An Indirect Facilitator assists the Direct Facilitator and provides maximum meeting ROI. **Photo Courtesy of Value Web**

In the brand-new book Paid to Speak published by the National Speakers Association (NSA), Jonathan Tessier writes in Chapter 5 about the Six Roles of Effective Facilitators.

They include:

1. The facilitator creates a safe environment for learning to take place.
2. The facilitator stimulates the participants’ thinking.
3. The facilitator involves the participant in the learning process.
4. The facilitator manages the learning process.
5. The facilitator ensures individual participant accountability
6. The facilitator ties it all together for the participant.

I will call the person performing these six roles a Direct Facilitator.

In my own roles as a speaker/entertainer, I’ve discovered that when working with a Direct Facilitator, it’s possible (and highly effective) to be an Indirect Facilitator.

Here are the key roles of an Indirect Facilitator and how indirect facilitation complements the Direct Facilitator and enhances meeting productivity. 

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The meetings I’m referring to are corporate meetings lasting one, two or three days with mostly all internal presenters. I’ll also include multi-day trade or association meetings. The common denominator is that the majority of the presenters are company employees or members within the association – not paid professional speakers.

I’m not referring to the impromptu meeting amongst co-workers in a corporate hallway. And I’m not including the scheduled 45-minute weekly with staff in a conference room. I’m also excluding the three-day reward trip to an exotic location that consists mostly of social outings, golf, dinners, relaxing downtime, and an obligatory two-hour get-together to legitimize the whole trip.

And finally, I’m not talking about highly produced meetings that have all professional speakers, high-powered entertainers, and a $50K ex-President or celebrity star as the keynoter … those meetings are by definition already events.

I’m talking about the two- or two-day working meeting … or the all-day meeting that takes place off site and starts at breakfast and ends at 5, 6 or at dinner … with lots of information crammed in from morning to night. I’m talking info cram sessions.

I’m referring to the once-a-year meeting that occurs for the purpose of laying out corporate goals, discussing big picture strategies, and diving into the specific details that are relevant and necessary for the long-term success of the company or an association’s membership.

Here are four keys for turning your next meeting into an event. 

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