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10 tips for running effective online focus groups

These days it can be difficult to run traditional focus groups, where people physically sit around a table and share their thoughts about a topic. In this post-COVID-19 world, many of us are concerned that the others in the room might share more than just their ideas with us, and we might catch COVID-19 ourselves! Or perhaps our organisation’s policies have changed and they’re much more likely to ask… Read more »10 tips for running effective online focus groups

Flipped learning… how to get people to do the pre-work

We’ve talked about the benefits of using a flipped learning approach before. It can save time during the session, allow deeper exploration of the topic and drive more effective engagement. But the greatest risk is that not everyone does the pre-work. In today’s episode, we’re going to suggest some ways to encourage everyone to do it. If our participants do not do the pre-work, it can make facilitating the… Read more »Flipped learning… how to get people to do the pre-work

Boosting communication impact with the rule of three

What is the simple, proven, powerful rule that we can use to boost the impact of our communication? In this episode, we’re going to share with you the rule of three! “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.” This famous quote from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is a great example of the rule of three. Our human ears, for whatever reason, like to hear triplets and there’s lots of interesting… Read more »Boosting communication impact with the rule of three

How adoption pathway analysis can help us

  • 6 min read
  • General

As enablers of change, it’s important that we keep up-to-date with the latest extension research. But sometimes it can be hard to get the journal article, let alone make the time to read and digest it! However, we thought we could help with this. In this episode we’re exploring adoption pathway analysis, thanks to a colleague of Denise’s… Oscar Montes. Oscar recently published a paper from his PhD research… Read more »How adoption pathway analysis can help us

Reducing our biases

  • 8 min read
  • General

How many biases do you think we have? Whether we like to admit it or not, we all have biases that affect aspects of our lives and the lives of others with whom we interact—but it turns out there are ways to at least minimise our bias. This is important for us as enablers of change because we are often working people in a professional setting, and without knowing… Read more »Reducing our biases

Using VR and AR in extension to add an extra dimension

Have you heard the acronyms VR and AR before? If you’re like us, you might be saying yes, but not really sure what each of those really means—is there even a difference? And then, like us, you might also be wondering whether they have a place in the toolkit for enablers of change. So today we’re exploring VR and AR in extension! We’ll start with virtual reality or VR.… Read more »Using VR and AR in extension to add an extra dimension

Boosting survey responses

  • 7 min read
  • Evaluation

In a recent episode we talked through designing a decent survey, but of course that is only one part of the bigger picture. To boost the number of responses to our surveys, should we offer an incentive to our potential survey respondents? If we were to offer an incentive, what should it be? In this episode we’ll explore what the research says about this! There has actually been some… Read more »Boosting survey responses

Designing a decent survey

  • 10 min read
  • Evaluation

Surveys seem to be a constant in life at the moment! Like the old quote about the only certainties being death and taxes—it seems that everyone (and their dog) would like you to just fill in this quick survey or answer a short series of questions! As enablers of change, surveys are an important part of our toolkit. So just what do we need to know when designing a… Read more »Designing a decent survey

Drumroll… our big announcement!

  • 5 min read
  • General

As we mentioned last week, we have a big announcement for you today! We know that many extension practitioners struggle to learn the basics of their craft, as it is rarely taught anymore. While Denise and I have been happily sharing snippets of our knowledge and experience through our short, easy-to-understand episodes, we know that people want more. So, drumroll please… we’ve listened to you and we’re now offering… online courses!  However,… Read more »Drumroll… our big announcement!

Make a real difference this year!

  • 5 min read
  • General

Happy New Year… we hope you’re keeping well and enjoying life, despite the challenges that COVID-19 continues to provide! Are you wondering how best to start the year and make a real difference? We’re not big fans of New Year’s resolutions, but we do like to pause and think about what we’re going to do differently. It’s easy to just keep doing what we did last year, but we… Read more »Make a real difference this year!