Behind the Scenes: I Designed a Workshop Around the Wrong Outcome

Most team retreats change nothing. Too many slides, random fun activities, and no clear goal. In this episode, I share the 3 mistakes I see again and again in team retreats and offsites, and the 3 ingredients I use to design retreats that deliver results long after the day is over.It's for you if you design retreats for clients, or if you lead a team and have an offsite coming up.👉 Watch the full video with all the visuals on YouTube: [YOUTUBE LINK]Free 17-page guide to design your team retreat (Team Canvas template, Gratitude Poncho and more activities): https://facilitators-corner.com/guideWant help designing your next team retreat or offsite? https://facilitators-corner.com/retreat💻 Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mehdi-en-naizi-75b533116In this episode:- The one question to answer before you build your retreat agenda- The Strategy Arc: 6 questions to build a strategy the team owns (inspired by Good Strategy Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt)- How to build trust and psychological safety (based on Google's Project Aristotle)- How to bring fun into the whole day, not just a padel game at 14:00- A real one-day team retreat agenda, step by stepChapters0:00 Why most team retreats are a waste of money0:51 What a team retreat is (and isn't)1:18 Mistake 1: Too much fun, not enough depth2:36 Mistake 2: Too much information, not enough engagement3:25 Mistake 3: No clear purpose4:57 Ingredient 1: Strategy work6:17 The Strategy Arc: 6 questions for a solid strategy11:24 Ingredient 2: Team development13:51 Ingredient 3: Fun14:47 The Time Traveler activity15:15 A real team retreat agenda, step by step17:25 Key takeaways

At 11pm, I realised I'd designed tomorrow's workshop around the wrong outcome. The venue was a 2-hour drive away.This was the last of five days in the room in one week: a 2-day Masterclass in Utrecht, then four client workshops. My first vlog, filmed as it happened.Thursday and Friday: the first Workshop Design Masterclass in Utrecht.Monday: a team off-site, then midnight alone with my slides.Tuesday: two workshops for two different clients, on the same day.Wednesday: a design day, and the client call that showed me my design was wrong.Thursday: an off-site with a sales team. I reworked the design in the car on the way there, and you'll hear what the client said at the end.A week later: how I build the deliverable.Tell me in the comments which part you'd want me to go deeper on.🛠️ Resources & Links📬 Level-up your facilitation skills, join the newsletter: https://facilitators-corner.com/newsl...📱 The Workshop Deck App, design your session step by step: https://theworkshopdeck.com/💻 Connect with me on LinkedIn: /in/mehdi-en-naizi-75b533116🎥 Mentioned in this videoThe Gratitude Poncho, my favourite closing activity: https://theworkshopdeck.com/resources...8 workshop supplies I bring to every session:    • 8 Workshop Supplies I Bring to Every Sessi...  The 6C framework I use to design every workshop: https://theworkshopdeck.com/resources...📌 Chapters:00:00 The week in 20 seconds00:23 5am, the car is full, heading to Utrecht00:44 Masterclass day 1: why I still run trainings01:14 Day 2: Red Bull and sticky notes01:56 Driving home: "isn't there a smarter way to work?"02:57 Monday: designing for what I don't know yet04:14 My workshop box system04:53 Clearing the room for day 205:19 Midnight, alone with my slides06:02 Tuesday: two workshops, one day06:27 What success looked like: "now it's clear"07:27 Wednesday: designing a sales workshop on paper08:29 Gratitude poncho or postcard from the future?09:28 Boxes and badges the night before10:01 1am, printing postcards10:25 The client call that changed the whole design12:05 Thursday: redesigning for commitment in the car13:11 Guiding policies, explained with a diet13:47 What the client said14:56 Debrief: what worked, and the follow-up15:59 Building the deliverable16:44 Bloopers

I stopped taking notes in my workshops. Now I listen to the room and ask the right question, because an AI note taker records everything.It's the Plaud Note Pro, and it's the best money I've ever spent on a workshop tool. Yes, even better than my Time Timer.Two months ago, I had workshop after workshop, less sleep and less memory (thanks to my kids). I was tired of trying to catch everything on sticky notes. Another facilitator told me his AI note taker was amazing, so I bought one. For my first two workshops, I didn't trust it and kept working the old way. Then I compared my notes with what the AI had captured. Nothing was lost.This episode isn't sponsored. My Plaud link below gives you 10% off, applied automatically at checkout. It's a referral link, so if you buy through it, I also get a free month of subscription.We cover:→ What happened when I compared my notes with the AI's→ Why you should always ask your client and the participants before you record→ How recordings make silent brainstorming (together alone) even stronger→ How Claude or ChatGPT read your recordings through the MCP connector→ How I build a workshop report from the transcript, the photos and my structure, with real quotes from participants→ A real case: rewriting objectives with every piece of feedback from the room→ Capturing a keynote at a 150-person workshop while I prepared what came next→ The bad news: plans and the subscription→ Battery life, and why I don't just use my phone→ One note taker per table for big groups→ Why I chose Plaud over PocketDo you already use an AI note taker in your workshops, or do you still trust your sticky notes? Tell me in the comments.🛠️ Resources & Links🎥 The episode I mention at 4:17, every way I use AI in a workshop (video on YouTube): https://youtu.be/B32yt8g9FAw🎙️ My Plaud link, 10% off applied at checkout: https://fr.plaud.ai/discount/FR3.0-wd5g3b?redirect=/pages/referral-special-discount&utm_source=Plaudapp&utm_medium=Appuser&utm_campaign=Referral (referral link: if you buy through it, I get a free month of subscription. This episode isn't sponsored.)📬 Level-up your facilitation skills, join the newsletter: https://facilitators-corner.com/newsletter🃏 The Workshop Deck, 52 cards to design better sessions: https://facilitators-corner.com/workshopdeck📱 The Workshop Deck App, design your session step by step: https://theworkshopdeck.com/💻 Connect with me on LinkedIn for daily ideas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mehdi-en-naizi-75b533116Tools mentioned: Plaud Note Pro, Claude, ChatGPT, Pocket, Time Timer📌 Chapters:(00:00) An AI note taker on every workshop table(01:51) My notes vs what the AI captured(02:28) Being fully present (and asking for consent)(03:50) The MCP connector: Claude and ChatGPT(04:40) Building your workshop report(05:50) A real case: an objectives workshop(07:01) Capturing a keynote for 150 people(08:47) The bad news: the subscription(09:42) Preparing the workshop with your recordings(11:06) Battery life, and why not just use your phone?(12:37) One note taker per table for big groups(13:18) Why Plaud and not Pocket

In September I signed five new workshops with clients I'd never worked with before.A few months earlier, my Q2 was a disaster. Business wasn't going the way I wanted, I have two kids, and between us, I'd started sending my CV around just in case. September and October ended up covering half of my year.In this episode I share the three sales tactics behind that, with the real story of each new client: workshop venues that recommend you, a lead magnet you keep promoting, and the follow-up that works when the timing was wrong the first time.If you're a freelance facilitator or you sell workshops to clients, this is the part we rarely get trained on. How to get a venue to see you facilitate, what to do in the first 24 hours after a lead comes in, and how to follow up without feeling like you're begging.Most of it comes down to showing up. Sending the messages and making the calls, especially in the months when nothing comes back. I talk about that part too, honestly, because it was hard.In this episode:→ Why workshop venues are your best referral partners, and how to get them to see you facilitate→ What I did in the 24 hours after a venue passed me a lead: an email, a LinkedIn request, then a phone call→ The only time your website really matters→ How I traded a free training for the room, and left with a venue partnership, new contacts and professional video→ How to make your request impossible to say no to→ A bonus tip: why HR people are worth getting to know→ What a lead magnet is, and why you should promote it more than once→ The message I sent with my offsite guide, and the reply that turned into a gig→ The follow-up that booked an offsite after a great conversation with no project in sight→ The magic number of follow-ups before a sale happens→ What kept me going when business wasn't workingThis one is mostly unscripted, it's me telling you what happened over the last two months. If one of these tactics works for you, tell me in the comments. And if you'd like to see vlogs of me designing and running these workshops behind the scenes, let me know too, I've got the footage.Resources & links🎥 The episode I mention at 1:06, 8 months building a facilitation business (YouTube): https://youtu.be/SDB2p0w5L7c🇲🇦 Workshop Design Masterclass in Morocco, in French, 14–15 November: https://facilitators-corner.com/leadingtheroom🃏 The Workshop Deck, 52 cards to design better sessions: https://facilitators-corner.com/workshopdeck📱 The Workshop Deck App, design your session step by step: https://theworkshopdeck.com/💻 Connect with me on LinkedIn for daily ideas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mehdi-en-naizi-75b533116Tools mentioned: LinkedIn, LushaChapters00:00 5 new workshops in one month00:18 Welcome to Another Day, Another Workshop00:45 Half of my year, invoiced in two months01:28 Tactic 1: partner with workshop venues02:28 How a venue recommended me to their client03:03 When you get a lead, be fast03:31 Email, LinkedIn, then a phone call04:14 The only time your website matters05:08 Why venues want great facilitators06:23 Speed, and why I was a bit pushy07:06 The magic is in the follow-up07:44 How to get a venue to see you in action08:09 Make your request impossible to say no to09:34 Another venue, another referral10:53 Find two or three venues and build trust10:59 Bonus tip: connect with HR12:22 Tactic 2: build a lead magnet13:42 The offsite guide I sent at the end of summer14:20 "I'm having an offsite next week"15:09 Same place, same week16:08 Don't promote it only once17:06 Tactic 3: follow How I Got 5 New Workshop Clients in 1 Month as a Facilitator | #ADAW Ep. 36up17:57 The follow-up that turned into an offsite18:58 Showing up when business is hard20:11 Don't be afraid to be pushy21:13 Workshop Design Masterclass in Morocco22:03 Would you watch my workshop vlogs?22:49 Thanks for listening

Your client loved the workshop. Three months later, nothing has happened.I know that feeling. My first design sprint ended with a prototype everyone was excited about, a presentation to the board, and messages telling me how much they loved the solution. Months later I checked the website out of curiosity. Nothing had changed. I told myself it was the client's fault. Then it happened again.What I understood is that workshops don't fail in the room. They fail afterwards, because of Monday morning. Your participants go back to their laptop, 20 unread emails, 50 notifications, a colleague who needs something, a boss asking for a last-minute presentation. Your workshop disappears.I see Monday morning like gravity. A workshop is a rocket, it travels far in very little time, and gravity is always pulling it back down. So the job isn't only to launch, it's to reach orbit, where gravity is still there but has no hold on you.In this episode I share the 5 tactics I use to build that escape velocity, the ones that turned my sessions into projects clients actually implement. I also come back to that first design sprint and tell you exactly what I'd do differently today.We cover:→ Why a contract with participants beats a list of next steps→ The accountability partner trick that makes a task 70% more likely to get done→ How to close with a story instead of a summary, and how I build that story during the breaks→ Why I warn every group that Monday morning is coming, and brainstorm it with them→ What a deliverable should look like, with real examples of what not to send a client→ Why I go the extra mile and build them a tool, so they know how to act and not just what to do→ The follow-up system: the email, the check-in with the boss, the leadership nudge, and the team session two weeks later→ Why I plan all of that before the workshop, when there's still room in everyone's agendaIf you run workshops for clients, this is the part of the job nobody trains you on. Tell me in the comments what you do after your sessions, I'm curious to steal a few ideas too.🛠️ Resources & Links📬 Level-up your facilitation skills, join the newsletter: https://facilitators-corner.com/newsletter📱 The Workshop Deck App, design your session step by step: https://theworkshopdeck.com/💻 Connect with me on LinkedIn for daily ideas: /in/mehdi-en-naizi-75b533116Tools mentioned: Miro, Trello📌 Chapters:00:00 — Your client loved it. Then nothing happened.00:39 — Welcome to another day, another workshop01:14 — The design sprint that changed nothing02:57 — Why workshops fail after the room03:40 — The rocket, gravity and Monday morning04:53 — Why this hurts your business06:15 — Tactic 1: build a contract, not next steps08:32 — Tactic 2: close with a story13:05 — Tactic 3: make it easy to act16:50 — Tactic 4: go the extra mile, build a tool19:19 — Tactic 5: follow up to stay in orbit24:51 — What I'd do differently today#workshopfacilitation #workshopdesign #facilitation

Icebreakers don't have to be cringe. After running hundreds of workshops, I figured out why some warm-ups make people roll their eyes, and why others create real connection in minutes. In this video I share my 5 go-to icebreakers for meetings and workshops, two that are purely about connection, and three that quietly do part of your job as a facilitator.The last one is my favorite, so stick around for that.⏱️ CHAPTERS00:00 Icebreakers don't have to be cringe00:45 The first trick: don't say the word01:38 Why I changed my mind (the COVID story)02:30 Connection, not competition03:47 Why warm-ups make groups more creative05:20 Activity 1: Time Traveler08:00 Activity 2: Curiosity Exchange11:00 Free PDF with all 5 activities11:30 Activity 3: Why It Matters14:20 Activity 4: Hopes & Fears19:50 Activity 5: Zombie Apocalypse24:30 Recap26:00 Where these activities come from📄 FREE DOWNLOADAll 5 activities with written instructions and Miro templates: https://facilitators-corner.com/icebreakers🃏 THE WORKSHOP DECKThese activities come from the Workshop Deck, 52 cards to help you design better workshops. A new activity on the blog every week: https://theworkshopdeck.com/🙏 CREDITSTime Traveler, from my friend Ruben.Curiosity Exchange, shared with me by Jan Keck.🔔 If this helped, subscribe.Another day, another workshop.

AI cut the time I spend on a workshop engagement in half.I used to need a team for that: facilitators, designers, analysts, all helping me at different points of a project. Today, with AI, I can do much more of that work myself.In this episode, I walk you through exactly how I use AI across an entire workshop engagement — from the first discovery call to the final deck the client receives.No theory. Real prompts, real examples, and one client case followed all the way through.If you design workshops, run offsites, or facilitate sessions for clients, I cover the parts people rarely show you: how to brief AI so it stops inventing things, how to handle client data responsibly, how to pressure-test your workshop before you run it, and how to turn a wall of sticky notes into a client-ready deliverable.I’m using Claude throughout the episode, although almost everything I show can also be done with ChatGPT or other AI tools.There are also two stages where I deliberately DON’T use AI: designing the workshop itself and facilitating in the room.That’s intentional.Because AI can help you think, challenge your work and accelerate execution — but there are parts of facilitation where I believe the human needs to stay firmly in control.In this episode, we cover:→ How to set up an AI project that understands your client, your style and your templates→ How I use discovery-call transcripts to capture insights and write recap emails→ Why I still design workshop sessions myself→ How to pressure-test an activity by asking AI to play the participant→ The prompt I use to review an agenda and identify where the timing could break→ How to create examples that inspire participants without giving them the answer→ The 3 rules I follow when working with client data→ Why AI stays out of the room when I facilitate→ How I turn photos of sticky notes into a structured deliverable→ How I trained an AI project on my best workshop decks→ How I generate a first version of a PowerPoint deliverable→ The AI tools I actually use→ 4 simple principles that consistently improve my AI outputsThe big idea behind all of this isn’t to automate facilitation.It’s to remove the hours of work around facilitation that don’t require you to be human — so you can spend more time on the parts that do.AI gets me to roughly 80%. I still own the last 20%.And that 20% matters.🛠️ RESOURCES📄 Every prompt from this episode, in one PDF:https://facilitators-corner.com/aiplaybook🃏 The Workshop Deck — 52 cards to design better sessions:https://facilitators-corner.com/workshopdeck📱 The Workshop Deck App — design your session step by step:https://theworkshopdeck.com/💻 Connect with me on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mehdi-en-naizi-75b533116/Tools mentioned: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Wispr Flow, OpenArt and Miro.#workshopfacilitation #aiforfacilitators #workshopdesign

Eight months ago I left my job to build a facilitation business full-time. This episode is the honest version: what's actually hard, what I got wrong, and the parts nobody posts about.I talk about the deal that collapsed when one of my clientwas fired, the three prospects in a row who told me I was too expensive, and what that does to your confidence when you start doubting your own pricing. I break one of my own rules on camera too: I took on a client who wanted to see every detail of the agenda, exactly the kind of engagement I tell people to avoid, and I explain why I did it anyway and how I protected myself.There's also the thing that surprised me most. I quit to facilitate, and most of my days now are writing, selling, and building systems. Very little facilitating.And two things that are genuinely working: video outreach instead of text messages, and following up more times than feels comfortable.If you're thinking about making the jump, this is the version I wish someone had told me.⏱️ CHAPTERS00:00 Eight months in01:42 The fantasy vs the reality03:46 Why I made less than last year05:53 Starting to doubt my prices10:33 Three "too expensive" in a row13:10 The client who wanted to control everything19:17 Protecting yourself when you break your own rules20:41 Content creation is a long game23:17 The four ways to get leads28:08 When it's okay to stop being consistent31:38 What this is costing me35:51 What's working: video outreach38:33 Follow up more than you think📚 MENTIONED$100M Offers, $100M Leads, and $100M Money Models by Alex HormoziMy six-question workshop design framework: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IffzcCKbGvY The Workshop Deck: www.workshopdeck.com

You can run the agenda yourself.But you can’t always create the experience.Brittni Bowering has facilitated workshops for LEGO, Google, and Microsoft. In this episode, she breaks down why outside facilitators create a different kind of room than internal ones, why “too much energy” almost never exists when it’s genuine, and how she designs for emotion instead of just outcomes.In this episode, we explore:→ Why external facilitators create a different kind of room than internal ones→ How to design a workshop for emotion, not just outcomes→ What to actually do before and after a break — most people get this backwards→ The parking lot mistake almost nobody talks about→ What stand-up comedy taught her about reading a room→ Her signature opener: Plot Twist🛠️ Resources & Links🃏 The Workshop Deck — The tool to design better sessions in minutes:https://theworkshopdeck.com/Use code FC15 for 15% off🔗 Brittni on LinkedIn:linkedin.com/in/brittnibowering💌 Coaching inquiries:[email protected]💻 Connect with me on LinkedIn:linkedin.com/in/mehdi-en-naizi-75b533116📌 Chapters00:00 — Why workshop experience matters more in the AI era07:28 — Where Mehdi draws the line on AI in his own sessions10:37 — The case for bringing in an external facilitator12:15 — The “guest star” effect — and why it changes the room15:15 — Why Brittni crashes for four days after every workshop22:04 — What looks easy is actually hard: the stand-up comedy parallel26:12 — How to design a workshop for emotion, not outcomes30:02 — The two-step system: activities first, emotion second31:18 — What to actually do before and after a break38:00 — Reading the room vs. sticking to the plan42:00 — The parking lot mistake — and how to fix it48:40 — When “too much” energy is actually too much51:38 — The stand-up comedy lesson on authenticity58:48 — Small moments are greater than big moments: designing for memory1:06:09 — The Plot Twist activity, explained1:12:52 — Where to find Brittni + her new coaching offer