John James

Have you ever almost finished running an event, and as people are heading out the door to go home, thought to yourself—I should have checked how that session went? What one simple tool can you use to do this?  In today’s episode we’re going to explore a simple but effective evaluation tool for the enablers of change toolbox—the dartboard. As the name suggests the evaluation dartboard uses the picture… Read More »A simple but effective evaluation tool… the dartboard!

When you’ve been invited to give a presentation and you walk out on the stage—or step up onto a wooden box at the front of a farmer’s shed—and you look into the eyes of the audience, wouldn’t it be great if you could read their minds to know just what they wanted to hear from you? No, we don’t mean some kind of science fiction mind control, but close to… Read More »How to easily use online polls and surveys

We launched the Enablers of Change concept at the APEN conference in Darwin on the 13th of  September 2019, so we’re celebrating our first anniversary! We know many of you are wondering what the story is behind this adventure story, and how we got here today. So happy first anniversary to us – we’ve made it through a whole year! And this is our 36th episode. That’s three dozen… Read More »Happy 1st anniversary! The story behind this adventure story…

If you were just starting out as a newly appointed extension agent, what advice do you wish you’d been told? In today’s episode we’re going to talk about our top tips for those of you who might be new to extension. Maybe you’re wondering, what should I try, who should I talk to, what should I read? Maybe you just need to get your teeth into your new job! Whatever… Read More »Four top tips for newcomers to extension

How do you stop Post-it Notes from curling up and falling off the wall you’ve just stuck them to? Post-it Notes are a common tool in the enablers of change toolkit. Yet it appears many of us do not know how to use them correctly. In today’s episode we’re going to share with you a really simple way to overcome this problem.  While Post-it Notes have been around for… Read More »How to stop Post-it Notes curling and falling off

What two little words can improve your conversations, at both work and home? They can also help you gather richer data and negotiate more effectively. Words are important and choosing the right ones can make a big difference. When we start a question with ‘Why’, it can easily take on an accusing tone. For instance “Why did you do that?” is often a good way to start a heated argument.… Read More »Two little words to transform your conversations

What’s the best way of designing a learning activity for adults? Whether it be a workshop, an online forum or even a podcast? Surely there are some principles we could follow?  As an enabler of change you may have heard about the six adult learning principles and wondered what they were. In today’s episode we’re going to explore these principles. For those of you new to extension, and even… Read More »What are the six adult learning principles?

Does anyone remember when blogs became a thing? They’ve been around for a while now and we think there are some good ones for enablers of change. So today’s post is our list of the top five blogs for enablers of change.  The first one on our list is by Les Robinson. Les lives near Sydney and has been involved with community change and facilitation for a number of… Read More »Top five blogs for enablers of change

Today’s episode is another in our occasional mythbuster series! We’re going to explore Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, something that we’ve seen pop up in many different places. But as enablers of change, we shouldn’t just accept something because it’s been said so many times that most people believe it. We’re going to delve deeper and explore the facts. So, let’s explore this idea of the hierarchy of needs. Maslow’s… Read More »Mythbuster… Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

While there have been many tips shared about running a successful webinar, in today’s episode we’re going to share with you some best practice tips for preparing for a webinar. It’s not good enough to just turn up at the webinar you’re delivering and hope it’ll run smoothly and that you’ll have a crowd of eager viewers. So we’re going to cover the essential steps to preparing for a… Read More »Preparing for a successful webinar

In this episode we’re going to explore a way of finding out some information about your audience while getting them moving. This can work in large or small groups and is a great way of mixing people up and increasing the energy in the room. It’s a really simple exercise, and done well, it can get people really engaged, asking questions and having some fun. Best of all, you… Read More »Sociometry: finding out about your audience and get them moving!

In today’s episode we’re sharing one of John’s pet peeves with you… we’re going to talk all about capitalisation, fonts and layouts that reduce readability and comprehension.   Like us, you probably put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into a well-written article. Whether it be a fact sheet, a case study or a simple newsletter article, all your effort can be undermined by how you actually print the words… Read More »Stop shouting at me… the excessive use of capitals and other readability issues

In this episode we’re going to explore learning and dig into what the evidence-based research tells us about what helps us learn new concepts. As we were developing this episode, we were initially thinking about those people who attend our workshops or forums. But much of this material is applicable if you are doing some part-time study or if you have children or friends doing more formal study at school… Read More »Five sure-fire ways to improve learning

In today’s blog post we’re going to take you through our top five journal articles for enablers of change. Why do we think journal articles are important? Well it’s because effective enablers of change use research to inform what we do. Journal articles are helpful and can offer ideas we may not have thought about. It’s like having an unofficial mentor to guide you! These articles have helped us,… Read More »Top five journal articles for enablers of change

In this blog post we’re doing our third mythbusters session! Let’s not just accept something because it’s been said so many times that most people believe it. We are going to delve deeper and explore the facts, taking an evidence-based approach. So, let’s explore… learning styles, and see whether they are actually helpful for extension! Because if they are, then as enablers of change we will want to better understand… Read More »Mythbuster… are learning styles actually helpful for extension?

Today we’re going to explore using de Bono’s six thinking hats to unravel our thinking. It’s a simple but effective way to help groups deal with complex situations and be able to move forward with their decision making.  John remembers meeting Edward de Bono back in 2006 when he ran a workshop about lateral thinking in Brisbane. It was a great workshop and he kept everyone interested the whole day… Read More »Unravel your thinking with de Bono’s six thinking hats

With so many of us suddenly needing to run online meetings, in this episode we’re going to cover our top three tips for facilitating online meetings. Why’s this important? Because so many of us are experiencing what is officially now known as Zoom fatigue. Just this last week Zoom passed the milestone of having 300 million people using Zoom in one day! That’s a lot of competition for people’s eyes… Read More »Top three tips for successfully facilitating online meetings

Our hearts go out to all those who’ve been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s brought dramatic and unprecedented change to the way we operate. While physical distancing has sadly become part of our day-to-day lives, as enablers of change many of us have quickly pivoted and found new ways to engage with our clients.  While this is encouraging, it can also be when unforeseen events change the trajectory of… Read More »Use a reflexive monitor to keep your project on-track

As an enabler of change, keeping up with the latest research and practice is important. But we don’t always have lots of spare time for reading. There are lots of journals out there, but some seem more likely than others to deliver articles that inspire our thinking and practice. So today we’re going to go through our top five journals for enablers of change! The first one has to be… Read More »Top five journals for enablers of change

As enablers of change, running events is our bread and butter. Whether these be face-to-face, or online, we can tend to establish a routine. Then without us realising, the groove can become a rut and the effectiveness of the events reduce. Would you like to reverse this? Here are our top five tips for helping them really hit the mark. Tip number one is a simple one – what is… Read More »Five tips for running an effective event