Start It Well

The great playwright, William Shakespeare penned, "Alls well that ends well. This statement means if the end is great, don't go back and focus on things that could have made the outcome a disaster. For example, if you slipped and fell in an icy intersection but were able to get up and scramble to a safe spot unhurt, never say, "If a car had been coming, I'd be dead." The fact is a car wasn't coming. Now I would like to take another side of this famous saying and state, "If it starts well, it will end well" or alternatively, "If it starts badly it will end badly." The recent Super Bowl football game is an example. It started badly for the Broncos when, on the very first play of the game after the kickoff, the center hiked the ball over the quarterback's head and it bounced into the end zone to be covered by a Bronco for a safety. The result--two points Seahawks. It was doom for the Broncos after that bad first play. They never recovered. This phenomenon is true in many walks of life. For example, if you are making a public speech and you falter on your very opening statement, it is almost impossible to recover. You will lose your audience immediately. All people will remember is how you flubbed the introduction to your speech. Moreover, it will stick with you a long time also. You will constantly be saying, "If I had just chosen different words." or "If I had not told that joke." Too late!! Using another example, if you are starting a serious budget conversation with your spouse and you open with a statement that makes him or her angry, forget it! The conversation is doomed. Suppose you were to say, "Honey, you are spending too much money that we don't have and you need to stop it!" That will never fly as an opening statement in a budget discussion. Here's a third example: If you are starting a big project, select a starting step that will give you a big success at the beginning and that will motivate you to continue to successful completion because all that "Starts well, ends well." If you are teaching a class, open with some positive statements that create a successful atmosphere. If you are a substitute for the scheduled speaker never say, "I'm here because JillJack couldn't make it." That just tells the audience they are getting second best. In anything we undertake that has a starting point, we should never start with a bust at the bottom and have to climb uphill. We should start with a bang at the top and coast downhill to a successful finish.

Facilitator Magic

According to Wikipedia, a facilitator is someone who helps a group of people understand their common objectives and assists them in achieving the objectives without taking a particular position in the discussion. It is important to not take a position but remain neutral and objective in order to make quality decisions about controlling the group. The facilitator eases the flow of communication between members of the group. Good facilitation practice is particularly important when training adults. Do you want to be a great facilitator and work magic? Here are ten tips to get you started: 1. Make your participants feel welcome and happy they came to your session. 2. Use unique techniques that keep them wide awake for the total time. 3. Use techniques to keep them actively and emotionally engaged. 4. Always make them feel like they are contributing to the success of the session. 5. Always make the material easy to comprehend and grasp. 6. Manage the session by controlling motor mouths but don’t intimidate them. 7. Make the discussions realistic and interesting by using real work place situations. 8. When people say, “I don’t know,” help them come up with the right answer and then praise them as if they knew all along. 9. Give the participants plenty of “take away” techniques they can put into practice immediately. 10. Always provide an answer to their questions even if you have to research and provide it later.