Inspired Facilitator, Engaged Group: Experiential Strategies for Group Facilitators
Fill your toolbox with creative, practical, brain-based activities and techniques to cultivate a positive, engaged group experience.
Jen Stanchfield inspires facilitators across all fields — HR professionals, coaches, trainers, youth program leaders, to name a few — to lead groups effectively with intention and purpose. Jen helps new and seasoned facilitators ignite their passion for group facilitation and spark excitement for group participation.
Whether you’re looking to solidify foundational skills or you’re seeking inspiration and new ideas, Jen will empower you to hone your unique style and build your capacity. Take your facilitation to the next level with techniques to become more invitational, responsive, and reflective.
Jen’s Foundational Books on Experiential Facilitation and Teaching Methods
“Jen emphasizes that reflection is one of the most effective ways to promote learning and growth. With her techniques, the process becomes enjoyable and approachable, breaking away from the typical idea of reflection as a question-and-answer exercise. She makes you think about reflection in a whole new light. ” ~ Gwen Roemer, Associate Director, International Programs Office at the Carl H. Lindner College of BusinessWhat are your goals?
Jen’s approach is participant-centered, strengths-based, and collaborative, offering practical, brain-based strategies across diverse modalities. She acts as a partner in learning to model responsive facilitation methods for engaging participants physically, emotionally, socially, and intellectually.
- Cultivate the conditions for open communication, relationships, and trust-building
- Adapt to group conditions fluidly, handling difficult situations and tough conversations with confidence
- Build on the existing capabilities of your groups and enhance participation from reluctant group members
- Thoughtfully design, adapt, and sequence experiences to enhance outcomes and meet specific group development goals
- Facilitate with increased clarity, confidence, and positive impact
- Foster shared ownership and a unifying vision within your groups
These strategies are adaptable across grade levels, roles, and learning contexts.
“Jen’s genius does not flow out of ego or the need to be recognized, but rather to contribute to the field of experiential education in a way that builds resilience, leadership and community. Jen is a facilitator extraordinaire who is able to lead groups of diverse participants, de-centering herself by elevating the voices of the group. Her company, Experiential Tools, is a leading source of training and facilitation tools that practitioners all over the world rely on for our programs. I can say definitively that Jen is one of the best people I know.”
Workshops: deepen your understanding of the “why” and “how” of experiential group facilitation
Integrate neuroscience and experiential facilitation principles for actionable strategies you can adapt immediately to enhance group outcomes. Meaningful reflection is woven intentionally throughout sessions, for increased depth of understanding, connection, and ownership.Choose from a sampling of popular workshops designed specifically for facilitators, or collaborate with Jen to design a workshop tailored to your organization’s specific needs
Inspire, Engage, Connect, and Reflect: Foundations of Experiential Group Facilitation, Training, and Teaching
Deepen engagement and maximize group outcomes with the art and science of intentional facilitation. Inspire meaningful participation and enliven group work by setting the conditions for welcoming and productive spaces through intentional design and sequencing. Cultivate participant-centered dialogue and active reflection to foster a creative and collaborative community. Get participants moving, talking, and reflecting with ease.
Bring Learning to Life with Active Reflection
Weave accessible reflection throughout your programs as an engaging core part of experiences rather than an obligatory report out. Increase emotional connection and depth of understanding with multiple modalities, including movement, metaphor, art, and interactive dialogue. Facilitate continued learning beyond the group experience to inspire participants of all ages to become lifelong reflective learners.
Gathering with Intention: Techniques for Building Connected Communities
Cultivate collaborative experiences that strengthen relationships and bring people together for a shared purpose and sense of belonging. Build rapport, transform organizational climate, and empower participants by fostering deeper communication, self and social awareness, conflict resolution, and gratitude. Create and maintain a positive, effective learning or working community where everyone feels safe and supported to spark more creativity, productivity, and resilience.
ALL IN and Empowered: An Invitational Approach to Facilitation and Program Design
Intentionally design and sequence interactive, strengths-based programs to meet participants' differing needs and personalities, building confidence, rapport, and comfort with the group process. Plan participant-centered experiences with the introvert in mind to promote empathy, respect, and collaboration, and ensure that every community member feels valued and appreciated.
Collaborate with Jen to Create a Custom Workshop for your Organization
Jen’s interactive workshops explore the why behind the practice to offer practical tools and techniques and the confidence you need to adapt them right away. Each workshop blends the foundations of experiential education, neuroscience research, and tangible strategies based on decades of experience with diverse groups and students. Her participant-centered approach creates a forum for participants to learn from each other. Reach out to Jen to start a conversation about your organization’s unique goals.
Community of Practice: Ongoing Professional Learning, Consultation, and Mentorship
In this collaborative professional learning model, facilitators deepen their experiential facilitation skills through sustained mentorship, embedded support, and connection with a community of peers. This ongoing format allows you to explore new skills and strategies within your own groups, while receiving the support of a professional facilitator and fellow practitioners.
Through regular check-ins, co-creative problem-solving, and shared learning, you’ll gain confidence in facilitating using experiential methods, expand your repertoire of strategies for integrating social-emotional learning, and refine your ability to design meaningful, participant-centered group experiences that promote lasting growth and resilience.
Experiential Tools for Engagement and Reflection
Based on requests by the educators and facilitators in her programs, Jen has developed many of the reflection and engagement tools she uses in her own facilitation into products you can use in your work.
Making experiential, brain-based methods of engagement, reflection, and group dialogue accessible is a passion of Jen’s work and every tool she offers is hand-selected for usability, quality, and aesthetic appeal.
Elevate Your Facilitation Practice
Author, educator & facilitator Jen Stanchfield’s innovative workshops and books blend the art of teaching and facilitation with the latest neuroscience. With over three decades of diverse experience in mental health, K-12 education, higher ed, and organizational team building, her work has inspired leaders across generations to spark authentic engagement, cultivate emotional connection, and build resilient communities.
Begin a conversation with Jen today to move beyond surface-level ice-breakers into crafting more creative, rewarding experiences that truly transform.
