10 Step Guide : From Novice to Expert Facilitator.

Follow this guide and you will crush your 2025 facilitations goals.

Jan 07, 2025

355 days…

… left to nail those 2025 goals. No pressure, right?

So here we are, the start of 2025. And if you’re like most people (no judgment, we’ve all been there), those New Year’s resolutions might already be slipping away.

The gym? Never heard of it.

Eating healthy? Never said I’d do that.

New year, new me !

But what if this year, you focused on something actually achievable : like stepping into facilitation, sharpening your existing skills, or finally using them for more than that one awkward meeting every three months?

I get it. Starting is tough. Let me make it easier for you.

Here are the exact steps I used to go from a complete beginner to someone who might just call themselves an expert facilitator (but, you know, modesty first ).

1. Discover if facilitation is the right path for you

The first step is to figure out if facilitation is something you’d enjoy and find fulfilling.

You might be wondering, “How can I know if I’ll like something I’ve never done before?”

Here are a few tactics to help you find out:

Talk to a Facilitator

Reach out to someone who’s already a facilitator. Ask them to share insights about the role: the good, the bad, and the less fun parts.

For example, you could ask those questions : what challenges does a facilitator usually face? What aspects of the job aren’t as enjoyable?

Every job has its ups and downs, so getting an honest view can help you decide if it’s something you’d enjoy.

Think About What It Involves

Facilitation often means working with people, speaking in front of groups, and handling tricky conversations. Ask yourself: Do these things excite you, or do they feel overwhelming?

Experience it

If you can, attend a workshop or watch a facilitator in action. Seeing it in real life can help you understand what the role is really like. Just remember, the experience may depend on the facilitator and the type of workshop.

Discover your potential by completing this scorecard!

To make things easier, I’ve created the Facilitator Match Scorecard. It’s a quick tool to help you see if you have the skills and mindset for facilitation. In just 5 minutes, you’ll get a personalized report with helpful insights.

After getting your results, you can even book a coaching session with me. We’ll talk about your results, your goals, and any questions you have about facilitation.

Take the test

2. Build a solid theoretical foundation !

The second thing I’d suggest is to gain some basic knowledge about facilitation which you can acquire in various ways. You could follow a training sessions, watch YouTube videos, read a couple of books, listen to podcasts, or join a facilitation community.

When I started I jumped at every resource I could find. It was overwhelming, and I barely had time to process everything. Plus, I ended up following different facilitation styles, which felt confusing and unproductive.

My advice?

Start simple: just choose one ressource to start from, get a better understanding of what facilitation is and see if you are interested to learn more, then move to another.

Once you’ve gained some practice and experience, you can explore other perspectives more effectively, and find out what works for you.

Some greats ressources to start :

Blogs/Newsletter

Books :

Videos:

Podcast :

3. Don’t wait too long to get your stickies dirty.

While it can be comforting to keep learning and wait until you feel fully prepared to start, just don’t. It not only helps you assess if you enjoy it but also allows you to materialize what you’ve learned.

If you haven’t had the chance to experience a workshop yet, now’s the time to do it!

Reach out to the facilitator you’ve connected with or someone you know and ask if you could attend one of their workshops. Watching a skilled facilitator in action is one of the best ways to learn.

You could even offer to support them as a co-facilitator in exchange for the opportunity. It’s a great way to gain hands-on experience while contributing to the session.

4. Find a safe space to practice.

Now, it’s time to dive into real action and facilitate on your own.

A great starting point is within your current job, ask if you can take over one of your team meetings and lead the session. Alternatively, if your team is starting or finishing a project, propose to organize a project kick-off or retrospective.

Don’t stress, most people aren’t familiar with facilitation. A few workshop principles will already blow them away. Even if the doesn’t go perfectly, you’ll gain valuable practice in a non-judgmental environment.

5. Look for a real opportunity.

Once you've facilitated a couple of workshops and feel confident in your craft, it's time to seek out real opportunities.

By “real”, I mean situations where you step into an unfamiliar environment, working with people you don't know, facing genuine challenges, navigating the need for solutions and organization. It will allow you to apply and challenge the skills you have acquired during a real game, not just in practice.

A fantastic way to find this real opportunity is by offering your services for free. Reach out to NGOs or new startups, as their resources are often limited, there is a higher chance that they are more receptive to such offers.

Remember, even though your services are free, their time isn’t, so anticipate some rejections.

As Alex Hormozi often emphasizes:

“Oftentimes your price isn’t the biggest cost”.

6. Deepen Your Knowledge of the Craft

After running a few workshops, it’s a great time to take your skills to the next level by pursuing advanced facilitation training or coaching.

At this stage, you’ve likely gained hands-on experience and are more aware of the nuances involved in facilitation, things you might have only touched on when building your theoretical foundation.

By diving deeper now, you’ll get more out of the training because you can immediately see how the concepts apply to real situations you’ve encountered. Plus, with the experience fresh in your mind, you’ll have a shorter learning curve and can quickly put what you’ve learned into action.

This step can fit at different points in your journey, but incorporating it after step five will have a bigger impact.

Continuous learning is the key to staying ahead and constantly growing as a facilitator.

7. Master the mechanics of Facilitation

Okay, the next milestone to achieve now is to become so comfortable with the mechanics that it's almost like driving your car.

It should happen effortlessly, without draining your mental energy. You should be able to adjust on the fly: deciding how much time to allocate for each activity, how many voting dots to provide , how to give clear instructions, or even how to tweak your agenda if you're running behind.

As Rihanna says:

~~Work, Work, Work~~ … Practice, Practice, Practice - ~~Rihanna~~ Mehdi

8. Connect deeper with the Topic.

Now that the facilitation mechanics are running almost automatically in the background, you can start shifting your focus more toward the workshop topic and the goal that the team is trying to achieve.

As a facilitator, you want to help connect the dots and ask yourselves such questions:

How can you make it easier for them to make decisions?
Which examples could better resonate with this activity and this group ?
What information should you remind them of to move forward?

This is truly the next level, and it takes time to master. It’s about connecting deeply with the challenge at hand and understanding the unique dynamics of the group in the room.

By adapting your facilitation to meet their needs, you can serve them in the most impactful way possible.

9. Explore new things and keep experimenting

Okaaaaaay, you've hit S-tier as a facilitator, amazing work!

But staying at the top means keeping up your growth. The journey isn’t over yet. Keep challenging yourself and avoid staying in your comfort zone.

Stay up-to-date with new trends, explore new workshop recipes, and try out new things in your workshops.

See what works best for you and can be added to your facilitation toolkit.

Personally, I always try to experiment with something new in a workshop, whether it's a new icebreaker, exercise, or a small twist to my go-to activities.

I’m always learning and investing in my growth. Lately, I’ve been focusing on training that sharpens specific facilitation skills like storytelling, visual facilitation, experience design, and more.

10. Connect with Peers

This step isn’t a must, but it’s a total game-changer if you want to stay ahead as a facilitator.

Here’s the deal: connect with experienced facilitators and join communities where they hang out.

Networking is an awesome way to swap tips, pick up new ideas, and keep leveling up your skills.

Even better, you might find a mentor, someone who can guide you and speed up your growth as a facilitator.

I was lucky to meet my mentor pretty early on, and honestly, he’s the reason I got into facilitation in the first place. He saved me so much time by sharing what worked (and what didn’t).

If you can find a mentor, go for it: they’re a game-changer! But let’s be real, finding one isn’t always easy.

If you’re having trouble finding a mentor, think about working with a facilitation coach. A coach can give you personalized advice and help you grow your skills even faster.

These were the 10 steps that I took to get to where I am today !

In 2020, I discovered the impact that well-facilitated workshops could have. 5 years later, I have facilitated hundreds workshops for big corporations, startups, and NGOs on a wide range of topics.

Achieving this didn't happen overnight, I followed these 10 steps that I didn't have back then but proved crucial in reaching where I am today.

So, I hope this will help you as much as it helped me. Crush these 2025 goals.

And I’m curious, if you are into facilitation, let me know what allowed you to grow faster ?