How do you create WOW! Events & Experiences for Groups? Experiences that truly enrich people & leave them with a desire to come back for more? This presentation was given to a Biznik group and is helpful for anyone who works with groups, hosts events, etc.

1. “Wow!” Events
Cultivating Tribes that Last
Leif Hansen | 206-428-7626 | leif at sparkinteraction dot com | www.SparkInteraction.com

2. How are you different
after a“Wow!” Event?

3. How are you different
after a“Wow!” Event?
• A group event (class, seminar, workshop,
presentation, retreat, etc.) when you experienced:
• it was worth your time & money
• growth in some way (body/mind/spirit)
• making a new relationship or deepening
a pre-existing one
• being motivated & empowered with next
steps & offered continuing modes of support
• Leaving feeling Hungry for more

4. Why “Wow!” Events?

5. Why “Wow!” Events?
• You & your participants feel good about the
added value & this starts a cycle of trust
• Their experience & learning sticks
• They want to keep coming back
• They invite and bring other people along
• You’ll have more fun & make more money

6. ‘Wow!’ Factors
Wow! Happens...to the degree that:

7. ‘Wow!’ Factors
Wow! Happens...to the degree that:
1. Your participants are open, curious, ready & willing to receive.
2. You feel connected to & in integrity with yourself to confidently
engage & serve your participants.
3. You’ve created a ‘safe container’ for participants to feel trusting enough to
stretch out from their ‘comfort zones’ to learn & connect.
4. Your material (content, activities) has been prepared to meet or
exceed expectations and yet you remain flexible enough to improvise/adapt
to emergent needs.
5. You offer a variety of engaging experiential learning modalities for
participants to interact with the material & with each other.
6. You offer opportunities & tools that empower participants to stay
connected & continue growing with you & each other.
7. You’ve found/created a physical space that is beautiful, safe & functional.

8. 1.People Will Get
What They Get
• How much control do you have over others’ experience?
• Your participants will receive to the degree they are
open, ready & willing to receive
• People can turn crap into gold
• People can turn treasures into trash
• Avoid Judgment
• we don’t know people’s stories, what they just went
through, personal background, learning style, triggers,
etc.
• Pronoia: everything can and will be recycled

9. 2. Inner Matters
Authenticity
Being real fosters trust & safety
Passion
Tell your STORY! Why does this matter? How does it effect THEIR story?
Care / Service
Love, it really IS the ‘killer app’. Time to stop being embarrassed.
Self-Trust / Confidence
If you’ve got the above, nothing can hold you back. SHINE!
Follow the Fun!

10. What is the #1 block
to people receiving?

11. What is the #1 block
to people receiving?
Fear

12. What is the #1 need to
move past that fear?

13. What is the #1 need to
move past that fear?
Safety

14. Therefore, what is the
#1 Gift we can give?

15. Therefore, what is the
#1 Gift we can give?
Wuv

16. 3. Creating a
Safe Container
• The Fear Factor: We are all much more
afraid/worried/anxious than we admit.
• All the previous inner work is #1 priority
• Explain how basic needs can & will be met
• Set the tone (honesty, freedom, silly)
• Offer choices and safe-zones
• Remembering Names

17. 4. The Raw Material
• Match your research (what do people want?) to
your promises (what you said you’d give)
• Match your promises to your material (what
you plan to deliver)
• Match your material to their expectations
(what they start the event expecting/hoping for)
• Match their expectations to emergent
needs (the clear needs that arise in the actual
delivery)
• You aren’t, and don’t need to be, totally in control
& all-knowing. Improvise & let your group’s
creative wisdom play delight you

18. 5. The Power of Playformation
• Information is dead. Our wired world is overwhelmed & bored
by info / words / ideas
• We need to remember our child-like ability to ‘rehearse’,
‘simulate’, ‘play’, ‘pretend’ to make information come ALIVE.
• People have various learning styles (read/write, conversation,
visual, audio, tactile, etc.)
• We all secretly are longing for more play, creativity &
connection...so why not give those opps?!
• Remember 15% hear; hear/see 50%; hear/see/do 75%
• The 10 Flavors of Playformation....

19. Leif Hansen | 206-428-7626 | leif at sparkinteraction dot com | www.SparkInteraction.com
Playformation Flavors
Check-in -to give the facilitator, or group, info about the participants (needs, emotional state, etc.)
Ice Melter -to bring group safety. Transforms ice (fear) into safe drinkable water (joy).
Energizer -to charge up the group’s energy level. Usually more physical.
Connector -to facilitate new & deeper relationships. Establishes deeper trust & sharing.
Jolt -to ‘jiggle’ participant’s minds into new ways of thinking, seeing & being.
Mood Shifter -to help moods/attitudes shift to more open, hopeful, positive place.
Focuser -to help bring heightened focus back to topic, presenter, etc.
Knowledge & Skill Builder -to increase understanding or skill in a given domain.
Transformer -to help bring about deeper, usually emotional/spiritual change.
Debrief -to help bring increased awareness/understanding about ‘what just happened?’

20. 6. Staying Connected
• “If it could only last...”-The high that fizzles
• We all long for continued connection
& support
• Amazing, mostly free, social technologies
can keep your tribe connected & continue
their learning experiences
• Other options: your follow up events,
colabs, learning journals, homework,

21. 7. Creating a Nest
• Beauty Matters
• Learning Tools that foster continuity
(Journals,Vision Board, Picture Board)
• Basic Needs (Food, Drink, Bathrooms, etc.)
• Treating / Pampering
• More coming...

22. Go Give Your WOW!
We hope you enjoyed today’s workshop.
If you’d like to receive any support in igniting
your own WOW! Events, please feel free to
contact us about any Spark Interaction
services: upcoming or tailored Workshops,
Coaching, Colabs (Collaborative practice &
support groups), and more!
Leif Hansen | 206-428-7626 | leif at sparkinteraction dot com | www.SparkInteraction.com