Hello Friends,
Greetings from Barcelona☀️where we are visiting with my sister and nephew for the first time since the pandemic😊.
🙌Many thanks for reading The Quest. A special shoutout to Themis in Athens, Allegra in Seattle, Aarushi in Melbourne, Deepa, Michaele and Barry in Bracebridge, and Joan in Mansfield.
If you are joining for the first time, welcome to our exploration of creativity, facilitation, and learning.
You can catch up on the last edition 🌟How to Set Your Breakout Groups Up for Success and all past editions here.
🤔Have you ever wondered how seasoned facilitators always seem to have the perfect activity for exactly the right moment?
The most seasoned facilitators I know have a go-to bank of methods at their fingertips. They never come up blank when coming up with ideas for their sessions.
There are thousands of toolkits out there. I’ve sifted through a bunch to come up with a list of my favourite toolkits that will help you find the perfect activity for your next session.
This week🔎
👉 5 free toolkits I can’t live without
👉 Toolsi – a toolkit worth paying for
👉 Plus: What’s a Man podcast finale + Breakthrough Facilitation course update
(You can register here to join the Breakthrough Facilitation course waiting list and be the first to receive news on how to join cohort 1 this October).
Let’s dive right in!
🧰Five Free Toolkits I Can’t Live Without
Have you ever come up blank when looking for the perfect activity?
You put your bucket down the well and it comes up bone dry?
I definitely have. That’s why a few years ago I started saving toolkits.
Some are, well, meh.
Others are unwieldy.
But there are a few that I consult regularly. They give me a quick dose of creative inspiration for activities and games for the sessions I lead, in-person or online.
Here are 5 toolkits that I can’t live without👇
⚙️IDEO’s Creative Tips + Tools.
Practical resources for bringing creativity into your life and putting it to work. Perfect for sparking innovation and creative thinking.
🔧Session Lab Library of Facilitation Techniques.
A bank of 900 facilitation activities and methods that boost engagement, productivity, and participation. Ideal for virtual meetings and teams.
🔩Changemakers x Change Virtual Toolkit.
A compilation of resources for virtual sessions to help you create social impact. Brilliant for social entrepreneurs, innovators, and changemakers. Thanks to Brandon Johnson for the link.
100 activities that cover energizers, innovation, leadership, team-building, well-being, and diversity-equity-inclusion-and belonging. You’ll find something for any kind of group here. Thanks to Mark Cheng for the link.
🪛Partners for Youth Empowerment Free Tools
Activities, games, and resources to fuel your facilitation practice using the arts. Perfect for adding some creative flair to your sessions. No arts experience required!
Do you have a favourite toolkit? Let me know, and I’ll include it in a future edition of The Quest with your name.
🛠️Toolsi: A Toolkit Worth Paying For
There are a lot of free resources out there. But there is a new one I feel is worth paying for.
It’s called Toolsi.
It’s a brand new toolkit created by artist and facilitator, Nadia Chaney.
Nadia is one of the most exceptional facilitators that I know. She inspired me to get into facilitation 15 years ago.
Nadia’s intention with Toolsi is to share everything she knows about community facilitation. Trust me, that’s a whole lot of wisdom and experience in one toolkit.
Toolsi is a beta version right now. Nadia will be adding more content in the coming months.
You can access activities and podcasts for free.
For $10 CAD/mo you’ll be able to access courses, tips and tricks, and more.
Check Toolsi out here.
🔥What’s a Man? Podcast Finale
I featured Deepa Narayan‘s groundbreaking podcast What’s a Man in issue #18.
Deepa is a researcher, social scientist, and cultural detective. She is an author with 17 books to her name. She’s a TED speaker. She has spearheaded countless social change projects. And now she can add podcaster to her list of titles. She is also a member of The Quest (hi Deepa!).
Deepa explores what it means to be a man today, talking to hundreds of men and gender experts in India.
In the final episode, Deepa shares how talking to men changed her feminism. She launches a call for a renewed feminism that she calls FeminismX that includes women, men, and all genders.
Deepa’s podcast is also a masterclass in the art of asking powerful questions, navigating difficult conversations, and listening without judgment.
Check out the whole series here.
🚀Course update!
As you may know, I’ve been working on launching a new 4-week cohort-based course called Breakthrough Facilitation that will run in October.
I’ve been doing some fascinating work with talented artist, designer, educator JP King on designing a whiteboard template for the course. JP has opened my eyes to a vast world of visual tools like Miro that can accelerate learning online. (If you don’t know Miro check it out here).
Breakthrough Facilitation course registration launches on August 30.
If you lead online groups, and you are determined to sharpen your virtual facilitation skills I invite you to join the waitlist 👇
👉You’ll receive the latest course updates and free demo sessions.
👉And you’ll be the first to get the registration link with special access to the early bird rate.
There are 30 spaces for cohort 1. Thanks to the 38 Quest members who have already joined the waitlist!
Questions? Please feel free to reach out to me by hitting reply to this email.
💡Quote of the Week
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
Marcel Proust
💌Thanks for reading The Quest
I always love hearing your feedback and suggestions. Just hit reply to share your thoughts and ideas. Visit my website for ways we can work together here.
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Creatively yours,
