New Product! The Labyrinth Walk We’re excited to introduce a new product this week, The Labyrinth Walk. This portable Labyrinth measures 16 feet in diameter and is designed to allow trainers, facilitators and organizations put a Labyrinth wherever they need it. Made from highly durable vinyl, this Labyrinth can be used indoors or outdoors on […]
Category Archives: Tips for Trainers
Essential Staff Training Activities You expect staff to think on their feet, why not train them on their feet? Many of my clients are in the summer camp industry, and summer is just around the corner! As you start to plan your staff training week, make sure you incorporate a wide range of helpful experiential […]
The Elephant In the Room… Have you ever in the middle of facilitating a program, and you can tell there is a big elephant in the room that no one is talking about? I’ve definitely been there, and I have one tool that I always keep in my toolbox that is my go-to activity to […]
A ‘Piece of Advice’ I love a good metaphor. In fact, even the name of my company is one big metaphor. Training Wheels: you only use training for a little while, before you take the Training Wheels off and ‘make it your own.’ That’s how all of my trainings are conducted. I’m only there for […]
May the 4th be with you… Tomorrow is International Star Wars Day, or May the 4th… and I love a good play on words. I also have two teenage boys (and husband!) who love the Star Wars movies, so they each plan on wearing their favorite ‘geek’ t-shirt to school (and work!) tomorrow. For today’s […]
Leadership On the Fly This morning as you are reading this newsletter, I’m on my annual fly fishing trip. Once a year I head out to the Arkansas River for a week of unplugged solitude. The Caddis fly is hatching right now and the rainbows and browns are hungry. Michelle Fly Fishing I started fly […]
A-Ten-Shun! Playing With a Full Deck Turns 10! It’s hard to believe that my book, Playing With a Full Deck, has been out for 10 years now. That completely blows my mind! Playing With a Full Deck I’ve been hanging around Jokers most of my life, so it makes sense that I like playing cards! […]
Facilitator Tip: Hoop Pass This activity is an oldie but a goodie. It probably originated with Karl Rohnke. This was one of the first activities I learned when I took my first job as a teambuilding facilitator. Although I haven’t used it in a little while, it’s still a favorite. You can use it with […]
Facilitator Tip: The Versatility of the Bull Ring I still remember the first time I saw the Bull Ring activity. I was in grad school and attending my first AEE conference in Lake Geneva, WI, and I fell in love with the versatility of this tool. I thought I would share several different ways you […]
Facilitator Tip: FUNdoing interview with Chris Cavert Last November I had the privilege of sitting down with dear friend, colleague and fellow teambuilding author, Chris Cavert of FUNdoing. Chris was the very first person I met in my first class in graduate school at Minnesota State University at Mankato. We were both attending getting our […]