Read the Room
Recognize a group's purpose, dynamics, and readiness before deciding how to intervene.
The Practice of Facilitation · Live cohort experience
Better conversations begin with better judgment.
A live, six-week cohort for people who lead consequential conversations. Learn to design purposeful conversations, navigate differences, and help groups make meaningful decisions, with expert guidance, hands-on practice, and a small community of peers.
Explore the January cohort →Jan 14–Feb 18, 2027
Designed for consequential conversations
Rooted in participatory practice
Led by Sayid Consulting
Sound familiar?
Bringing people together is one thing. Helping them move forward is another.
You’re leading a team meeting, community dialogue, strategic conversation or cross-departmental decision. The stakes are real and the dynamics are complicated...and a good agenda isn’t enough.
Maybe one voice dominates. Maybe everyone politely agrees and nothing changes. Maybe the group gets stuck, or an apparently simple question opens up tensions nobody prepared for.
The difference isn’t another icebreaker.
It’s knowing what the group needs, what the moment requires and how to respond with intention.
What you’ll be able to do
Know what a conversation needs. And how to respond.
Develop the judgment to design purposeful conversations, work with complexity, and make thoughtful choices when the unexpected happens.
Design with Intention
Build purposeful question sequences and conversation structures that help groups think and decide together.
Navigate Complexity
Work with silence, disagreement, and competing priorities without forcing premature agreement.
Adapt in the Moment
Notice when a conversation needs a different approach, and adjust your design in response.
6weeks of guided practice
22hours of live learning
4facilitation traditions to explore
20practitioners learning together
Your six-week journey
A deliberate beginning. Four deep dives. One hands-on studio.
Rather than teaching a grab bag of techniques, the journey follows the decisions you actually face before and during a consequential conversation.
OPENING
Orientation: Set the conditions
Meet the people, examine the work, and choose a conversation worth wrestling with.
Thursday, January 14, 2027 · 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ET · 2 hours
- Build relationships, expectations, and a shared practice agreement.
- Explore what makes facilitation consequential, including purpose, power and participation.
- Select one real-world conversation to carry through the cohort.
You’ll leave with: A real facilitation challenge and your own learning intention.
PART 01
What kind of conversation is this?
Read the group before you reach for an activity.
Thursday, January 21, 2027 · 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. ET · 4 hours
Participatory decision-making · Sam Kaner’s Diamond
- Diagnose whether a group needs to explore, make sense, decide or act.
- Recognize divergence, the groan zone and convergence without rushing to agreement.
- Choose interventions that support participation and forward movement.
You’ll leave with: A conversation diagnosis you can use before your next meeting.
PART 02
How do I structure a conversation that goes somewhere?
Turn scattered discussion into a sequence of purposeful thinking.
Thursday, January 28, 2027 · 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. ET · 4 hours
Technology of Participation (ToP®) · Focused Conversation / ORID
- Frame a clear purpose and outcome for a conversation.
- Design a focused conversation: Objective, Reflective, Interpretive and Decisional questions.
- Build a questioning pathway that moves toward meaningful conclusions.
You’ll leave with: A focused conversation guide built around a real challenge.
PART 03
What do I do when the conversation gets hard?
Work with conflict, difference and power, not around them.
Thursday, February 4, 2027 · 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. ET · 4 hours
Organization development · Deep Democracy-informed practice
- Spot how hierarchy, silence and unequal risk affect participation.
- Stay with disagreement without forcing false consensus.
- Practice moves that help surface competing views and protect dignity.
You’ll leave with: A practical set of interventions for difficult moments.
PART 04
What can I actually do in the room?
Choose, sequence and adapt structures with intention.
Thursday, February 11, 2027 · 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. ET · 4 hours
Liberating Structures · Participatory repertoire
- Experience participatory structures rather than collecting them as tips.
- Match invitations and interaction patterns to a clear purpose.
- Sequence and adapt structures for your people and context.
You’ll leave with: A usable mini-design with intentional participatory methods.
CLOSING
The Facilitation Studio
Test your judgment. Refine your design. Find your own way of working.
Thursday, February 18, 2027 · 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. ET · 4 hours
Bring the conversation you’ve been working on all along. In a supportive, hands-on studio, you’ll test a short segment, receive specific feedback, and make the design choices that matter.
- Design clinic: Name purpose, stakeholders, power dynamics and what success would look like.
- Micro-facilitation: Try a 10–12 minute segment in a small group.
- Feedback and redesign: Identify what invited participation, where the group got stuck, and what you would change.
- Transfer: Leave with a conversation design and concrete commitments for your next real gathering.
You’ll leave with: A tested conversation design, peer feedback and a personal facilitation practice plan.
The learning experience
You won’t just hear about facilitation. You’ll practice it.
The Practice of Facilitation is designed around participation, application, and reflection. You'll explore ideas with experienced practitioners, test approaches with peers, and work on conversations that matter in your own context.
Learn from experience
Participate in structures and conversations, then examine the choices that made them work, or not.
Practice in smaller groups
Use a real challenge from your work, with its actual people, dynamics, constraints and stakes.
Practice and get feedback
Try out questions, interventions and structures with others who are navigating similar challenges.
Leave with something usable
Carry forward a conversation plan, a stronger design lens and a repertoire you can adapt.
Meet your faculty
Different traditions.
Remarkable practitioners.
One coherent program.
Each practitioner brings depth you cannot get from a single-method workshop. Manal connects the four parts and helps translate them into your everyday practice.
Part 01 co-trainer
Ewen Le Borgne
The art of reading the room
Founder of Process Change · Associate, Community At Work
An international collaboration specialist and trainer who has worked across organizations, sectors and cultures. Ewen teaches Group Facilitation Skills and helps groups navigate divergence, the groan zone and collective decision-making.
Meet EwenPart 02 co-trainer
Alisa Oyler
The art of purposeful conversation
Certified ToP® Facilitator · Partners in Participation
Facilitator, trainer and curriculum designer whose practice spans the United States and international humanitarian settings, including Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Alisa brings deep experience with the ToP® Focused Conversation Method—and a gift for translating complex group thinking into practical, human conversations.
Meet AlisaPart 03 co-trainer
Laura Johansson
The art of staying with difficulty
MSOD · Certified ToP® Facilitator · Johansson Consulting
An organization development consultant, mentor trainer and cross-cultural facilitator who works across public, private and nonprofit settings. Laura brings extensive international experience and a grounded approach to difference, power, conflict and organizational change.
Meet LauraPart 04 co-trainer
Nancy White
The art of participation
Author · Liberating Structures Fieldbook (2026)
A globally respected facilitator and communities-of-practice pioneer who has spent decades designing inclusive collaboration online and in person. Nancy co-authored the 2026 Liberating Structures Fieldbook with Keith McCandless and helps practitioners move beyond activities toward purposeful patterns of participation.
Meet NancyProgram host & integrator
Manal Sayid
The art of bringing it all together
Founder, Sayid Consulting · MBA · ICA ToP®-trained facilitator
Facilitator, strategist and trainer supporting organizations facing consequential decisions and change. Manal founded The Practice of Facilitation to bring distinct traditions together, with a consistent focus on power, relationships, participation and real-world judgment.
Meet Manal
Is this for you?
For people who take bringing others together seriously.
Whether facilitation is your profession or simply part of your role, this experience is for people who want to be more intentional about how groups think, decide, and move forward.
- Managers and organizational leaders guiding teams through decisions and change.
- Community engagement and program professionals bringing different voices into shared work.
- Partnership and cross-sector convenors helping people navigate competing priorities.
- Facilitators and consultants looking to deepen their judgment, not simply expand their toolkit.
No formal facilitation certification required. Come with a real conversation or challenge you'd like to work on, and a willingness to practice.
“Good facilitation is not knowing more activities, it's knowing what kind of conversation is needed, and what to do when the room changes.” — The Practice of Facilitation
Frequently asked questions
Before you join.
When is the next cohort, and what does it cost?
The founding cohort runs January 14–February 18, 2027, on six consecutive Thursdays. Tuition is $2,500 CAD. Contact us for enrollment information; tax treatment and payment terms will be confirmed before purchase.
What is the time commitment?
Plan for 22 hours of live learning: a two-hour orientation (January 14, 10 a.m.–noon ET), four four-hour expert-led sessions (January 21, 28 and February 4, 11), and a four-hour Facilitation Studio (February 18). All four-hour sessions run 10 a.m.–2 p.m. ET. Expect some preparation and application between sessions.
What happens in The Facilitation Studio?
You bring a real facilitation challenge, run a short segment with peers, get constructive feedback, and revise your design. This is guided rehearsal and reflection, not an exam or a public performance. You’ll take away a tested conversation plan and a set of next steps.
Is this just a Liberating Structures or ToP® course?
No. The program brings together participatory decision-making, ToP® Focused Conversation, organization development and Deep Democracy-informed approaches, and Liberating Structures. The connective thread is facilitation judgment.
What if I’ve never formally trained as a facilitator?
You do not need a facilitator title or certification. You will benefit most if you already lead discussions, meetings, consultations or collective decisions as part of your work.
Will we talk about power and conflict?
Yes. Power, difference, access, conflict and unequal participation are central to the program, not optional topics. The course does not replace specialist training for mediation or trauma response.
Can you offer this for our organization?
Yes. Sayid Consulting is also exploring customized in-house learning for leadership teams, organizations and networks. Contact us with your context and needs.
January 2027 · Live cohort
Make the next consequential conversation one you are ready to lead.
Six Thursdays, January 14–February 18, 2027. Twenty-two live learning hours. Tuition: $2,500 CAD. Enrollment is by inquiry until a secure registration and payment page is connected.
January 2027 · $2,500 CAD
Request the enrollment details, or ask about a private cohort for your team.
Register to join the January cohort →Practice lineage matters. Sam Kaner and collaborators developed the Diamond of Participatory Decision-Making. Technology of Participation (ToP®) methods originate with the Institute of Cultural Affairs and its international community. Liberating Structures were developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless, with ongoing contributions from a worldwide community of practitioners.