Training and Facilitating a Workshop - Tip no 1: Know your outcome

Most of you might say, "hey, everyone knows that!". Yes, everyone knows that it is important for us to know the outcome that we want in everything that we do. When we eat, our outcome is to last until the next meal. When we drive, our outcome is to reach a particular destination. If you already know your outcome before you conduct your workshop, that is great! Please carry on doing it and be conscious about it.

Before I conduct a workshop, I will set a few outcomes(goals) that I want to have;

1. Trainees to feel engaged and have fun
2. Trainees to understand the workshop and learn from the lessons.
3. Trainees to feel, "Hey, this workshop is awesome! I need a part 2" or "My colleagues/friends are gonna love this workshop!"

Do you think the above 3 goals are sufficient? Are they reasonable to achieve? I try not to have too many as to avoid unnecessary stress and distraction. To me, the above 3 goals can be quite a challenge. 

After writing the goals down, I will sit somewhere quiet and picture myself conducting a workshop with all those 3 goals. I picture trainees laughing and enjoying, anticipating my next activity. I picture them finding something useful from my workshop that they can use in their tasks/lives. 

Once that is done, I will go through my program slides and flow. Naturally, there will be a lot of amendments to the slides after that. Then I will rehearse and practice conducting my workshop. You might find me to be an amateur for practicing but I honestly feel that practicing helps me to provide quality training to my trainees and if there is a time to make changes, that is the time. The moment I feel that I do not need to practice and feel that I am good enough, I know that I have stepped into my comfort zone and comfort zones bring nothing but trouble. From that moment, I will push myself to practice more in order to avoid that trouble. 

In short, my process are as follows

1. Set my outcome/goal
2. Know my outcome/goal
3. Visualize myself achieving that goal. I MUST be conscious in this process and not to slumber.
4. Go through my slides/program. Make alterations.
5. Practice
6. Practice
7. Practice
8. Deliver

What are your strategies? Care to share?