Facilitation and Session Design Training for Leaders

Helping leaders design and facilitate experiences that connect people, spark insight, and inspire action

People do not come to workshops, offsites, or conferences simply to hear information they could read or watch on their own. They come to connect with others, reflect on real challenges, learn from peers, and leave with renewed clarity, motivation, and direction. Too often leaders tell rather than facilitate. Most have never had any facilitation training so they may be stuck in Power Point presentation mode.

Our facilitation training program helps leaders and facilitators design and lead experiences that deliver on actually engaging the group and producing important outcomes.

Rather than focusing on a single methodology or topic, the emphasis is on building facilitation and session design capability that can be applied to any subject that matters to the group: whether that is strategy, transformation, leadership alignment, operational challenges, or innovation.

What participants learn

Participants learn how to intentionally design workshops and working sessions that create connection, collaboration, and meaningful dialogue.

They develop the ability to:

  • Design sessions with a clear purpose and outcomes (not just an agenda)

  • Build trust and psychological safety quickly in a room (or on Zoom)

  • Engage groups through well-chosen activities and interaction patterns

  • Guide reflection and discussion that surfaces real insight

  • Manage group dynamics, participation levels, and difficult moments

  • Help teams translate dialogue into decisions and action

The goal is not just to run better meetings. It is to create experiences where people feel involved, heard, and energized to act.

How the program can work

Our approach began with Darin’s leadership development program Ph.D. research on the topic and was refined from 20 years of experience designing and facilitating hundreds of high-stakes programs for leading organizations.

The learning method is experiential and practice-based. Participants don’t just learn about facilitation—they practice it.

They will:

  • Design real sessions that matter to their work

  • Facilitate with others in a safe practice environment

  • Reflect on what happens in the room

  • Receive feedback and coaching

  • Improve the design and facilitate again with greater confidence

Over time, this builds leaders who can adapt in the moment, respond to the needs of the group, and create sessions people find valuable and memorable.

Delivery options (flexible for your organization)

This program can be delivered in multiple formats depending on your goals, your audience, and your scale:

  • Foundational facilitation training at scale (for leaders across the organization)

  • Cohort-based learning with deeper practice (ideal for high-potential leaders or facilitation communities of practice)

  • Train-the-Trainer programs to build facilitation capability internally and reduce long-term dependence on outside support

Across all formats, the focus remains the same: helping leaders design and facilitate human-centered experiences that foster connection, insight, and inspiration.

Where helpful, we integrate modern tools such as digital collaboration platforms and AI—not as a gimmick, but as practical support for stronger session design, better engagement, and better outcomes.

A Train-the-Trainer approach (for facilitation capability-building)

Many organizations want more than a one-time workshop. They want internal facilitation capability.

We offer a Train-the-Trainer approach that helps participants learn to design and facilitate sessions independently—and then teach and model these skills inside your organization.

Three popular focus areas include:

  1. Human-centered facilitation for engagement

  2. Facilitating with AI

  3. Facilitating design thinking for innovation

This is especially effective as a multi-session program supported by ongoing online modules, templates, and practice assignments.

Let’s tailor the program to your team

Every group is different. In designing our programs, we tailor the approach to your team’s unique composition, objectives, and challenges. Contact us about your group. We’ve designed custom leadership programs used by a single individual to over 2 million people.

We often use real scenarios from your organization so participants can practice on the work that matters most. The training incorporates both individual and group activities, making it an experiential and collaborative learning journey.

We deliver both in-person and virtual programs to help leaders become better workshop designers, facilitators, and facilitators of change.

Example related facilitation programs and resources

If you’d like to explore options, here are a few related offerings:

 

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