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Episode 148

January 19th, 2022

148:  Using facilitation to give a voice to the voiceless (topics) with Manal Sayid

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    Intro

    Manal Sayid is a fascinating person, speaker, and podcast guest – as she proves in this episode of workshops.work! Her experience ranges from the suicide prevention helpline of Distress Centres Toronto, to all manner of corporate and third sector facilitation roles.

    And she’s achieved it all without an obvious role model or well-trodden footsteps to follow.

    We bring all of this together in this episode, discussing the vital lessons in facilitation she has learned in unexpected places and what it’s like to sit in workshops in which nobody looks like ‘you’.

    The conversation is smooth, surprisingly light despite its sometimes-heavy content, and utterly enriching.

    Enjoy this standout episode!

    Find out about

    • Why fear is so powerful and how we can harness it to help us connect, communicate, and grow
    • How inclusive facilitation creates a ripple effect
    • How to hold uncomfortable conversations about diversity and inclusion
    • What happens when we work with our anxieties, rather than against them
    • Why we really don’t need to “do” much to help others to step into vulnerability
    • How to create workshops and environments that are more inclusive

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    Questions and Answers

    01:13 When did you start calling yourself a facilitator? 02:49How did your perception of what a facilitator is change after doing formal training? 05:10Do you think our development as facilitators is more noticeable to us than the groups we work with? 09:10What differences have you noticed in your practice between working on the Suicide Prevention Hotline to hosting workshops? 11:37What do you mean when you say you “normalise the issue”? 17:51After you open the space for participants’ vulnerability, how do you then close it? 20:54Do you think there would be even more guilt and shame around experiencing anxiety within a religious setting? 28:06How does your vulnerability-led approach to workshops translate to your work with corporate clients? 32:29What has it taken to positively change representation in facilitation – as you have done via your community development workshops – and what do you wish you had known before you started? 34:34 How do you facilitate this empowerment in people – and in yourself? 02:50 How does the idea of ‘giving a voice to the voiceless’ impact your facilitation practice? 06:13 What does participatory decision making really mean and how fluid is it? 11:24What do you think most corporates who call for more diversity and inclusion are getting wrong? 13:38What would a facilitated conversation about diversity and inclusion look like in a workplace? 19:24What makes a workshop fail? 21:31How did you react to being told that a participant would no longer contribute, as they felt too rushed? 24:27Do you have a favourite exercise? 28:40Is there anything else that you wanted to bring to this conversation that we haven’t yet discussed? 30:49What is the one thing you would like listeners to take away from this conversation?

    Links

    Connect to Manal

    On LinkedIn

    On Twitter