Confessions of the Reluctant Facilitator
- Sonya Grattan
- Sep 23
- 1 min read
Updated: Sep 24
The Dread
When you first hear, ‘You’ll be facilitating the workshop,” your stomach drops. Facilitate? You? You instantly picture blank stares, painfully long silences, and you frantically shuffling notes in the hope that no one notices that you are completely out of your depth.
The dread is real.
The Lifeline
In your scramble for help, you stumble across a book on facilitation. To your surprise, it isn’t stuffed with jargon — it is full of practical tips that you can actually use. How to kick off with energy. How to draw out quieter voices without putting them on the spot. How to steer discussions back when they wandered into the weeds.
It feels like someone had handed you a playbook.
The Workshop
Fast forward to the big day: you walk in nervous, but prepared. And then something amazing happens. People contribute. Ideas bounce around. There is laughter. Energy. Instead of you dragging the room along, the group carries the conversation together.
It isn’t just working- it is flowing.
The Outcome
By the end, the dread is transformed into relief and, honestly, pride. What you thought it would be an ordeal turns into one of the most rewarding experiences you have.
The biggest lesson? Facilitation isn’t about being the expert in the room. It’s about creating a space where others feel comfortable enough to shine.
And sometimes, with the right tools, the thing you fear most can turn into something you actually enjoy.
The book you need?
Own the Room - skills for workshops and meetings
By Sonya Grattan
Available from Amazon or www.theleadcoach.biz
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