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Can anybody become a facilitator?

Some time back I was approached by someone who wanted to do a bit of training - since she was free, had recently retired and had time on her hands. Another one told me, I am a trainer - I always had the gift of the gab. Another time, it was recommended for the juniormost employee to work on leadership training. And a set of students wanted to train people on creativity. 

All fairly common problems faced by organizations and people and sometimes they meet - to disastrous effect. 

Many years ago when I was somewhat new to leadershp training (I did have the experience of few training sessions under my belt), the organization I was part of had paired an HR person and a non-HR person to train First Time Managers. This is an experience I am immensely grateful to because I was able to see both views - the employees, the HR and the system. And it sharpened my instincts as a facilitator. And one thing, I have done over the years is never lost touch with this perspective - but thats for later.

Is it enough if you have "gift of the gab" and can talk? Sure yes, if you want speeches and anecdotes (most of which you would have already read in whatsapp forwards). You will get many talkers and this is one of the fundamental issues with trainers. They love to talk - whereas they really need to listen and make people participate and learn. 

These are some of the things I learnt on my journey (that still continues) to be a good facilitator

Trainers are not equal to talkers. Facilitators, definitely not. 

Great accents or voices are extraneous factors, like looks. 

The best facilitators talk less, facilitate more and are comfortable with the sound of silence in the classroom. They often silence effectively - as a reflective space.

As a facilitator, you can never say, everyone is right. If you say that, you better substantiate it. And definitely give a directional answer if not a definitive answer. Take a stand as a facilitator. Don't leave people hanging on the fence. 

Facilitators answer questions, mostly by getting learning teams to practice and by asking questions. 

Sure, you can have people come and regurgitate training manuals or facilitator guides, but if you want real change to happen, hire a facilitator.

(Inspired by this - Nick Foster on Design Thinking, but did not meet those standards)

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