Crafting Your Message. Tammy Heflebower
genuine interest in the viewpoints of each group member. It is important that each member feel heard, all the while realizing that the group-think is ultimately more important than the self-think. The journey is truly as important as the result.
Creating and adhering to norms are critical parts of the facilitation process. Consider starting with a short list of suggested ideas and then soliciting input from the group. As you do, define behaviors and hold people accountable to abiding by them. Write these norms down. Be sure your agreed-on norms are visible for all to see, and easy for you and others to reference during a meeting.
If you are relatively new to the facilitation process, start small. Consider mediating groups in limited scope and size, like family meetings, church groups, book clubs, or even friend misunderstandings. The more you practice strategies and questioning tactics, the more competent and confident you become. Gather a variety of group processes to expand conversations and work toward agreement. A variety of such protocols can be found in chapter 12 (page 137), including dot voting, ranking, and idea survivor.
Coaches
A coaching role is personalized, confidential, and somewhat complicated. A great coach recognizes the uniqueness of individuals and situations. Coaching conversations vary in pacing and styles (Wild, 1999). Similar to facilitation, coaching involves asking thoughtful questions and providing examples and direction as needed. A coaching situation is most often one-on-one or with a very small, trusting group of adults. The primary goal is to develop skills and to reflect on and improve individual performance. Sometimes, coaching involves instructional coaches leading coaching conversations with small teams or individuals. It might also include principals leading instructional coaching conversations as part of, or outside of, the formal evaluation process.
All roles are important to the teaching and learning process. None is necessarily better. Yet the objectives and considerations of each are unique. Figure 2.3 (page 22) presents a useful process for helping to identify the nature and characteristics of various delivery modes. Using this figure, consider the various roles and what makes each role exclusive in the training and content delivery. Work through figure 2.3 on your own or with your training partners. Draw on your experiences to discern the differences among the various roles and considerations. Then, compare your thinking to the completed example in figure 2.4 (page 23).
Figure 2.3: Presenter roles and characteristics.
Visit go.SolutionTree.com/leadership for a free reproducible version of this figure.
By better understanding the various presenter roles, you can recognize what type of presentation is warranted and what skill sets will be necessary to meet the outcomes requested of you. Expanding your knowledge may also help you as you grow your repertoire of presenter skills, stretching you to experiment with the variations by crossing into different roles and providing additional services or supports to groups.
Using a Process Observer
To enhance your practices in each of these roles, consider having a process observer. This may be a trusted friend or colleague. Have him or her watch you as you facilitate a group, and provide procedural feedback. Some questions for consideration might include:
• Was I able to treat all participants fairly and equally?
• Did I acknowledge all contributions similarly?
• Was I able to stay on topic?
Figure 2.4: Completed presenter roles and characteristics.
• Did I catch the group members when they went off topic and realign them?
• Was I able to avoid alignment to one side or position? Did my comments give any member of the group the impression that I have a closer relationship or more agreement with him or her than the other group members?
• Was I able to involve participants by focusing on engaging participation, rather than evaluating the quality of the ideas being generated?
• Was I able to stand strong, even in the face of conflict within the group?
• Was I able to maintain neutrality and avoid judging any person or idea in conflict?
Quality feedback on these questions will help you improve your delivery and presentation immeasurably.
Addressing Time Frame Constraints on Content
Skilled presenters know their content well enough to consider variations in what can be accomplished in certain time frames. Typical options range from ninety minutes to multiple days—a considerable range to which the presenter must adjust. Variations in presentation time will invariably affect the depth of the audience’s content understanding and the ease of implementation of ideas. This section will assist you in planning content for both short- and longer-term presentations.
Considerations for Shorter Presentations
What is your primary message? What is the soul of your information or idea? It is imperative for you to identify your core message, because that is what you share in your shortest time frame. Becky Blanton (2009) underscores the importance of selecting a core message, stating, “Convey one strong idea. Take time to focus each idea you want to express, then pick the most compelling, the strongest idea.” That pared-down primary message should fit neatly into a ninety-minute overview. Think of it as applying a keynote perspective to your core message. Done well, this type of communication may actually be your “interview” with the audience members. In other words, this is a chance for others to see what you present and how you present it within that abbreviated time frame. If they like it, they will sign on for more. One method for showcasing this type of presentation might be at a local or statewide educational conference.
Considerations for Longer-Term Presentations
Some schools, districts, or other educational agencies may want (and even require) multiyear projects. When audience members sign on for more, they are embarking on a longer-term learning opportunity. These may range from a few days to a few years. Some topics (like implementing standards-referenced grading) are long-term endeavors that need thoughtful pacing and implementation over time. Such longer-term work requires you to think about the primary, secondary, and tertiary content and process chunks important to your overall topic. Simply put, chunking is the breakdown of your content into significant portions. What chunks come first, second, and so on? As you plan out multiday presenting opportunities, consider how you will organize your information into various time frames. These might include multiple overviews with subgroups. Then, move into deeper training sessions with cohorts (those learning together for a period of time), interspersed with activities and application.
Remember to consider the various perspectives of your audience members. Will you deliver a portion of your message to the leadership team? Although similar to the message you give to the whole staff, your leadership message will have nuances about leading the work. Those actually doing the work must deeply understand your messaging for use over time. Take advantage of the longer-term presenting format to build in follow-up and implementation supports for this group to enhance the learning and application of your message. These may occur face-to-face, via webinar, or even through a phone consultation. As you plan, ensure you consider a brief review of key content prior to adding new information. This will help solidify previous learning and provide the brain with