Brainstorming & Facilitation Training
Course Summary
Full day and online workshop options 
Selected public training dates or in-house 
Intermediates 
16 participants max per workshopCreative training for 250+ organisations worldwide
Overview
About this course
Skills
Certificate
Coach
Testimonials
FAQ’s
Pricing
About this course
What your team will learn
Sometimes people disagree or get a little hot under the collar in brainstorming sessions. Great creativity facilitators understand the brainstorming process and know just how to manage the balance between heated debate that leads to fresh thinking and avoiding all-out war.
They foster trust and psychological safety, involve everyone, adapt to different styles and make it ok to take risks to get to great ideas.
Group brainstorms get a bad rap. And if they are poorly run then deservedly so. After all a brainstorm session without structure, process inspiration and a well-trained facilitator is just a badly-run meeting!
But at some point you will probably want to get people together – whether in-person or online – to discuss ideas. This brainstorming training course will help you understand how to generate ideas more quickly using different ideation tools and brainstorming techniques to address your challenges.
This practical brainstorming training is for budding creative leaders, innovation facilitators and members of any group who would enjoy and benefit from becoming a trusted creative lynchpin for the group, able to facilitate collaboration in a highly interactive way to get to new ideas for your projects and innovation projects.
Skills
What your team will learn
This is a highly practical brainstorming training session and if meeting face-to-face, there’s lots of brainstorm facilitation practice! We look at the essentials of facilitation that apply whether you’re working IRL or for a remote online brainstorming session.
Arguably the skills are even more important when looking at a screen split up into 2cm squares on Zoom. Learn how to run an effective and powerful online meeting using a simple and systematic process as well as brainstorming techniques.
This is a highly interactive and experiential brainstorm training course where you will learn the art of facilitation to aid better creative thinking. You’ll learn through different methods with theory and practice, but mainly practice! You’ll improve the creative thinking and idea generation of the group as you learn by:
- Planning a live brainstorm on a real-world issue
- Doing
- Giving and receiving feedback
- Self-directed study
Understand different participant styles Actively listen Ask more useful questions Structure an effective brainstorming session Use idea generating tools and collaboration tools Manage consensus with idea evaluation tools
Certificate
What you will receive
Comprehensive course workbook Individual coaching from the trainer Enrolment onto our ‘Brainstorm Like A Pro’ e-learning module worth £30 CertificateCoach
Meet your coach
Claire Bridges
Founder Claire learned the hard way the good, the bad and the ugly of brainstorming sessions and how to facilitate creative thinking as a Creative Director in a PR agency. She loves to facilitate collaboration and work towards high performance in teams.
Claire has worked with some of the world’s most innovative companies with their ongoing brainstorming initiatives and creative thinking capabilities to continually generate ideas. She is one of only a handful of people in the world to hold an MSc in innovation, creativity and leadership and brings her academic expertise to all our innovation, creativity and leadership programs and strategy courses.
Anahita Milligan
Facilitator and problem-solver extraordinaire!
Expert trainer Anahita Milligan has been running our brainstorming training course for over a decade and as ex-Head of Strategy at the award-winning planning agency Manning Gotlieb she ran hundreds of brainstorming sessions. She shares her experience in how to best solve problems and become an expert in thinking tools and group idea generating tools. She is qualified in creative problem solving and is our own secret brainstorm and innovation facilitator!
Anahita is experienced in working with young adults with special needs and is passionate about making creativity accessible to all.
testimonials
Clients words
“Elizabeth was a great facilitator, it was a great pace with enough time and space to integrate learnings. The workshop gave me renewed confidence in facilitating brainstorms. I am leaving with a new and improved toolbox and renewed energy and enthusiasm for my work.”
Lucie Tanguay, Vice President, marketing and branding agency, Canada
“Claire is brilliant at demystifying the idea that ‘creativity’ is some kind of dark art or innate talent only possessed by few. Her training session was lively, engaging and, most importantly, gave us practical tools that are proven to stimulate creativity. Because the tools and techniques are simple and fun, we are using them for creative sessions five years later.”
Jo Chappel, Creative Director, Fever PR
A great resource that really works!
Frances Adams
Senior Marketing Consultant, Fremantle
Interesting and engaging
FAQ’s
Frequently Asked Questions
What are examples of the tools you cover on this brainstorming course?
We include simple and effective tools following sound process like this from the Liberating Structures organisation is our training materials.
‘1-2-4-All’ is a fab and deceptively simple facilitation tool – read more on our blog
The principles of psychological safety in groups and why it matters The GROW modelWho is the course for?
- Do your brainstorming sessions fall flat?
- Do you work in a team where you have to regularly facilitate creative sessions?
- Do people look to you to run engaging, fun, useful creative workshops but you don’t feel confident every time?
- Do you want to learn how to generate ideas and confidently run your own brainstorming session?
If you answered want to any of the above and want to facilitate better group brainstorming sessions, learn to solve problems and address challenges for your PR, digital, brand or marketing campaigns then this course is for you.
It’s essential you have some knowledge of creativity tools to get the most from this session and we recommend you take the Creative Ninjas course first. We run this day in-house and as an open training alongside Creative Ninjas for those who want advanced brainstorming creativity tools, and facilitation practice and skills to generate new ideas.
What is brainstorm facilitation training?
Practical training in planning and running brainstorms that produce useful ideas. You learn to structure the session, involve everyone, manage disagreement, and use proven tools to generate and choose ideas.
Why do brainstorms fail, and how does this help?
A brainstorm without structure, process, inspiration and a skilled facilitator is just a badly run meeting. This course gives you a simple, repeatable process and the facilitation skills to make every session count.
How long is the course, and can it run online?
It runs as a full-day workshop in person, or as a packed two-hour live online session. We’ll agree the format that suits your team.
Will it help us run better online brainstorms?
Yes. We cover facilitation essentials that work in the room and on screen, including how to run engaging remote sessions with digital whiteboards such as Miro and Mural.
How many people can take part?
Up to 16 people is ideal, but we can run sessions for much bigger groups. Just ask.
How much does brainstorming training cost?
Online team webinars start from £120 per person + VAT for a group of 10, and individuals can join our open webinars with the PRCA from £190 + VAT. In-person workshops are priced on group size, format and how much tailoring you need. Book a free call with Claire for a quote.
What’s included?
A comprehensive course workbook, individual coaching from your trainer, our “Brainstorm Like a Pro” e-learning module (worth £30), a reusable brainstorm planner and cheat sheet, and a certificate.
Who runs the training?
Expert trainer Anahita Milligan, who ran hundreds of brainstorms as Head of Strategy at Manning Gotlieb and has taught this course for over a decade, and founder Claire Bridges, a former PR agency Creative Director.
Can individuals join?
Yes. Alongside in-house training, we sometimes run public workshops, including through the PRCA.
Pricing
Simple, transparent pricing
We know that people like to learn in different so we have options for individuals and teams to help you become a brilliant facilitator and fuel your ideas!
Online team webinars start from £120 per person + VAT, based on a group of 10. Booking for yourself? Join one of our open webinars with the PRCA, from £190 + VAT. In-person workshops are tailored to your team, so book a free 30-minute call for a quote.
Online Brainstorm Ninja Training
Get the most out of your online brainstorms and workshops with this online training session where we’ll share our go-to brainstorming tools to get the most out of your group time. A packed 2 hour live online webinar for groups. We sometimes run this a public workshop for individuals, and for groups.
Up to 16 participants
Includes the How To Collaborate and Brainstorm Like a Pro e-learning module worth £30.00
Reusable brainstorm planner and cheat sheet
CertificateDownload the Brainstorming & Facilitation course outline
Everything you need to share with your team or L&D – what they’ll learn, how it works, formats and prices. Pop in your details and the PDF opens straight away.
Join the 50,000+ people who have improved their creativity skills with us.
Prefer to talk? Book a free 30-minute call with Claire, or send us a message.
“I cannot recommend them enough. You will learn a new way of thinking.”
– Iman Spearman, Head of Training, PRCA
Online team webinars from £120 per person + VAT (based on a group of 10).