Hello friends,
Greetings from Barcelona.☀️
🙌Many thanks for reading The Quest, your weekly round-up of tips and insights to help you design and lead exceptional online sessions that your group members will love.❤️
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Was it just me or did anyone else jump on the AI bandwagon back in January?
Most of the initial hype focused on how to use AI to research and write. To create cool images. And write wedding speeches.
I believed that AI was going to revolutionize online sessions.
I had big dreams about how Chat GPT was going to save me hundreds of hours and eliminate stress in designing and leading my sessions. I would focus on the “human” interaction. And AI would do the rest.
Or so I thought.
Fast forward 9 months and my big AI dreams have not come true. In fact, AI has made very little difference to the way I design and lead my online sessions.
Sure, I’ve experimented here and there…
I’ve asked Chat GPT to come up with icebreaker prompt questions.
They were underwhelming.
I’ve asked it to come up with session outlines.
They didn’t hit the mark.
So I very quickly went back to my non-AI tried-and-tested ways.
But I know I am missing something.
Lately, I’ve been seeing promising examples of how people are using AI to create better group experiences. With a click of a button, they are able to instantly summarise, track, and cluster questions and ideas.
Learning how to use AI takes time
I realized that if I really want to get the full benefits of AI for my groups, I need to put in the time to see what’s out there. And I need to experiment with new tools. AI is here to stay, so it’s worth taking the time to understand it.
How can you use AI to improve your live sessions (and save you time)? That’s our Quest for this week (and one we’ll come back to!) 🔎
👉 How to use AI to improve brainstorming sessions with Stormz
👉 AI-generated meeting summaries with Butter
👉 Track questions in the chat with StreamAlive
Plus
👉 Session Lab’s 2024 State of Facilitation Survey is live
👉 Join me for a Virtual Facilitation free Practice Session on September 25th
🪄How to use AI to improve brainstorming sessions with Stormz
I’ve been following Alexandre Eisenchteter on LinkedIn for a while. He’s been training groups and leading workshops since his days as a 3M process engineer. And he’s on the leading edge of how facilitators, coaches, solopreneurs, and start-up founders are using AI to run better workshops.
He developed the digital board software called Stormz (think alternative to Miro). It’s a tool you can use for collaborative workshops, creative brainstorming, large group workshops, and more.
I caught up with him on Zoom last week, and we talked about AI. He showed me how Stormz is using AI for question-storming and to help the development of ideas.
Here are my takeaways from our conversation:
- AI won’t give you the answer. But it will elevate your thinking. AI can ask you questions and help you see a problem from different angles.
- AI can quickly cluster ideas and identify patterns. It can save you time and serve as a springboard for getting more ideas.
- Stormz has made it easy to use AI features. You don’t have to come up with a prompt (like Miro) – you just click on a button.
Check out this 12-minute video where Alexandre walks you through the Stormz brainstorming features.
Alexandre writes amazing content on LinkedIn. He publishes a newsletter called Facilitator Fuel. And he recently launched an AI Tinkerer’s Club.
🧈AI-generated meeting summaries with Butter
I know we have more than a few Butter fans in our midst. 😅 So you may already know that they have launched an AI-generated meeting summaries feature. Check out Butter Co-Founder Jakob Knutzen’s LinkedIn post here👇
What other kinds of time-saving features do you wish existed? Let Jakob know by dropping a comment on his post.
❓Track questions in the chat with StreamAlive
If you’ve been to one of my live sessions, or been reading this newsletter for a while, you’ll have heard me sing the praises of StreamAlive live audience engagement software.
One of StreamAlive’s AI-powered features that I use in my sessions is Quick Questions.
It’s a feature that allows participants to type questions in the chat during your session.
With the help of AI, StreamAlive scans the chat for questions and generates a list you can pull up anytime.
👉 Participants don’t have to hold on to their questions until the end (and forget them)
👉 You don’t have to scroll back through the chat trying to find questions that you’ve missed
I’m glad I didn’t miss these questions (answer to question 2 – yes!)👇
📢 Session Lab’s State of Facilitation Report 2024 Survey is Open
Last year the brilliant team at Session Lab published the very first State of Facilitation Report. It was packed with insights that have helped me re-focus key areas of my facilitation business.
Exciting news: The State of Facilitation Report 2024 Survey is now open. This is your opportunity to get your voice heard on important facilitation topics and help uplift the sector.
Fill in the survey 👉 here.
💌Thanks for reading The Quest
I always love hearing your feedback and suggestions. Just hit reply to share your thoughts and ideas.
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Creatively yours,
Whenever you are ready there are 2 more ways I can help you:
👉Custom coaching & team training. Book a free 15-minute zero-commitment call with me to see how I can support you and your team.
👉5-week Live Online Course. The Breakthrough Facilitation course gives you tools, personalized feedback, and a proven framework for designing and leading high-engagement live sessions. Join the interest list and be the first to get the next cohort dates and discounts.
