ToP Network Professional Development Workshops

Building on the energy and spirit from our 2021 and 2022 virtual Annual Gatherings, the ToP Network is hosting monthly workshops to continue supporting the development of our ToP Community. Join us to connect live with other facilitators from across the globe and to learn how to expand your use of the ToP methods. The registration fees will be donated to the ToP Network Scholarship Fund. The scholarship was created to assist with Gathering registration costs for individuals who demonstrate strong investment in the future of ToP methods.  We value diverse experiences that contribute to the body of knowledge that helps us all improve our understanding and ToP practice.

Session Description: The use of stories in facilitation is a well-recognized approach that can be adapted to specialized areas e.g. business, high performing team coaching, community building, conflict management. One method of using story is participants sharing from their own lives. The facilitator’s role is to enable open, deeper sharing that unlocks insights and connection. In this workshop you will both experience this as a participant and reflect as a facilitator. The session is a fully interactive one involving all those in attendance.

Rational Aims:                                                                                                                                           

  • Learn to use storytelling to bring connection, safety and meaning to a group of people
  • Learn a technique to unlock storytelling through objects
  • Create equality and inclusivity in a conversation
  • Find the circular relationship between psychological safety and storytelling
  • Consider how ORID is a meta foundation for new techniques

Experiential Aims:

  • Experience storytelling in action and uncover its power
  • Find insights and meaning for yourself 
  • Explore the role of humanness in the shared space

To Register Please Click Here

Presenters:

  • Michelle Zhang, Linmin ([email protected])  is a devoted practitioner of ToP methods, leveraging their effectiveness across diverse contexts for years. Specializing in facilitating corporate, local government, and NGO groups, she guides clients through various topics, helping them overcome obstacles on the path to success. Michelle's journey involves integrating ToP methods with storytelling, a belief that stories connect people and create meaning for the future.
  • Alison Gitelson ([email protected]) is a facilitator with over a decade of experience developing high performing teams, resolving conflict, uncovering the wisdom in the room and enabling personal growth. Originally qualified as an optometrist, she combines over thirty years of technical and management experience, in a broad range of industries, with a deep understanding of human behaviour.  Alison works with brave leaders and teams to unlock human ability; and to envision and move towards a better and sustainable way of doing business in a complex world. Also passionate about the need for effective facilitation in organizations Alison trains and mentor’s facilitators to develop both the science and the art of facilitation. Alison is a contributor to the published book, Facilitating with Stories: Ethics, Reflective Practice and Philosophies (2022)

ToP Competencies:

  • Create a Participatory Environment
  • Evoke the Creativity of the Group
  • Use ToP Methods Effectively
  • Model positive professional attitudes
  • Produce effective results

Registration:

  • $10 Members
  • $40 Nonmembers
  • Registered participants will receive instructions for joining the live session and any additional details in advance of the event. Please be sure to look for the link in your email and to add the event to your calendar! 
  • Events begin promptly at the designated hour.  Please log on at least five to ten minutes in advance to ensure your internet connections, audio and other settings are functioning properly.
  • Download the latest version of Zoom in advance. If you do not have a Zoom account, please sign up for one before the workshop by visiting: https://us02web.zoom.us/ 
  • Help us create community. Be prepared to use a camera if possible. We will have an active event and seeing each other will help us connect.
  • We are assuming that you will be joining us for the 90 minutes of the events. There will be content shared at the start of the event that will set the stage.
  • To honor and support the process and space, we won’t be able to admit folks that attempt to join after teh first 15 minutes of the program. Therefore, we ask that you join us a few minutes before and no later than 15 mins after event start time.