How Community Can Help You Sell Your Next Workshop
My friend Audrey does life coaching and group coaching sessions. When I asked her what those group sessions looked like, she told me she sets up groups of four to six people to meet for three months. Each person identifies a goal they’re working toward, and the group encourages their way to achieving their goals. Audrey says, “I facilitate bi-monthly meetings where we talk about each person’s progress, what got in the way, what motivated them, etc. There’s built-in partnership and camaraderie (which is where the magic happens).”
This reminded me of the time I spent running international photo and video workshops. At first, we were so concerned with the curriculum, the schedule, and the amenities, that we packed every second from sunrise to sunset. Then, something peculiar happened. Our guests stayed up way too late the night before we had a sunrise shoot…just…talking. There was nothing scheduled. The hosts weren’t teaching. But the community was connecting anyway. Each time we ran a workshop, we removed a session or a destination to make it less grueling. Nobody complained. There was just more time for guests to connect.
Audrey told me, “I was nervous that I would get it ‘right’ as a facilitator, but all the feedback I received indicated that being honest with them is what made them comfortable.” And this is the same feedback we received on our workshops. The biggest takeaway many guests had was that the hosts weren’t that different than them. That they, too, could achieve what the hosts had.
So what does all this mean? If you’re running a workshop, or teaching a class, or coaching a small group, you don’t have to be a genius. You don’t have to say anything groundbreaking or profound. There’s very little chance you could bring an insight that couldn’t be found somewhere on the internet for free. People want connection. They want community, and they want confidence. And you can bring that to them with a little openness, and a little honesty.
