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CANCELLED: 2020 AZENET Pre-Conference Workshops

  • April 02, 2020
  • 8:30 AM - 2:15 PM
  • 5049 E Broadway Blvd #201, Tucson, AZ 85711


  • Strengthening Your Core: Whole-Hearted Interpersonal Practices
  • Audience Engagement Strategies for Potent Presentations with Sheila B. Robinson, EdD

Seeking a little more development?

Consider one of our 2020 pre-conference workshops with Sheila B. Robinson, EdD or Libby Smith, MS:

Audience Engagement Strategies for Potent

Presentations with Sheila B. Robinson, EdD

Sheila B. Robinson, Ed.D.

Presentations are ultimately about audience learning. Successful presenters work in service to their participants, whether they are presenting an evaluation report, giving a keynote speech, facilitating a professional development workshop or training session, or even running a meeting with stakeholders. Participants in this highly interactive workshop will learn

fundamental principles of audience engagement by experiencing each activity as they consider how it can inform their own presentation planning. They will experience more than a dozen ways to engage adult audiences with activities and mini-lessons that flow together coherently, while allowing time for processing and reflection throughout the course. Participants will come to understand the WHY, the WHAT and the HOW of audience engagement, explore purpose distinctions for audience engagement strategies, and receive instruction on how to effectively integrate these strategies into presentation planning. During demonstrations the instructor will also share how each principle and strategy has been used in an evaluation specific context. The guiding principle of this course will be, as marketing guru Seth Godin claims, ”Every presentation worth doing has just one purpose: To make change happen.”

Participants Will Learn:

1. Fundamental principles of audience engagement that can inform presentation and professional development planning.

2. To articulate several purpose distinctions for audience engagement strategies.

3. How to effectively integrate audience engagement strategies in their presentation and professional development planning.

4. To use a variety of interactive strategies to engage audiences for maximum participant satisfaction and learning.


Strengthening Your Core:

Whole-Hearted Interpersonal Practices

Libby Smith, M.S.

As evaluators, we are regularly challenged to understand the needs of a wide variety of stakeholders, navigate competing priorities of program directors and funders, and facilitate use of evaluation to make meaningful change. In the process, we are called upon to engage in deep listening, understand power dynamics, communicate with diverse audiences, manage conflict, and build relationships. To say that evaluators need strong interpersonal skills is an understatement.

In this workshop we will focus on building core strengths for strong interpersonal skills. How do we develop the emotional regulation needed to manage conflict effectively? How do we embrace humility and release our need to show up as the expert? How do we develop an acceptance for different ways of knowing? How do we set boundaries that lead to respectful relationships? How do we show compassion for ourselves when we are invariably imperfect?

These are big questions to grapple with, but there are fundamental practices that help us engage with them in whole-hearted, embodied ways. Together we will explore a range of practices including mindfulness, improv, perspective taking, somatic experiencing, reflective practice, breathwork, and the deep listening of sitting in circle together.

Participants Will:

1. Understand that self-compassion is the foundation of strong interpersonal skills

2. Learn how to engage in a cycle of intention setting, vulnerability, and reflective practice to build a strong foundation

3. Feel supported in their interpersonal growth no matter where they are starting from

Planning to attend the full-day conference, too? You can register for both events here. Please note: lunch is included with registration. 

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