Effective facilitation is interesting, engaging and exciting. Ineffective facilitation is deadening and boring. When participants are bored, they become restless and often retreat into passivity. The content of the discussion is always the most important thing, and ensuring high quality content is a facilitator's first responsibility. In addition, an effective facilitator uses a variety of methods and techniques to nurture active participation and involvement in the group and hold boredom at bay.

Variety is the spice of life. Shift activities to keep the overall momentum going. Use a variety of activities to keep the group interested and engaged - discussions, presentations, workshops, individual reflection, pair exercises, small group work, and whole group plenary discussions. Using a variety of techniques enables people with different learning styles and comfort levels to participate.

You want to catalyse real creativity in your participants' responses, so you have to find ways to stimulate fresh attention and imagination. Nothing is so deadening as sitting in the same seat for hours on end. New faces and new perspectives keep people interested and enhance the dialogue. What can be done? Time your activities so people have natural opportunities to move. Schedule breaks where appropriate, and do light stretching and breathing exercises to keep the body alert and lighten the mood. Then, if you can use more than one room or your space is large enough, hold different activities in separate spaces to get people moving around and mixing with others. When participants work with as many people as possible, creative thinking is encouraged.

Laughter is good for the soul, and, apparently, it keeps us healthy. Participation can be a pleasurable experience. Groups that can laugh at themselves have a healthy perspective. While you can use prepared jokes and one-liners sparingly, the best humour wells up in the facilitator and the group out of the process itself. The intentional use of humour has been known to backfire, so make sure you know the group and the topic well enough to use humour appropriately. Cynical, belittling and misplaced humour is clearly out of place. Be sensitive to the mood—sometimes humour is needed and other times a more serious tone honours an intense discussion.

People can hold visual images much more easily than they can the details of a complex discussion. Such images access different parts of the brain and keep the mind active. Whenever possible, use graphs, pictures, charts and diagrams. A clear display of results helps people integrate new ideas and decisions and take action. Use graphics to display the agenda, the schedule, the process, ground rules and values throughout the session. If your handwriting is not easily readable, ask someone else to do the writing.

We thrive on acknowledgment and affirmation. Affirming people’s contribution is a sure way to encourage involvement. Use every opportunity possible to affirm positive participation. Receive and acknowledge individual ideas are as they are given. When a small group makes a report, it is quite appropriate to encourage applause. Find appropriate ways for groups to celebrate achievements. At the end of a session, enable the group to reflect on its progress and celebrate its work.

People tend to invest their time and energy in situations that they believe are worthwhile. Try to make each event worthy of their effort. Inauthenticity is transparent, so create drama and excitement with honesty. Trying make a contradictions analysis into a fun fair may not go over very well. But, in general, much life can come out of an event, when much life is put into it. Build anticipation for an event from the first invitation. Special snacks or meals are ways of caring for people. Some groups use prizes and games very effectively when they contribute to a desired mood. Words of encouragement from symbolic leaders can be helpful, especially one who is genuinely concerned or involved.

Some facilitators who have a charismatic or dramatic bent have no trouble in creating eventfulness. But for those of us who distrust charisma or who are not good at drama, these six tactics offer more structural ways to help a group stay involved and engaged throughout the facilitated process.