🔥 Why I Don’t Run “Traditional Workshops

And How Experiential, Participatory Approaches Help Learning Come Alive

People often notice that my workshops feel different.
Less lecture. More connection. More movement. More conversation.
More… life in the room.

There’s a reason for that.

Slides and handouts absolutely have their place – I still use them as visual anchors, springboards, and prompts – but they don’t create transformation on their own. And when I do use PPT, I make it clear:

Interrupt me. Ask questions. Jump in. I’ll be asking you questions too.
It’s interactive, not a download.

The real learning happens somewhere else.



We Learn Faster When We’re Having Fun and Actively Participating

People don’t learn deeply by sitting and listening.
They learn when they speak, listen, move, reflect, share stories and co-create.

When people participate, they feel:

• belonging
• agency
• shared ownership
• the wisdom already in the room

You simply can’t create this with slides alone.
Talk with people, not to people.

2. Strengths-Based Workshops Create Stronger Learners

Everyone comes with strengths – cultural, personal, professional, creative.
My job is not to “teach at” people, but to create the conditions where those strengths rise to the surface and connect.

People don’t show up empty.
They show up full.
A strengths lens honours that.



3. Honouring Different Ways of Learning

Another reason I design workshops this way is because people learn differently.

Some warm up through ideas and theory.
Some through doing and experiencing.
Some through movement.
Some through interaction and dialogue.
Some through quiet reflection.

A participatory, experiential approach allows all of these modes to coexist – giving people multiple doorways into the work.

Throughout the day, I track the group’s warm-up:
who’s engaged, who’s quieter, who needs more structure, who has action hunger, who needs reflection or movement.
I adjust the process to be responsive and inclusive so everyone can learn in a way that suits them – and still stretch into growth.

This isn’t a bias toward one learning style.
It’s an intentional practice of whole-group learning.



4. Experiential & Creative Methods Accelerate Insight

I draw from:

• ABCD (Asset-Based Community Development)
• Appreciative Inquiry (AI)
• Art of Hosting
• Action Methods
• Arts-based methods & storytelling
• The Camp Venture collaborative game
• Walking dialogues & embodied reflection

These methods engage relational and emotional intelligence – not just cognitive understanding.

People don’t just learn about concepts.
They experience them.

That’s when learning comes to life. ✨

5. Relational Learning Is the Engine of Change

Underneath every workshop, there’s a relational field shaping how people learn.
So I track the deeper dynamics – the ones that determine whether people lean in or hold back.

Key questions include:

• Who feels included? (Belonging)
• Who has influence or choice? (Agency)
• Who feels safe – or brave enough – to be themselves? (Authenticity)
• How does trust grow or contract as the group moves?
• How is participation shared across the room?

When these conditions are alive – when belonging, agency and authenticity are present – groups warm up, go deeper, and learn quicker.
This holds true for community leaders, frontline workers, young people or cross-sector teams.

Relational learning is what accelerates everything else.


6. Why This Approach Supports Deeper Learning

This way of working creates the conditions where learning becomes more meaningful and personal. People draw on their own lived experience, and the wisdom of the group becomes part of the learning itself. Concepts aren’t just explained – they’re explored through action. Insights aren’t just understood – they’re felt. And as trust strengthens, engagement deepens.

It’s not a workshop about participation.
It’s a workshop in participation – allowing people to learn in ways that feel authentic, relevant and connected.


7. And Yes – There Are Still Handouts

I bring resources, case studies, and reflective tools.
They support the practice –
but the practice itself is what teaches.


✨ The Heart of It

People flourish when they feel:

• included
  
• influential
  
• able to be themselves
  
• welcomed into a relational, creative, strengths-based space
  That’s why I run workshops the way I do:
  participatory, experiential, strengths-based, fun, creative, relational – and alive.
  
  Because that’s where transformation actually happens.
  
  A gentle invitation…

What excites you most when you attend or run workshops?
Would you join a workshop like this – and what would make you feel most welcome?

I’d genuinely love to hear.