ClaryooFacilitator playbook
13 techniques for running workshops, trainings and meetings, from the first ten minutes to the last. Each one has the steps, the timings, what to say, and the video it’s drawn from, by facilitators like AJ&Smart, Chad Littlefield and Kerri Price.
All 13 at a glance
| Technique | Moment | Time | Group | Works |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Check-in questions for meetings and workshops | Open the room | 3 to 10 min | Any size | Call or room |
| Icebreakers for adults that don't make people cringe | Open the room | 5 to 20 min | 4 to 1,000+ | Call or room |
| Quick energizers for workshops, trainings and large groups | Lift the energy | 10 sec to 5 min | Any size | Call or room |
| 1-2-4-All: hear from everyone in 12 minutes | Get everyone's ideas | 12 to 15 min | 4 to 1,000+ | Call or room |
| Think-pair-share for adult training and meetings | Get everyone's ideas | 5 to 8 min | Any size | Call or room |
| Brainwriting and the 6-3-5 method | Get everyone's ideas | 15 to 30 min | 3 to 8 per sheet | Call or room |
| Note and vote: dot voting in 15 minutes | Decide together | 15 min | 3 to 30 | Call or room |
| Fist to five: check agreement in one minute | Decide together | 1 to 10 min | 3 to 50 | Call or room |
| Consensus decision making, step by step | Decide together | 20 to 60 min | 3 to 30 | Call or room |
| ORID: the focused conversation method | Make sense of it | 15 to 45 min | 3 to 25 | Call or room |
| What, So What, Now What: a debrief in three questions | Make sense of it | 20 to 45 min | 5 to 100+ | Call or room |
| Quiet participants, dominant talkers and tangents | Handle the room | Any time | Any size | Call or room |
| How to end a workshop people remember | Close well | 10 to 15 min | Any size | Call or room |
Open the room
The first ten minutes, when people decide whether to lean in.
Check-in questions for meetings and workshops
Swap 'how is everyone?' for a question people answer honestly, in under ten minutes.
3 to 10 minAny size
Icebreakers for adults that don't make people cringe
Five no-prep openers that use what adults already have: their stories, phones and expertise.
5 to 20 min4 to 1,000+
Lift the energy
After lunch, after a heavy topic, or an hour into a call.
Get everyone's ideas
Hear from the whole group, not the three fastest talkers.
1-2-4-All: hear from everyone in 12 minutes
Alone, pairs, fours, then the whole group. Every voice in, no matter how big the room.
12 to 15 min4 to 1,000+
Think-pair-share for adult training and meetings
A minute to think, a few to talk in pairs, then share. The fastest fix for the same hands going up.
5 to 8 minAny size
Brainwriting and the 6-3-5 method
Silent brainstorming on paper or a board. Six people, three ideas, five minutes, 108 ideas.
15 to 30 min3 to 8 per sheet
Decide together
Narrow down, check agreement, and leave with a decision.
Note and vote: dot voting in 15 minutes
Write alone, vote with dots in silence, discuss only the winners. Fifteen minutes, everyone heard.
15 min3 to 30
Fist to five: check agreement in one minute
Everyone shows 0 to 5 fingers on a proposal. Anyone under 3 gets heard before you move on.
1 to 10 min3 to 50
Consensus decision making, step by step
Six steps to a decision everyone can live with, and four clear ways to say yes, no or not quite.
20 to 60 min3 to 30
Make sense of it
Turn an experience or a discussion into what happens next.
ORID: the focused conversation method
Four levels of questions, from facts to feelings to meaning to action. Ends arguments about interpretations.
15 to 45 min3 to 25
What, So What, Now What: a debrief in three questions
What happened, why it matters, what we'll do. The go-to debrief after any shared experience.
20 to 45 min5 to 100+
Handle the room
Quiet people, loud people and the tangent that won't die.
Close well
The last fifteen minutes, which people remember most.
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