Preface

So, you are now the teacher, instructor, trainer, the person who will be leading a class of adult learners. In other words, you’re now a facilitator of learning experiences. Where do you go from here? You may not know it, but you’ve already embarked on the journey to becoming a great facilitator! The mere fact that you’re reading this book means that you have already discovered that facilitating learning is not the same thing as presenting information (but more on that as we go along). That’s key to your success.

What Is a Facilitator, Anyway?

The expression, “Those who can, do; and those who can’t, teach,” could not be farther off the mark. The fact is that those who teach, or facilitate learning, and do it well know their subjects (both content and application of that content to the job) better than anyone else.

Subject matter expertise is the foundation for facilitating an effective learning experience. Furthermore, facilitation proficiency—the focus of this book—is a new skill set that supports your ability to facilitate others’ learning and application of the subject matter.

The word facilitate comes from the Latin word, facilis, which means “to make easy.” As facilitators, that is our job: to guide the learning process and make the journey as smooth and as rewarding as possible for our learners—to make the learning easy.