Episode 44: Facilitating Engagement Isn’t Enough
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Your learners don’t need another “fun” workshop; they need results.
In this episode, Jess and Brian Washburn unpack why engagement alone is a dangerous success metric and how to design for real performance change. Brian introduces his simple four-step facilitation model: Anchor, Content, Application, Future Use, which turns any session into a repeatable, effective learning experience. They explore how to equip SMEs to facilitate (without gimmicks), handle awkward moments like silence or “I don’t know,” and adapt these principles for virtual and global audiences.
Jess and Brian Discuss
Why engagement alone doesn’t equal effective training
The four-step facilitation model and how to use it every time
Moving SMEs from knowledge dumps to true facilitation
Simple, non-gimmicky activities that prove people “get it”
Handling silence, tough questions, and tech failures with confidence
Adapting facilitation for virtual rooms and global cultures
About Brian washburn
Brian Washburn is an author, a sought-after speaker, and an experienced instructional designer who has been working in the field of learning and development for more than two decades.
Brian’s work has been published in TD magazine, the monthly trade magazine for the Association of Talent Development (ATD), and he was named a Top Young Trainer by Training Magazine in 2011. Brian’s first book, What’s Your Formula? Combine Learning Elements for Impactful Training, was published by ATD Press in June 2021. Modeled on the original periodic table of elements, the book explores a wide range of approaches to organizational training needs and new ideas and ways to organize the design of learning programs.
His second book, Instructional Design on a Shoestring, was released in January 2024, and will be provided to each participant in this train-the-trainer program. Brian holds an MA in Organizational Development from Antioch University.
Find and Connect with Brian Washburn
Website: Endurance Learning
Book: What's Your Formula? Combine Learning Elements for Impactful Training
additional links from this episode
On Teaching and Learning: Putting the Principles and Practices of Dialogue Education into Action by Jane Vella
L&D Must Change Podcast Episode 08 with Kassy Laborie (Online Training That's Better Than In Person)
Interact and Engage! 75+ Activities for Virtual Training, Meetings, and Webinars by Kassy Laborie and Thomas Stone
L&D Must Change Podcast Episode 22 with Chris Taylor (Designing and Measuring On Purpose)
