Facilitator Diaries: What It’s Really Like to Lead Experiential Learning

To help dive into the life of facilitators we’ve asked some of our amazing facilitators some questions to help you get a great insight of what it really is like to lead experiential learning. If you are thinking of becoming a facilitator, are interested in experiential learning or are a learner and want some behind the scenes intel this is really helpful!

What does being a facilitator mean to you?

“Being a facilitator in experiential learning means guiding people through powerful, hands-on experiences where they draw their own insights instead of being told what to think. It’s about holding space, encouraging reflection, and creating opportunities for growth through doing.” Carl

What first led you to experiential learning?

“Loving delivering learning.” Jo

What is the hardest part of leading experiential learning?

“The hardest part is letting go of control. As a facilitator, you can design the environment, but you cannot predict or steer every outcome. It requires trust that participants will engage honestly and that meaningful learning will come from the process—even if it looks messy at first.” Carl

What do you think people misunderstand most about experiential learning?

“Sometimes they think it's just doing lots of icebreakers or games, they don't understand that it's about enabling every aspect of learning to be part of an experience.” Shirley

Share a story about when things didn’t go as planned in an experiential session? What did you learn from it?

“In one session, I had designed an activity for team cooperation, but participants ended up competing aggressively instead, which derailed the intended outcome. At first, I considered it a failure, but during debrief, the group recognised patterns of competitiveness that also existed in their workplace. It became one of the richest discussions I’d ever facilitated. I learned that “failure” in an experiential session often opens the door to deeper learning.” Carl

What do you most enjoy about experiential learning?

“Seeing learners getting it! Those learning ‘aha’ moments.” Jo

What do you get out of experiential learning?

“I love witnessing the moments when something clicks—when participants see a connection between the activity and their real-life behaviours. That spark of recognition feels transformative, and it often leads to lasting change.” Carl

How do you feel leading experiential learning has helped you?

“I'm even more open minded and more accepting that everyone is different and will take a range of different things from the same input.” Jo

What is one of your best memories of leading experiential learning?

“That's difficult, as that's every single time I run a work shop. My best memories currently are the most recent, so working with some amazing managers from Azzurri this week, who did an great job of 'The Colour Game'. I was entranced by their discussion.” Shirley

Who or what has influenced your journey with being a facilitator for experiential learning the most?

“Probably Dr Roger Greenaway. I did a lot of learning and thinking with him in the early days and he inspired me to make reviewing as interactive and engaging as activities.” Shirley

We would love to hear your experiences with experiential learning! Drop us a comment or message privately, feel free to ask any more questions if you’d like to know more…