Beyond the Agenda: Mastering the Facilitator Stance for Transformational Meetings — ALP National Conference, Omaha

Are your meetings transactional report-outs that leave your team drained and disengaged?

Most meetings are run, not facilitated. There’s a difference — and it shows up in what the group produces, what the group remembers, and whether the work continues after everyone leaves.

This 75-minute interactive workshop is built for community leadership professionals who want to shift from managing meetings to facilitating real progress. Drawing on the Technology of Participation (ToP®) and Liberating Structures, we’ll work with the “soft skills” that distinguish a facilitative leader from a traditional one — the moves that turn friction into unified progress instead of letting it stall the work.

This is not a lecture. It’s a live laboratory. You’ll experience the methods modeled in real time, work in small groups on the meeting “monsters” you actually face — dominant voices, lost focus, decisions that don’t stick — and align specific facilitation methods to specific challenges. You’ll leave with a concrete toolkit you can use the next Monday.

What you’ll leave able to do

• Recognize the facilitator stance and name when a meeting needs it.
• Apply specific ToP® and Liberating Structures methods to common meeting challenges — dominant voices, lack of focus, decisions that don’t stick.
• Design openings and closings that build participation and produce real commitment to action.
• Walk into your next meeting with a “Monday Morning” toolkit and one specific change to try.

Who this is for

Community leadership program directors, staff, board members, and volunteers attending the 2026 ALP National Conference. Anyone who runs meetings as part of their leadership work.

Format

In-person · 75 minutes · Highly participatory · No pre-reading required.

About the conference

The 2026 Association of Leadership Programs National Conference runs July 13–16 at the Hilton Omaha. This session is one of more than thirty workshops offered across the conference, and it is offered as a pro bono contribution to the ALP community.

Register for the conference

Conference registration, lodging, and full schedule are available through ALP: 👉 alpleaders.org/omaha-2026