Build the skills and confidence to facilitate extension activities that are engaging, purposeful and productive. In this half-day online course, we turn facilitation fundamentals into practical approaches you can use with farmers, advisors and other stakeholders. We’ll explore the facilitator’s role and simple techniques to encourage participation, manage group dynamics and support meaningful conversations that lead to action.
Practical facilitation for extension
Is this course for you?
- You work as an extension practitioner, farm advisor, or researcher and want your meetings, workshops, or group activities to be more engaging and effective.
- You design or facilitate workshops, field days, webinars, or discussions and want to feel more confident guiding groups.
- You are new to facilitation, or largely self-taught, and want a clear, practical foundation.
- You want introductory-level guidance that fits real extension and advisory contexts.
Why enrol?
- Move beyond intuition to practical ways of applying facilitation principles in extension and advisory work.
- Improve how we design and run group activities so they are more purposeful, inclusive, and productive.
- Build confidence facilitating groups with different personalities, experience levels, and expectations.
- Strengthen our ability to explain and justify our facilitation approach to colleagues, funders, and partners.
What you'll achieve
Through this half-day, highly interactive workshop, you’ll explore topics like:
- The core role of the facilitator and how it differs from presenting or teaching.
- Foundational facilitation principles and why they matter in extension contexts.
- Why some group activities fail to engage participants and how to avoid common traps.
- Practical techniques to encourage participation and manage group dynamics.
- Simple tools and examples to strengthen your own facilitation practice.
By the end of this course, you’ll have a clear, practical understanding of facilitation fundamentals and a small toolkit of techniques you can apply immediately in workshops, meetings, and other group learning activities.
Who you will learn from
Dr John James is deeply passionate about enabling change and fostering innovation. With a wealth of experience, he specialises in helping organisations enhance the skills and capabilities of their teams in all aspects of extension and adoption. As an Adjunct Associate Professor with The University of Queensland, John brings a practical, hands-on approach to his work, bridging the gap between theory and real-world application. John is a keen supporter of the Australasia-Pacific Extension Network (APEN), having been a past President, the convenor for two international conferences, and is an APEN Life Member.
Denise Bewsell is passionate about helping people enable change and strengthen how they work with others. With a background in Agricultural Science and a Masters exploring how people respond to information, she combines research insight with real-world experience. As a Principal at Scarlatti, Denise leads the extension programme design area and has worked extensively across agriculture supporting facilitators and researchers. An APEN Life Member and associate editor of its journal, she’s excited to help others build capability through Enablers of Change.
Course details
- Format: Three-hour online workshop.
- Date: TBA
- Time: TBA
- Investment: The price for this course is A$350 ex GST.
- Register your interest: Simply add your details to this form and we’ll let you know when the course is next offered.
Run group sessions that support engagement, not silence
Take the next step toward more effective extension practice. Enrol to strengthen how you design and facilitate group sessions that encourage participation, manage group dynamics, and support meaningful conversations that lead to real-world change.
Secure your spot now
Simply add your details to our waitlist and we’ll let you know when the course is next offered.
FAQs
What is the Practical facilitation for extension workshop about?
This half-day online workshop introduces the core principles of effective facilitation and how to apply them in extension and advisory practice. It focuses on building confidence and capability to plan and run group sessions that encourage participation, manage group dynamics, and support purposeful conversations with farmers, advisors, and other stakeholders.
Do I need prior facilitation experience to attend?
No. This is an introductory course designed for people who are new to facilitation or who facilitate regularly but have never had formal training.
Who is this course designed for?
This course is designed for anyone working in extension, research, or agricultural engagement who facilitates or supports group activities with farmers, advisors, or other stakeholders.
Is it only for people in Australia?
No, this course is open to anyone, no matter their location or nationality. While we expect most participants will be located across Australia, we’re looking forward to people from New Zealand and other countries joining in. We’ve scheduled the live sessions at 11:30 am AEDT to accommodate as many time zones as possible.
Can I register multiple people from my organisation at once?
Yes. Simply list all the participants’ names and email addresses in the appropriate fields of the registration form, and then provide the name and email address of the person making the booking in the final comments field, and the tax invoice will be sent to them.
Are places limited?
Yes. To make the workshop engaging and worthwhile, participant numbers are capped. This ensures plenty of opportunity for discussion and interaction with the trainers.
How is the workshop delivered?
The session is delivered live via Zoom. You’ll take part in interactive discussions and activities, with practical examples you can apply immediately in your work.
Do I need any special software or account?
No special software or account is required. You’ll receive a Zoom link by email before the workshop—just click to join. Please check beforehand that you have the latest version of Zoom installed on your computer.
What is the cost?
The registration fee is A$350 ex GST.
How can I pay?
We prefer payment by bank transfer, as this avoids processing costs. However, for your convenience, you can also pay by credit card (Visa, Mastercard, or American Express) through our secure Stripe payment gateway.
Are there any extra fees?
Only when paying by credit card, as Stripe charges a small processing fee that is automatically added to your total. For Australian cards, this is 1.7% + A$0.30 (inc GST). For international cards, this is 3.5% + A$0.30 (ex GST). These charges are passed on at cost so that we receive the full workshop or course amount. The total payable is displayed clearly before you confirm payment.
Why do you pass on Stripe fees?
As a small business, we prefer to keep our standard prices as low as possible and only recover processing costs from those choosing to pay by card. Paying by bank transfer avoids these fees entirely.
Is my payment secure?
Yes. All card payments are encrypted and processed securely by Stripe, a PCI-compliant global payment provider. We do not store or have access to your credit-card details.
How do I register?
Click the link below to secure your spot.
What if I can’t attend at that date and time?
If the scheduled date for this course doesn’t suit you, simply add your details to this form and we’ll let you know when the course is next offered.
Are refunds available?
We offer refunds up to seven days before the course date; after that point, refunds aren’t available. If something comes up within those final seven days, another person from your organisation is welcome to attend in your place at no additional cost. To arrange this, just email us the full name, role, and contact details of the substitute attendee and we’ll update the registration.
If you have any other questions, feel free to email us: info@enablersofchange.com.au. We’re here to help!