Tip #161: Designing Facilitator Guides #5

We have already discussed an annotated Table of Contents, which can be one quick and relatively easy reference guide for a facilitator.

Another option is an annotated print out of PowerPoint slides.

As a long-time user of overheads, I was used to being able to leaf through my prepared overheads (as many of you know, these were primarily cartoons!). When I went to PowerPoint, I was suddenly at a loss as to what visuals were in store. So I started to print them off in black and white, 9 slides to a page.

I can then annotate them with times, methods, handout materials, and participant manual page numbers. I have found it is the fastest way for me to scan upcoming content and visuals, as well as to make sure that I show the appropriate visual at the right time.

If the program is relatively new to me, I am also able to write down key points and transitional statements where they should occur with the visuals.

This may be more useful for me than it is for other facilitators, because of the way I use cartoons to make or summarize key content points in a visual and humorous manner.

So, that's it for discussing how to create facilitator guides! After some of the longer examples over the past few weeks, I thought you might appreciate a short Tip!