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Facilitation Center Trainings

Our trainings are conducted throughout the year in the Richmond, KY area and advertised on our website, as well as through direct e-mail notification. Our professional trainers carefully design energetic, cutting-edge trainings where attendees are actively involved and engaged in a safe environment that allows them to begin developing or sharpening their facilitation skills. If an organization has an existing group that would like to receive training, workshops can also be arranged in other venues. Our trainers have traveled from Washington to Florida, providing trainings for various businesses and organizations. If you’d like to receive e-mail notifications about upcoming workshops or more information about providing a workshop at another location, please contact us.

Our Training Approach

At the Facilitation Center, we deliver more than just training – we help change how teams think, communicate, and perform. From in-person workshops across the country to virtual sessions, we design customized learning journeys that stick and drive performance.

We’re not off-the-shelf trainers. We’re facilitators of growth — blending evidence-based methods with the flexibility to meet your team where they are and take them further than they thought possible in a safe, supportive environment.

We believe learning happens through doing. That’s why every session puts participants in the driver’s seat practicing and applying new skills, because your teams don’t need lectures, they need outcomes.

The true ROI isn’t what happens in the room, it’s what happens after. Individuals or teams  walk away aligned, equipped, and ready to act. With clarity and connection, performance skyrockets. Decisions get made faster. Miscommunication disappears. Energy goes where it matters most. Our facilitation and training deliver that clarity — helping your people collaborate smarter, solve problems faster, and deliver lasing results. MIT Sloan reports companies investing in team development and soft skills (including facilitation) see a 250% ROI within a year [prnewswire.com]. The result is momentum that generates measurable impact and a stronger culture of collaboration that keeps delivering value over time.

Insightful. Engaging. Actionable. That’s the standard we bring, every time.

That’s our promise and the reason organizations nationwide trust us to deliver training that shifts mindsets and fuels real results.

Testimonials

“The Center’s trainings are necessary and life changing.” – Anonymous participant

“Best opportunity I’ve had in a while to learn techniques that impact us regularly. I wish I had this learned this 20 years ago.” – Anonymous participant

“[I learned] a lot! I’m excited to implement all I’ve learned. I feel I can be confident in my next meeting for probably the first time in two years.” – Anonymous participant

Available Trainings

While certain trainings display scheduled ‘next dates,’ all trainings remain available upon request at any time. For more information or to discuss availability, please contact elizabeth.mckenzie@eku.edu.

Customization

The professional trainers and staff at the Facilitation Center provide trainings tailored to a client’s specific needs, whether you want training at our Center, your location, or a venue of your choice.

The staff can provide a great deal of support and assistance in planning and coordinating these trainings, as well as conducting the customized workshops. We would be happy to talk with you about your needs and brainstorm ways we can develop a customized training for your group. Once we’ve got an agreed-upon scope of work, we will prepare a firm-fixed price for your consideration. Contact us to schedule a free consultation to discuss your training needs.

Introductory Facilitation Workshop

Next Date: June 3, 2026
Registration Fee: $499 per individual


Stop surviving meetings — start thriving in them.


Companies with 5,000 employees waste up to $100 million a year on unnecessary meetings. Teams of only 100 employees could save $2.5 million annually by eliminating unproductive meetings (CBS News). Our Meeting Management Workshop helps you reclaim that time, boost productivity, and turn every meeting into a success.

Participants will:

  • Analyze current meeting practices, including relevant research, the necessity of meetings, and roles and responsibilities
  • Develop a productive meeting agenda and plan
  • Design efficient and effective meetings
  • Demonstrate how to create a productive meeting environment

This training is designed for anyone who wants better results and engagement from their meetings.

Registration Fee: $995 per individual

Disorganized discussions. No decisions. Emotional fatigue that lingers for hours.

Harvard Business Review calls out poor facilitation as a major meeting killer. And according to Forbes, it’s costing organizations over $25,000 per employee every year in lost productivity.

Our Facilitation Skills Training equips your team to lead focused, outcome-driven meetings that energize—not exhaust.

Participants will leave with a certificate of completion and a copy of Meeting Management and Facilitation Skills by Stefanie Ashley and Sarah Gilbert — a resource for continued growth.

Topics Covered:

  • Fundamentals of Group Facilitation
  • Basic Principles of Group Work
  • Effective Communication Strategies
  • Various Facilitation Methods
  • Creating an Impactful Facilitated Session
  • Designing an Engaging Facilitation Experience  
  • Practice Leading Facilitate Activities
  • Managing Disruptive Group and Individual Behaviors

The training is designed for those who have little to no experience with facilitation and want to broaden their knowledge and skills as facilitators. It is recommended the Meeting Management Workshop be completed prior to registering for this workshop.

Next Dates: October 22 & 23, 2026

Registration Fee: $995 per individual

Step beyond the basics and become a facilitator who can guide even the most challenging discussions with confidence. This two-day advanced workshop equips experienced facilitators with the tools and techniques to turn intricate ideas into actionable outcomes and prepares you to tackle large groups, controversial issues, and high-stakes projects with skill and authority, whether leading brainstorming sessions, problem-solving initiatives, action planning, or team building retreats.

Participants will leave with a certificate of completion and a storyboard kit.

Topics Covered

  • Dealing with Controversial Issues
  • Conflict Management
  • Advanced Communication Strategies
  • Designing Constructive Group Conversations
  • Funneling Ideas into Action
  • Prioritization of Ideas
  • Reaching Consensus
  • Spinning Vague Ideas into Specific, Rich Ideas

This workshop is designed for those who have experience with facilitation and want to broaden their knowledge and skills as facilitators. It is required that you take the Facilitation Skills Workshop prior to this advanced session.

Registration Fee: $1,295 per individual

This interactive workshop gives you the proven tools and techniques for facilitating powerful, informed strategic planning sessions. You’ll learn how to guide teams—whether developing a new strategic plan or refining an existing one—through every stage of the process, and how to facilitate focused discussions and collaborative activities that build each component of the plan.

Each participant receives a Certificate of Completion and a Strategic Planning Workbook to use in their own organizations.

Topics Covered

  • Mission, Vision, and Core Values
  • Establishing Goals
  • Environmental Analysis
  • Long and Short-Term Action Planning
  • Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely (SMART) Objectives
  • Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis

This workshop is designed for those who have experience with facilitation and want to broaden their knowledge and skills as facilitators. Many professionals benefit from this training, including business owners, management professionals, trainers, and educators.

Next Dates: September 3 & 4, 2026

Registration Fee: $1,295 per individual

This two-day, hands-on workshop introduces participants to the art and practice of graphic recording: capturing group conversations, meetings, and ideas through live visuals. Participants will learn how to listen deeply, organize complex information, and translate spoken words into engaging visual maps that make ideas visible and memorable.

By the end of the workshop, participants will have the confidence and skills to graphically record discussions in real time and bring greater engagement and creativity to any meeting or event.

Participants will:

  • Apply all skills through guided graphic recording practice
  • Build skill in synthesis by listening for key ideas and organizing them visually
  • Develop comfort with layout and composition for large-scale visual notes
  • Learn the foundations of sketchnoting, lettering, and color use
  • Practice using strokes, lines, and seed shapes to build a visual vocabulary
  • Understand the purpose, mindset, and role of a graphic recorder in group settings

DACUM incorporates the use of a focus group in a facilitated storyboarding process to capture the major duties, tasks, knowledge, skills, and traits of an occupation. In this three-day training, trainees observe a panel of high-performing incumbent workers as they create an occupational profile. Throughout the workshop, trainees observe the panel, debrief with the instructor, and participate in the panel’s process in various ways that don’t interfere with the validity of the panel’s work. This “fishbowl” method allows trainees to see first-hand the exhilarating and challenging situations that can arise during meetings and how professionals deal with them.

Learn from the Best. Lead the Best.

Topics Covered

  • DACUM Philosophy and History
  • DACUM Job Analysis Process
  • Storyboarding
  • Determining Panel Members
  • Role of Panel Members, Facilitators, Recorders, and Observers
  • Meeting Design and Preparation
  • Meeting Logistics
  • DACUM Facilitation
  • Facilitation Tools and Supplies
  • Developing the Occupational Profile Chart

Who Should Attend?
This workshop is designed for those who have experience with facilitation and want to broaden their knowledge and skills as facilitators. Many professionals benefit from this training, including human resource professionals, managers, trainers, and educators. This training is valuable for anyone developing a training or education curriculum, but it also has other valuable uses as well.

When/Where Are Trainings Held?
This three-day training is conducted throughout the year in the Richmond, KY area and advertised on our website, as well as through direct e-mail notification. Workshops can also be arranged in other venues if an organization has an existing group that would like to receive training. When planning, it’s important to keep in mind this training involves conducting an actual DACUM Occupational Analysis. The Center can work with clients to develop a panel and coordinate the logistics. If you’d like to receive e-mail notifications about upcoming workshops or more information about providing a workshop at another location, please contact us.

The professional trainers and staff at the Facilitation Center provide trainings tailored to a client’s specific needs, whether you want training at our Center, your location, or a venue of your choice.

The staff can provide a great deal of support and assistance in planning and coordinating these trainings, as well as conducting the customized workshops. We would be happy to talk with you about your needs and brainstorm ways we can develop a customized training for your group. Once we’ve got an agreed-upon scope of work, we will prepare a firm-fixed price for your consideration. Contact us to schedule a free consultation to discuss your training needs.

Payments & Cancellations

Payments
Checks and all major credit cards are accepted. Fees must be paid in US dollars and made payable to Eastern Kentucky University. EKU faculty and staff may pay through EKU Inter-Account. Contact Elizabeth McKenzie for more information.

Cancellation Policy
Fees will be refunded, less a $25.00 cancellation processing fee, if cancellation or change resulting in a refund is received in writing no later than ten working days before the first day of training