So you’ve decided to do a workshop, it’s your first one and you are on your own.  Here are 10 tips that will help you pull together a successful workshop no matter how big or small.  It’s true, ‘the devil is in the detail‘ so make sure you are prepared to spend some time planning it.  Don’t cut corners, it is a bad reflection on you and your business.

Block out time to plan and prepare; Rome wasn’t built in a day so there is no need for you to feel you have to develop, plan and prepare your workshop in 24 hours, it just doesn’t work. Things always get missed and you will be the one left with egg on your face, not to mention your attendees will give you a bad rap. Remember word-of-mouth can make or break a business.

Determine what your workshop will be about, what message or messages do you want to convey and how you will do this.  Then ask yourself the following questions:

    • What is my budget?
    • How many attendees will I have per workshop 10, 20, 30?
    • What sort of venue will I need?
    • Can attendees get to the venue via public transport; is there car parking available?
    • How long will the workshop go for, half a day, a full day or just a couple of hours?
    • Will my attendees participate or do they simply sit and listen; do I want the attendees to be able to write notes during the workshop?
    • Am I going to provide workbooks, hand outs, brochures, pens / pencils?
    • How will I layout the workshop?  If you are providing attendees with tools to use, sit them around a table so they have a surface to write on and easily share ideas with other people sitting at the table.
    • Will I have water and mints available on the tables or will I use a row seating format; am I going to break for refreshments?
    • Will I be catering a meal or morning or afternoon tea?

This is not the be all and end all list, this is just the beginning and I hope I have given you enough to spark your own thought processes as each one of these questions is its own little project. You need to carry out due diligence when working through them.  Your business reputation is at stake, make sure you take the time to get it right.

What else can you think of that you need to have down as the very basics.  

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