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How to prepare for a workshop?
There are two essential steps to go through before a workshop: planning and preparing.
Of course, you must draw up your programme, but also you must prepare mentally. However, regardless of how well you plan, you never know what will happen. This makes it more important to be mentally prepared than to have every detail hammered out in your script.
The first step is to acknowledge that you can only prepare to a certain point. A lot relies on the context, the participants, and many other factors that are hard to predict.
The second step is to have thought through as many scenarios as possible. You can prepare by asking the following questions, ideally with a colleague, supervisor, or mentor:
What is the best and what is the worst that can happen on the way?
Which methods and tools can be useful in which situations?
The answers will orientate you when you are right in the middle of it.
You should work first and foremost with the facilitator’s toolbox, that is engaging contact, active listening, mirroring, and exploratory questions. In addition, the facilitator role calls for tools such as summing up, challenging, and embracing.