Facilitation is about creating bridges between people.
Those bridges can be semantic and factual; they can be inventive and suggestive; they can involve „translation“ of one participant’s meaning to another’s understanding; they can mean putting up stop signs to protect participants‘ feelings and allow them to hold their heads high and they can be bridges of energy and stimulation to get participants thinking and working together.
One of the most effective bridges is a smile, which is infectious and can even lead to laughter, one of the best ways to cement humans together.
I don’t always smile when moderating. My mimicry obviously tends to reflect my feelings – concentration (e.g. on complex material) or concern (e.g. for the process) will often produce a frown. But there are many opportunities to smile and we should use them: welcoming participants individually and as a group, thanking them for input, encouraging participation, etc. I’m not talking about forced smiles or smiling when there’s clearly no cause (e.g. when recognising a crisis or standing up for process fairness). I’m talking about liking (I would like to actually say „loving“, but it’s been so romanticised by today’s usage) one’s participants and accepting them for who they are. Because they are the resources and the capacity of the process. They are its problem-solvers and driving force of change and implementation.
We should show them we appreciate them being there and trust in their competence and ability. And what better way do we human animals have to do that than with a smile?
A smile is a self-fulfilling prophecy: all will be well!
