How to create Powerful/Peak Moments in your workshops!
One of my favorite books of all time is 'The Power of Moments' by Chip Heath and Dan Heath.
In this book, Chip and Dan talk about improving experiences for others, and they explore what makes occasions unique and memorable.
Psychologists have found that, when we reflect on our experiences, we tend to remember two moments in particular: The "peak"—the best moment of a positive experience—and the ending.
Peak Moments are things that happen that are out of the ordinary; they're unexpected and a bit of a surprise. These moments disproportionally impact how we remember an event. These moments make us feel excited, motivated, and surprised!
So here's the question for all of us: Are we paying attention to these moments as facilitators? Are we consciously creating peaks for our customers or participants, or employees?
You could run an average workshop, sticking to the agenda, and everything would run smoothly. BUT, if you've designed your plan to include a few peak moments throughout, people will remember this workshop to be incredibly special and memorable. They're more likely going to want to have you facilitate another workshop for them in the future so that you create this unique experience for them again.
❓So how can you create these peak moments in your workshops❓
💪 Start your workshops strong:
Make sure you make the group feel welcome when they arrive at the workshop. What we did in a recent workshop to create a peak moment at the beginning was we made a welcome poster with every participants name on it in fun colourful writing. We also had a little goodie bag on each persons chair for them to take home. This was filled with simple things like a notebook, sharpie, post-its and our own AJ&Smart stickers. Another workshop we had everyone wait outside the room, we blasted some high energy music and let the participants in. We high-fived each person as they came in and everyone was super pumped before the workshop even started.
🎉 Celebrate wins/milestones:
Throughout your workshops, make sure to celebrate when a group finishes an exercise with a simple high five. Get everyone up and out of their seats and praise their efforts by taking a nice break outside of the office space. Take them to get ice-cream or go for a nice walk together. In a recent workshop, we rented an ice-cream van and let the group know that on their 15 minute break they could go grab an ice-cream and sit in the sun. This is a peak moment that they won't forget!
🎨 Create playful experiences:
Add playful elements to your workshops so that participants can feel like children again. Some people might be hesitant at first but I guarantee you once they get involved they will love it and most importantly, they'll remember it as a positive, fun experience. Recently, I ran a workshop where I set up a table filled with arts and craft materials. Beads, feathers, coloured paper, stickers, pipe cleaners etc...everything you can imagine. I got my group to make hats that represented who they were as Facilitators. This was the biggest peak moment of the workshop. Everyone loved the activity and everyone had so much fun. They also had something tangible to take away from the workshop.
🍾 End your workshops on a high:
Make sure to end your workshops on a high. This can be simple. Get people to reflect on their key highlights and share them with the group. Take a group picture together. Celebrate the end by opening a bottle of champagne and playing some music. It can be anything but mark the end in a nice way so they'll remember how great this was.
Tell me in the comments some ways that you create peak moments with your participants/customers/employees?
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Rebecca Courtney
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How to create Powerful/Peak Moments in your workshops!
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