I held a workshop last night open to a bunch of my friends, family, and colleagues.
Few things delight me more than connecting people who otherwise would’ve never met.
Hearing one of my coaching friends say, “I loved what Karen said…” made me smile. I was like, That’s my aunt!
I’ve learned a few things from running group calls:
1) People love talking and engaging, even if they think they don’t. It makes the time pass quickly and people enjoy gaining different perspectives on the same topic.
2) The worst thing a curator can do is ask the group: “Does anybody have any thoughts?” Just fucking call on someone. They will share their thoughts. Don’t give them a choice. The six seconds of silence after that question is asked is valuable collaboration time. I call on folks at random every time and no one has ever said, “I actually don’t have anything to say.”
3) The more I prep and plan a group call, the more flat and robotic it sounds. My best calls have been where I’ve let the momentum of the conversation take the wheel. It may be slow at the start, but once people begin sharing, it becomes a flywheel that spins itself.