence my phone earlier to avoid missing any important calls from them.

Facilitation

• Not only use questions to engage the audience, but also insert some activities to get the audience to practice some of the concepts in-between. e.g. share with the person next to you about the first time you…
• Used a different term other than “Mastery”, it gave the impression that this would be a “Masterclass” where I would be teaching and attendees would be absorbing. Instead of the dynamic, everyone sharing what they’ve learned, community approach that I was going for (thanks Paul!).
• Repeat questions/answers that come from the audience to ensure that everyone hears it (thanks Elly!)

Some great facilitation insights from Cijaye the Learning & Development Manager @ Unbounce:

• Blooms Taxonomy on the 6 levels of effective learning
  • Knowledge – facts, terms, concepts.
  • Comprehension – using examples, comparisons, interpretations to help people understand how knowledge can apply in real-life.
  • Application – getting people to actively apply the newly acquired knowledge to solve some problems.
  • Analysis – breaking down different concepts into elements that relate to each other.
  • Synthesis – getting people to develop their own framework/model from the knowledge they’ve acquired.
  • Evaluation – more reflection/examination activities to help people understand on a deeper level.
  • The feedback I receive on doing activities directly relates to Application. I could have also used some good vs. bad examples to help the audience build Evaluation.
• Experiential Learning (aka Blooms Create mode)
• Action Mapping (a great way to structure learning that changes behaviours)
• Brave New Work Video | Book
• Chris Corrigan – Complex Facilitation
  • Better explain why I’m encouraging the audience to give their own suggestions so that people understand that I’m creating space for them to reflect & Synthesize instead of giving the impression that I don’t know much about the topic and am trying to just get them to find the answers themselves.
• Human Systems Design (a simpler intro to Complexity)
• Cognitive Edge / Cynefin Practitioner Foundations (excellent for complex organizations and assisting them through decision making/experimentation)
• The Flow Guide / The Flow System

Asking for Donations

Boy did I bomb this. I’m good at sales coaching, but I’m still terrible at asking for money (I think all you entrepreneurs can relate). I should have told people that:

• There will be a black bag going around the room for donations BEFORE you end the workshop and break for networking – so people won’t be surprised if some random person passes a bag to them asking for money (sorry if I put you in an awkward situation Kevin!).
• They could send an e-transfer to my email if they did not come with cash (thanks for suggesting Alena!)

Takeaways on the topic

• Help people remember your name by giving them an association (e.g. My name is Maggie, like Maggie Simpson).
• LOVE – Listen, Observe, Vocalize, Empathize
• Give options to make it easier for people to pick a time for a follow-up meeting (e.g. Wednesday 1pm or Thursday 4pm) instead of being too open-ended (Free for coffee next week?)
• Make them feel comfortable by being comfortable yourself. If you’re nervous, it’ll make other people nervous too.
• Create a “multimedia experience” – Visuals (dress appropriately), Sound (energetic intonation, appropriate volume), Physical (good firm handshake, not too strong, but also not too soft). If you exude confidence, people will feel more comfortable.
• Use humour – It can be risky though. The safest form of humour is self-deprecating humour.
• Write on their business cards – interesting facts about them, features to help you remember what they looked like, things you’d like to share with them, people you’d like to connect them with.
• Screenshot their social profile when you add them – so you remember who to follow-up with (all your connections won’t get lost and you can view it all in your photo gallery).