Facilitation skills HIV STD prevention

“Facilitation Skills for Prevention Professionals”

© 2008 Skills4, Inc.

(c) 2010 Stephen J. Fallon, Skills4

The Missing Link: Facilitation Strategies That Can Improve Outcomes for Any EBI

Stephen J. Fallon, Ph.D.

May 2010 update

For handouts: www.skills4.org Click on Fact Sheets •  Go to Current workshops, then Links •  Click on Facilitation Skills for Prevention


Knowledge is a Beginning . . . •  Without awareness of benefits to

change, there can be no change. •  Knowledge is a prerequisite to

change. •  But awareness alone cannot

overcome barriers. •  New Year’s resolutions: exercise,

eat better, sleep more regularly. •  Our context is quicksand, our

peers defenders of the status quo. Solution: knowledge + motivation + skills = change.


Can You Describe It?

•  Let’s complete a simple “mission.” •  Pair off with a partner. •  Hardest lesson in all of life: to be able to imagine the perspective of someone who doesn’t know what you know, believe what you believe, and feel what you feel.


Common Public Speaking Myth •  “You should only be speaking 10% of the time.” •  Benign guidance: allow participation, which stimulates buy-in. •  But why not that simple? •  Echo chamber of what people already believe.

•  You’re there partially as an invited expert, and partially as an impartial observer. For both roles, you cut through collective denial, myth, resistance, and digressions. •  Build together … but by leading.




Facilitation Myths and Truths •  Fear is the best motivator.

•  Any risk is too much risk.

•  A good measure of their change is whether they know what H.I.V. and A.I.D.S. stand for.

•  Too much fear paralyzes. But healthy respect for consequences helps. •  People should be able to weigh risks objectively to choose. •  Factoids do not change behavior. Only knowledge that directly relates to actions truly motivates.

  Proof that they “get it”? Have them repeat the message back in their own words.


Our Feeling Brains Evolution of human brain structure

Reptilian (survival instinct)

Limbic (feeling and caring centers)

Neocortal (logic)

… and how presenters use it

•  Fear-based presentations.

•  Populist presentations.

•  Scientific or evidence based presentations.


Facilitation Best Practices •  While making messages culturally competent, remember also to access universal human traits.

People in all cultures •  smile when happy •  raise eyebrows in recognition •  curl lips when disgusted •  detach when depressed, etc.

•  Making certain facial expressions triggers the emotions they typically represent. Can trigger them in other people, too. Ehrlich P. Human Natures: Genes, Cultures, and the Human Prospect. Shearwater Books, Washington DC, 2000.


•  Know what you want to say (General goal-- “keep people safe from STDs"--isn't enough. Exactly which risks and solutions will you focus on?)

•  Know what your population relates to (both PIR and shared human traits).

•  Humor can be a useful "emotional can opener" (remember: laugh with, not at).

•  Sympathy isn’t empathy. (Affective isn’t always effective.) •  Appeal to all seven types of intelligence: Verbal, Mathematical, Spatial, Bodily, Musical, Introspective, and

Interpersonal.

Facilitation Best Practices (cont’d)




•  Eye contact. (Groups are made up of individuals.)

•  Vocal modulation. (People respond to emphasis that’s well placed.)

•  Room management. (Lighting and noise matter.) •  Peer but professional style. (Different enough to deserve attention, but not resentment or derision.) •  Goodwill. (It shows through, as does burnout, judgment, or “needy helperism.”)

Facilitation Best Practices (cont’d)


Facilitation Exercise •  Introduce yourself and your

training topic. Participants look for strengths in terms of

1.  Language and logic -- does it flow and fit together?

2.  Posture and position -- does it seem to come from confidence yet also openness?

3.  Likeability -- would you want to follow the guidance based on this brief introduction?


How to Build Credibility

•  Anticipate your target population’s questions. •  Do your homework: know the specifics of the answer to their question (“tip of the iceberg” should show in response). •  Repackage your answer in accessible language. “Word pictures” and analogies are usually the best approach.


•  Deductive format is standard law school model for trials.

•  “Tell them what you’re going to tell them, then tell it to them, then tell them what you just told them.”

•  Very effective if you’re seeking a purely logical (neocortal) response.

Inductive vs. Deductive




•  Inductive format is more effective if your audience might “tune out” to your themes.

•  Rather than announce it up front, you lead audience to your conclusion incrementally

•  You pull the audience along, rather than pushing them.

Inductive vs. Deductive (cont’d)


Pros and Cons of Powerpoint

•  Studies find 6x higher recall of key points, when compared to oral only presentation. •  Benefit derived through audience’s cognitive participation, comparing bullet points & pictures to explanations. •  Technology now allows multi-media trainings that appeal to all “seven types of intelligence.”


Pros and Cons of Powerpoint (cont’d) •  Tendency to read slides thwarts benefits of “participatory bridging.” •  Too many points made on a slide makes all illegible (small font). •  Redundant format erases visual interest. •  Slide flipping can build inertia, breaking dialogue. •  Over-reliance on technology can backfire. Break out the hand puppets!


On Target: Do You… 1.  Elicit agreement for training

objectives at the outset? 2.  Create your own slides and

handouts, rather than photocopying existing sources for all themes?

3.  Use summaries and anecdotes, rather than just reading slides?

4. Gauge responses through eye contact? 5. Perform internal check ups during breaks, and adapt as

needed? 6. Ensure hands-on practice of key lessons?




Putting it All Together

•  When planning trainings, outline themes, then highlight key points. •  Build inductive activities. •  First, memorize, then “extemporaneousize.” •  Check the pulse throughout. •  Always strive to make the next facilitation even better!

Thank You for Making a Difference!

Stephen J. Fallon, Ph.D. 1712 N. Victoria Park Road Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33305

[email protected]

Health & Medicine

Facilitation skills HIV STD prevention