I’ve been a bit silent on this-here ol’ blog, just because I’ve been busier than a beaver in Spring at work.

Unfortunately, NewGuy had a problem, and I was asked to jump in…

…to facilitate a meeting when NewGuy’s facilitation skills froze. Or shall I say, NewGuy froze.

It is unfortunate when that happens, but NewGuy told me (later) that he had never had training in public speaking for meeting facilitation, and had stage fright. If you haven’t presented in front of a couple hundred people before, such an audience can indeed be intimidating. And when the audience includes a number of “big cheeses,” the fear can be petrifying.

I remember back in 1985 when I was making my first presentation to a large group of people I didn’t know. I thought that since I had taught school, I knew how to speak before an audience. Well, once in front of the group, suddenly my grasp of basic English vocabulary flew out of my head. I stammered, stuttered, and was quite ill at ease. It was obvious that I was struggling.

After that dreadful experience, I sought out and participated in training on public speaking as well as group facilitation. Some of that training was tedious; some of it was trite and just plain weird. The training courses that I took included guided practice through videotaped sessions where an instructor would review the videos of my presentation/facilitation in front of the class and give me a critique. Some of the critiques were brutal, but even though I didn’t want to admit it at the time, they helped me improve.

I continued honing my skills in public speaking and group facilitation for many more years. My largest venue was speaking in front of some 10,000 people at a sports stadium. Wow, that was humbling! The lights were so bright that I couldn’t see the audience. I could only hear noise and occasional laughter when I said something light-hearted or actually funny.

I also have given speeches and presentations at plenary sessions at my professional association’s annual conference. Nothing is more challenging than speaking before your professional peers!

Group facilitation is both an art and a science. I do it regularly, and apparently have made a reputation for myself.

So the other day when NewGuy was on stage to present research results of a study he conducted (and on which I was an adviser), he was having significant difficulty speaking before the group. His visuals were good, but he couldn’t articulate the messages that he was trying to get across.

His boss looked at me and mouthed the words, “can you help?”

Without trying to embarrass my colleague, I went to the stage and began a dialogue with him. I asked him “softball” questions about his presentation content. He answered. We continued this on-stage discussion and got him through his presentation.

Then, without thinking about it, I turned to the group and began to facilitate drawing out conversation and discussion about what they just heard. We continued the group dialogue and noted significant comments and findings. NewGuy entered those significant points into his computer which displayed them on a large screen.

NewGuy began to smile and relax. He could see that the session was producing the results he wanted to have happen. His boss was smiling, too. Even TBC (The Big Cheese) asked some questions and made some comments which added to the lively discussion.

Mindful of time, about 10 minutes before the scheduled end of the session, I began summarizing and wrapping up. Precisely on time, we were done. Productive results were captured, and everyone felt that they were included and involved.

Most telling was when NewGuy came to my office at the end of the day and said, “thanks… I didn’t know that would happen. Thanks for the gentle rescue.”

Sure… wear boots and you’ll feel more confident. (Naaaahhh… I didn’t say that, but wanted to.)

Public speaking and group facilitation isn’t easy and is not for the faint of heart. Almost anything can go wrong, and it will. Guided practice and experience will make NewGuy more capable of doing this himself. I’m sure of it.

Meanwhile…

Life is short: jump in when your skills can make a difference.