# Good post about facilitation

**URL:** <https://heyplix.mit.edu/t/good-post-about-facilitation/1571>\
**Category:** Uncategorized\
**Created:** [November 26, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://heyplix.mit.edu/t/good-post-about-facilitation/1571 "2024-11-26T19:09:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![emme](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/heyplix.mit.edu/emme/32/2127_2.png) [@emme](https://heyplix.mit.edu/u/emme)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://heyplix.mit.edu/t/good-post-about-facilitation/1571/1 "2024-11-26T19:09:17Z")

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> **[Facilitation is Humiliating](https://grouphug.substack.com/p/facilitation-is-humiliating)**
>
> And sadly also essential

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**Author:** ![JayElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@JayElf](https://heyplix.mit.edu/u/JayElf)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 9:08pm UTC](https://heyplix.mit.edu/t/good-post-about-facilitation/1571/2 "2024-12-01T21:08:23Z")

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‘humiliating’ is big word to use here… kinda think if you don’t think it needs to be perfect, then it’s likely not gonna feel that way… (but maybe that’s point the article is making though : D )

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**Author:** ![ada](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/heyplix.mit.edu/ada/32/1517_2.png) [@ada](https://heyplix.mit.edu/u/ada)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2024, 7:20pm UTC](https://heyplix.mit.edu/t/good-post-about-facilitation/1571/3 "2024-12-04T19:20:39Z")

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Thank you for sharing this Emily @emme! It’s perfect timing since the upcoming Ambassador meeting is about facilitation.

I agree with @JayElf that “humiliating” is such a strong choice of words here. I like to think of facilitation as a practice, where you grow your self-confidence to support people interacting or learning in a moment in time.

From overhearing friends’ conversations about their first time leading an ice breaker or other seemingly awkward social formats, I would consider using “embarrassed” or “courageous” to describe some of those feelings. Facilitating is not something that comes easily to many people.

In facilitating the Ambassador meetings and the online activity workshops, I currently think about how to engage people in genuine connections and trust. But when I first started, it was a strange experience of “wow, people are actually quiet and listening to what I’m saying” and “am I saying the right thing?” and “this is kinda scary.” Over time, seeing the results of how I infuse different values, I’ve grown more confident that the way I plan and run those workshops and meetings (orchestrate might be a good word here), people will be inspired, will connect, and have a great time. Because it has happened many times. Mostly I’m really grateful for having an incredible and kind audience of library professionals.

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**Author:** ![paigek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/eb9ed0/32.png) [@paigek](https://heyplix.mit.edu/u/paigek)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2024, 7:41pm UTC](https://heyplix.mit.edu/t/good-post-about-facilitation/1571/4 "2024-12-04T19:41:25Z")

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Thank you for sharing! I think many of us (if not all of us) can relate to the feelings expressed in this article. We should all give ourselves more grace when it comes to building our facilitation skills, because we encourage the people in our programming to learn from their failures - why shouldn’t we do the same? I love the “happy little accidents” school of thought that Bob Ross had. All we can do if we mess up or misspeak is roll with it, and either correct it or try something different. 🙂