068 - Use Your Facilitation Superpowers to become a Better Public Speaker with Sarah McVanel

Sarah McVanel is a recognition expert, a public speaker, a facilitator… and she thinks that we are “mutts”.

Put your pitchforks down, this is a good thing – and she explains herself beautifully!

Sarah’s perspective on the transferable skills in facilitation will leave you feeling empowered and inspired. You might even be happy to call yourself a mutt!

Sarah has successfully pivoted to work as a public speaker (as well continuing as a facilitator and recognition expert) and believes that facilitators are uniquely placed to transfer into other fields.

Listen to the episode to find out:

• Why facilitators are ‘mutts’ – and why that is a wonderful thing!
• Why recognition is a superpower we all have without knowing it
• How facilitators have some amazing transferable skills for public speaking
• What Sarah believes facilitators can learn from public speakers
• What it means to ‘FROG’ and some examples of how Sarah practices this beautiful act

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Questions and Answers

[01:27] When did you first call yourself a facilitator?

[06:29] What is a ‘savvy facilitator’?

[08:47] What would your hashtag be?

[14:21] What is a recognition expert?

[18:11] How can we better recognise others – and how do you teach this when you speak on stage?

[31:22] How did you get into speaking from facilitation?

[36:55] Did your facilitation skills make you a better public speaker, or vice versa?

[45:26] What do you wish you had known before you started a career in speaking?

[51:50] What makes a workshop fail?

[56:38] What is the one thing you want listeners to take away?

Connect to Sarah McVanel

Sarah’s website

Sarah’s LinkedIn

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

Support the show

👉 What happens when being “professional” gets in the way of being human? My new podcast Unprofessionalism explores the rules we’re taught to follow at work, and what happens when we break them. Listen here: https://unprofessionalism.buzzsprout.com/  👈