078 - Facilitating as an Avatar in the Virtual World with Tracy Cosgrove

We’ve reached a time when more people than ever are working remotely, and this includes facilitators.

Tracy Cosgrove, Founder of PTSM, is passionate about sharing knowledge and facilitating as an avatar in the virtual world. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to talk to Tracy about her experience and expertise around avatars, setting up a virtual office, and bringing teams together despite being thousands of miles (and oceans) apart.

Learning how to facilitate as an avatar in the virtual space is so important right now, which is why I’m so excited to share this conversation with you so that you can be better equipped and prepared to rule the virtual world.

Find out about:

• What inspired Tracy to move from the physical to the virtual word of facilitating
• How to set up a virtual office
• The importance of doing your research as a facilitator
• Costly mistakes to avoid when choosing a platform to help you host virtual workshops
• What to consider when renting a virtual office space
• Helpful and creative team building exercises you can use virtually

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Questions and Answers:

[01:35] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?

[03:17] What made you move to the virtual world?

[06:58] If you were a hashtag, what would it be?

[08:18] How was it for you to transition to suddenly not meeting people and communicating with avatars?

[16:22] Do you think that there's a difference in terms of how you facilitate whether you're in the persona of an avatar versus zoom training with video?

[17:45] In terms of the facilitation skills and how you communicate with the people and the exercises, do you see a difference?

[19:13] What doesn’t work in the VR world?

[20:52] As an avatar facilitator, how do you create a space where they can be present and open?

[23:00] How did you find your virtual office space?

[26:52] What would you recommend someone who's exploring options to work as an avatar?

[31:35] What is the investment you need to set up a virtual VR office?

[33:32] What is wrong about the platform?

[34:33] What is the one thing that people must take care of or must watch out for in order to choose the right platform?

[38:01] What makes a workshop fail?

[39:47] What is your favourite exercise?

[47:55] What is the sequence of taking breaks when sitting in front of Zoom for 8 hours?

 [52:24] What is the key takeaway that captures the essence of our conversation?

Links

• Passport to Success Myanmar (PTSM)

Connect to Tracy Cosgrove

• Email Tracy at [email protected]
• Facebook 

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/  👈