Finding My Own Voice in Facilitation

A journey from technical training to transformative facilitation

It was the late ’90s, and I found myself sitting in a room at Carlson Wagonlit Travel, watching my colleague Juliann Wiese work her magic. I had always considered myself a pretty effective trainer, but what Juliann was doing was something entirely different. While I was used to sharing my experiences and teaching others through technical training, Juliann seemed to pull the best out of everyone in the room. She didn’t just tell them what to do—she invited them to share, collaborate, and contribute in a way that was engaging and respectful of their collective knowledge. She created an environment where everyone felt heard, where the group’s wisdom took center stage, and it was a revelation to me.

It was like she held a key I didn’t even know I was searching for. Watching Juliann that day planted a seed in my mind. It showed me a new approach that wasn’t about being the one with all the answers, but about facilitating something greater: a shared exploration of ideas. It wasn’t just about imparting information; it was about fostering connection, creating opportunities for learning to emerge naturally from the group itself. And as someone with a background in psychology, particularly in industrial-organizational psychology, it began to dawn on me that facilitation could be the key to helping organizations truly thrive. I started to understand that the role of a facilitator wasn’t to be a teacher in the traditional sense, but a catalyst for insight and growth.

Over the years, Juliann became a role model for me. I worked alongside her, trying to learn her methods—though at the time, I didn’t even have a word for what I was seeing. I just knew I liked how it made people feel valued and engaged. It was a way of leading that allowed others to shine, and I couldn’t get enough of it. I realized that facilitation was about empowering people, about giving them the space to contribute their best ideas and make meaningful connections. It was more than just leading a session; it was creating an atmosphere where magic could happen.

Curiosity Opened New Doors

After Carlson Wagonlit, I moved into a leadership role at Arizona Public Service. My team was responsible for training call center employees to deal with everything from billing issues to safety concerns. This time, I wasn’t just training—I was leading. And the shift in perspective was profound. I realized that I could no longer know everything my team did. I couldn’t tell them exactly how to do their jobs; I had to help them succeed in a different way. I had to trust their expertise and guide them to find their own solutions, which required an entirely new mindset.

Facilitation became more and more important as I stepped away from technical training and moved into leadership. I wasn’t just teaching skills anymore; I was helping people thrive. I found myself putting more emphasis on community and partnership—not just as words, but as the foundation for everything we did. It was an evolving practice for me, learning how to help others bring their best, and a reminder that sometimes leadership is about stepping back and letting the team step forward. I learned that facilitation could be a powerful tool for leadership, allowing people to feel seen, heard, and capable of achieving great things together.

When I moved on to a role at Choice Hotels, I dove into organizational development. I was also working on my PhD at the time and my work, education and experience combined to support the people in the organization in unqiue ways. My work focused on talent reviews, succession planning, and performance systems—all areas that required an entirely different level of facilitation. I brought in ideas from change management programs I had studied, including Prosci, but I often felt like I was fumbling my way through, LEGOing together pieces of different approaches that seemed to fit. It was a learning journey, and I loved every minute of it. Each new project was an opportunity to experiment, to test different facilitation techniques, and to see what resonated most with people. The more I learned, the more I realized that facilitation wasn’t just a skill—it was an art, and it was one that I was committed to mastering. At the same time I incorporated the skills of professional and executive coaching. I completed my professional coaching credential (PCC) with 500 hours of coaching experience I was certified by the International Coaching Federation (ICF). The impact of learning the skills of coaching had a profound effect on me. Particularly in how I faciliate; the skills of listening and asking powerful questions apply seamlessly to facilitation.

Finding Voltage Control

I heard about Voltage Control through Change Enthusiasm Global (CEG). A colleague of mine noticed a post for a instructional designer role and while that isn’t what I’m focused on, I really saw something in the team and what they were doing really spoke to me.They offer the connection to emotions, which is the missing link for most change management programs.  In a perfect turn of fate, they ended up bring me on as an advisor instead of offering me the ID role. The first order of business was to build out and launch there flagship workshop offering and they had hired Voltage Control to facilitate that process using their Workshop Design methodology. 

I had been through many training programs, learned a lot from watching other facilitators, and even delivered some pretty good sessions myself—but  I knew there was more to it. I was always looking for the science behind the art of facilitation, and watching Erik and Douglas work was a shining example of that. I immediately knew that their training offered real potential. It was a chance to take everything I had learned so far and add a level of depth and rigor that I felt was missing.

As part of CEG’s partnership with Voltage Control, the require their facilitators to complete Voltage Control’s Facilitation Certification. While it was framed to me as a requirement for my role with CEG, it was more than that—it was a chance to learn what made the facilitators at Voltage Control so effective. I wanted to see behind the curtain and understand the techniques they used, the theories they applied, and how they structured these experiences. I wanted to take what I had been LEGOing together and finally make it into something more cohesive. I was eager to learn how to create sessions that were not only effective but also transformative, sessions that people would remember and talk about long after they were over.

The Journey to Certification

The Certification experience was more than I had hoped for. One of the biggest highlights for me was working with Mural. It was my first time using the platform, and it opened up a whole new way of engaging people in virtual sessions. Suddenly, virtual facilitation wasn’t just a necessity; it was an opportunity to bring people together in ways I hadn’t thought possible before. I learned how to leverage visual collaboration tools to make sessions dynamic and interactive, and it completely transformed the way I approached online meetings.

The structure of the program also stood out to me. There was something about having a final portfolio project that really pushed me. It wasn’t just about learning; it was about showing what I had learned, about putting something out into the world that was uniquely mine. For me, that turned into a redesign of my website, using facilitation principles to show the kind of work I do and the kind I aspire to do. It was a powerful exercise in defining my identity as a facilitator, and it made me think deeply about my goals and the impact I wanted to have.

Another highlight was the community. There were so many diverse, talented people in my cohort, and it was inspiring to see how they approached facilitation—their creativity, their unique perspectives, and their willingness to share and learn from one another. It was truly a community of practice. We weren’t just learning from the instructors; we were learning from each other, and that collective learning was incredibly powerful. I formed connections that have lasted well beyond the program, and I continue to be inspired by the work my peers are doing.

Transforming My Work

Since completing the certification, facilitation has become an even bigger part of my work. I use Mural in almost every virtual session I run now—it keeps people engaged and connected, even when we’re not in the same room. I’ve also leaned heavily on the resources we were given during the program. Whenever I need a new activity or an icebreaker, I go back to the books and materials from Voltage Control. It’s like having a toolkit that’s always there when I need it. I feel more prepared, more creative, and more willing to try new things.

More than anything, though, the program gave me confidence. Confidence that I knew what I was doing, that I could create the right environment for people to succeed, and that I had a community behind me. That confidence has transformed the way I approach my work. I’m not just facilitating meetings; I’m creating spaces where people can truly connect and make progress. I’ve seen firsthand how the right facilitation can lead to breakthroughs, to moments of insight that change the direction of a project or even an entire team’s dynamic. It’s incredibly rewarding, and it reminds me why I fell in love with facilitation in the first place.

Looking to the Future

Looking ahead, I want to keep building on what I’ve learned. I’d love to write a book—maybe a few—about leadership and facilitation. I want to share the lessons I’ve learned, the stories of transformation I’ve witnessed, and the power of facilitation to make real change. I’m also passionate about mentoring others who are just starting out, whether they’re looking to become facilitators or just want to make a bigger impact within their organizations. For me, facilitation is about helping teams thrive, and I want to continue doing that, whether it’s through direct work, writing, or community involvement.

If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that the work we do as facilitators matters. It helps people communicate better, work more effectively, and ultimately thrive in their environments. I want to keep being a part of that. The more I facilitate, the more I see the potential for facilitation to transform not just meetings, but entire organizations. It’s about building cultures where collaboration is the norm, where people feel empowered to contribute, and where innovation can flourish.

To anyone considering the certification: Don’t freak out about the portfolio. Lean into it. Use it as a chance to grow, to think about who you are as a facilitator, and who you want to be. The process isn’t just about getting certified—it’s about evolving, and figuring out what facilitation means to you. The more you lean in, the more you’ll get out of it. And trust me, it’s worth it.