Facilitation techniques: The power of storytelling with Ellen de Vries

The aim of this session is to give you the power to use a simple storytelling framework when planning your facilitated sessions. We will practice using it together and discover how adaptable it is, both as a facilitation tool, and as a way to get people invested in the work you do.

What happens during the workshop?

During the workshop you’ll:

• Learn how to get your participants invested in a facilitated session
• Construct a story according to a storytelling formula (the hero’s journey)
• Plan a facilitated session with the framework
• Learn how to use stories within your session
• Become curious about how to use storytelling in other aspects of your (work)life

This workshop includes a mixture of discussion in pairs or threes, and the optional opportunity to share the results of your work out loud. It involves some paper-based written work and guided activities. We welcome any level of experience, from those who have never facilitated a session before to those who do it all the time.

Our speaker

Ellen de Vries people establish a shared language. This has led to working with diverse groups of people to help them define themselves, their design projects, and the way they tell their stories.

Ellen has been facilitating workshops for over 15 years. Some of her most memorable facilitation experiences have included convening Uzbekistani diplomats in The Hague, Artificial Intelligence experts in the mountains of Norway, and international youth musicians in a castle in Frankfurt.

She has written a book on collaboration for GatherContent, and contributed to several publications including Meeting Design by Kevin Hoffman, Designing Connected Content by Mike Atherton and Carrie Hane, and O’Reilly’s Storytelling in Design by Anna Dahlstrom.

After working at Clearleft as a Content Strategist for clients like Penguin and Virgin Atlantic, Ellen is now offering workshop packages through agencies like Hyper Island, direct to clients and at conferences.

You can connect with Ellen on LinkedIn.