The Calm Facilitator

“You are so calm in the briefing.”

The comment from a major account executive following a high stakes briefing I facilitated belied the tempest I was feeling inside. Twists and turns of last-minute agenda adjustments, discussion leader changes and the super-hot pressure of executives’ wishes from inside and outside our company around a multi-million-dollar deal might have you a bit shaken too?

Surprisingly, I received this comment from colleagues many times over my decade-plus tenure as a Facilitator of briefings, customer meetings, customer experience center tours and tech demonstrations in live and virtual settings.

Maybe it’s just my bent to seem calm even when I’m not. Maybe my experience as a professional stage actor was stepping up to serve me? I mean, I know what dealing with nervousness is all about from acting in major venues from New York to Tokyo.

But wait. This briefing facilitation thing isn’t about acting, is it?

A calm meeting leader probably helps with successful briefing facilitation, but I realized that’s not the core of it. It’s about structure. Crafting a briefing to create a calming, comforting atmosphere for everyone involved. Structure brings freedom. A construct inside which we can actually play, like improv actors who bring enlightened moments of fun to a well-rehearsed plan.

What was this “Structure of Freedom” or “Structure of Action” we used to help guests feel comfortable enough to share their most protected business thoughts? From my Facilitator’s chair, I penciled some thoughts on how we crafted successful briefings:

• We collected as many Audience “wants” as we can to shape solid briefing objectives
• Atmosphere, the energy of the customer and their situation, and the energy we want to create was a critical part of our plan
• The Action—our plot--a sequence of events with appropriate players, agenda, timing was drafted and re-drafted, with customer input, to get it just right
• And the Actors—authentic, dynamic communicators who play roles appropriate for the Audience—were aware of their role, its potential impact, and adopted dialogue and behavior suitable to supporting the Action

A strong structure allows a briefing Facilitator the freedom to play out their many roles, with Customer Advocate as the lead. Freedom to engage, to listen, to invent, to enjoy, and even be The Calm in the storm!