10 Best Facilitation Courses and Certifications Online

Facilitation is a crucial skill in today’s business landscape, requiring effective communication, problem-solving, and leadership abilities. Online courses offer a convenient and flexible way for individuals to acquire these skills while accommodating their busy schedules. This article aims to provide an overview of some of the best facilitation courses available online, highlighting the features and benefits of each. Whether you are an experienced facilitator seeking to enhance your skills or a new entrant to this field, this guide will help you choose the best course to suit your needs.

Here’s a look at the Best Facilitation Courses and Certifications Online and what they have to offer for you!

10 Best Facilitation Courses and Certifications Online

1. Facilitation: You Can Be a Facilitator by TJ Walker, Media Training Worldwide Digital (Udemy) (Our Best Pick)

The Facilitation: You Can Be a Facilitator Course, led by TJ Walker of Media Training Worldwide, is a digital course that focuses on developing facilitation skills. The course teaches participants how to lead discussions, introduce speakers, moderate competing ideas, and synthesize new arguments. The course includes lessons on interrupting, speaking the right amount, and putting the spotlight on other people’s ideas. It also covers how to conduct a proper facilitation. The course is delivered primarily through spoken lectures and includes exercises where participants record themselves speaking on video and watch themselves.

Participants will receive numerous video lectures and bonus books for their training library. The course can take as long as participants need, and the longest part involves speaking on video and critiquing oneself until satisfied. The course is ideal for anyone looking to improve their facilitation skills or in areas such as managing diverse teams, delivering bad news to customers, or communicating to drive change.

The course is suitable for anyone interested in learning more about facilitation, public speaking, team leadership, miro, or instructional design, and those looking to build their knowledge in areas such as train the trainer, meetings, and virtual teams. The course includes sections on leading without the end in sight, practicing, housekeeping matters, and closing thoughts. Additionally, there is an extra in-depth training section on public speaking that covers a wide range of topics.

The course has a 100% money-back guarantee and an enhanced guarantee from the instructor, TJ Walker. Walker has been coaching and training people on their presentation skills for 30 years and has worked with CEOs, Fortune 500 executives, and Presidents of countries.

Reviews from Udemy students praise the course for its excellent information that can be used for speaking and teaching events. The course is perfect for those who need to improve their facilitation skills for work or personal development. Participants can enroll today and begin improving their skills immediately.

2. Team Facilitation: The Core Skill of Great Team Leaders by Lawrence M. Miller, Institute for Leadership Excellence (Udemy)

The Team Facilitation course, offered by the Institute for Leadership Excellence and taught by Lawrence M. Miller, is designed to provide essential skills for leading teams, whether they are remote virtual teams or in-person. The course is intended for entrepreneurs, managers looking to advance, or anyone interested in working well with others. The instructor has over forty years of experience in developing teams and team leaders, having worked with a variety of companies, from Fortune 500 corporations to small startups.

The course covers the core skills necessary for leading groups effectively, including creating unity of energy and effort, bringing the team to consensus, and conducting virtual team meetings. The course aims to provide knowledge and skills crucial to becoming a successful leader. The purpose and objectives include contributing to a manager’s success, enabling them to bring out the best in their team, harvest collective wisdom, conduct team meetings where all participants feel heard, and develop action plans that lead to results.

The course is divided into seven sections, beginning with an introduction and followed by the Eight Essential Facilitation Skills, how to choose a decision-making style, dialogue, effective listening skills, giving and receiving feedback, and virtual team facilitation. The course covers the basics of effective communication and team collaboration.

In summary, the Team Facilitation course provides comprehensive training on essential skills for leading teams effectively. The course is taught by an experienced instructor with a proven track record of developing successful teams and leaders. The course aims to equip managers with the knowledge and skills needed to bring out the best in their teams and lead them to success. The course is divided into seven sections, each covering a vital aspect of team facilitation and communication.

3. Public Speaking Training & Facilitator Certification by Joeel & Natalie Rivera, Patrick Spring Howell, Transformation Services (Udemy)

The Public Speaking Training & Facilitator Certification Course is designed to teach world-class public speaking and facilitating skills. This course is ideal for those who wish to become professional public speakers, enhance their skills, facilitate group programs, or develop their own workshops and programs. The course is taught by professional speakers and facilitators Joeel & Natalie Rivera, Patrick Howell, who have over 30 years of combined experience in public speaking and facilitating.

The course covers six core competencies of professional facilitation, including Stage Presence, Command, Communication, Engagement, Education, and Entrepreneurship. These competencies provide the knowledge, skills, and experiences needed to consistently present and lead outstanding events while evoking meaningful and lasting learning in the audience. The course also includes tools, methodologies, and techniques required to become a world-class facilitator and public speaker. Upon completion, students receive the PWF Professional Workshop Facilitator Certification, which reflects their commitment to excellence and earns them an official certification.

The instructors understand the roadblocks that keep individuals from achieving their goals in public speaking and facilitating. Some of these challenges include fear of speaking in front of an audience, lack of credibility, and insufficient knowledge on how to get started in the industry. The course addresses these challenges by teaching industry best practices and proven strategies, developing confidence, and providing the necessary tools and techniques to become a world-class facilitator and public speaker.

The course content covers several topics, including getting started, overcoming stage fright, developing confidence, stage presence, command and control, communication, audience engagement, facilitating interactive groups and workshops, keynote speaking, developing workshops and programs, joint ventures, and next steps. The course is deeply rewarding and lucrative profession, and the instructors are passionate about sharing their experience and knowledge to support learners’ mission to learn, grow and impact the world.

Upon completing every lesson in the course, students receive an official certification from Transformation Services, Inc.

4. Learn Online Workshop Facilitation & Tips For MS Teams by Peter Alkema (Udemy)

The course titled Learn Online Workshop Facilitation & Tips For MS Teams, taught by Peter Alkema, is designed to teach participants how to prepare, facilitate, present, and follow up on online workshops using Microsoft Teams. The course is aimed at helping individuals drive alignment and engagement through virtual meetings. Students can expect over six hours of step-by-step instructions and engagement, along with access to worksheets for reference.

The course has received positive reviews from several participants who found the content informative and useful. Students can learn how to set up a proper agenda, use a second device to view presentations, set up polls, manage content and discussion, prepare mentally and physically, mitigate WFH distractions, and balance and engage participants from different teams and departments. The course also covers how to kick off the workshop, make virtual eye contact, manage breaks, and wrap up effectively.

The course also includes additional sections on digital transformation and digital disruption, along with bonus content and webinars. Participants have access to premium support and feedback, and the course offers a 30-day 100% money-back guarantee.

In summary, the Learn Online Workshop Facilitation & Tips For MS Teams course is designed to help participants learn how to facilitate engaging and productive virtual meetings using Microsoft Teams. The course covers a range of topics related to virtual facilitation, along with additional bonus content and support.

5. Workshop Facilitation Masterclass by Gareth Kane (Udemy)

The Workshop Facilitation Masterclass is a short course that aims to equip learners with the skills and knowledge needed to facilitate effective workshops that generate great solutions, energize stakeholders, and secure buy-in. The course is taught by Gareth Kane, an experienced consultant who has found workshops to be the most powerful tool in his toolbox.

The course covers a wide range of topics, including harnessing the power of workshops, the tools of the trade (including a secret workshop weapon), workshop structures (such as problem-solving, stakeholder engagement, and strategic planning), planning a workshop (beginning, middle, and end), and dealing with difficult situations.

Due to popular demand, a bonus lecture on facilitating virtual workshops (using Zoom as an example platform) has been added. The course is packed with pro-tips and lessons that Gareth has learnt from delivering more than 100 workshops with some of the biggest companies and organizations in the world.

The course consists of 75 minutes of videos and exercises, taking approximately 105 minutes to complete. Learners will receive a workbook to apply the learning to their own situation and will end up with their own workshop plan. There are no prerequisites for taking the course.

Overall, the Workshop Facilitation Masterclass is a comprehensive course that provides the necessary tools and knowledge to facilitate effective workshops that deliver results. The course is structured into an introduction and workbook, masterclass lectures, summary and close, and a bonus lecture on virtual workshops.

6. The art of facilitation: learn how to lead a working group by Jamal Lazaar (Udemy)

The course titled “The Art of Facilitation: Learn How to Lead a Working Group” is led by Jamal Lazaar and covers topics such as facilitation, collaboration, collective intelligence, communication, workshop, and meeting. The program is a comprehensive introduction to facilitation in the business world, including effective facilitation techniques and how to animate a working group to achieve the best results. The course covers the fundamentals of facilitator skills, organizing and leading collaborative workshops in a structured way, and unleashing the creativity of a group. The course includes practical exercises to immediately apply what is learned.

Participants in the course have provided positive feedback, stating that the course is concrete, precise, and that Jamal’s preparation is evident. The course is recommended as an investment to be made.

The training on facilitation is recommended for those who would like to conduct effective and productive meetings, know the fundamentals of the facilitator posture, or discover facilitation techniques and tools to manage a working group. Meetings are essential for new ideas and better solutions to emerge, but they can also be a waste of time for many participants. Techniques for facilitating group conversations and being productive are covered in the course. Participants learn how to master the fundamentals of facilitation skills, lead a working group to achieve a specific objective, adapt their style to different personalities, increase the productivity of meetings, communicate clearly and effectively, master facilitation tools and techniques, and facilitate decision-making within a group.

The course includes practical exercises that can be immediately applied. The course is not theoretical but instead focuses on sharing techniques that can be applied in real-life scenarios. The program is organized into sections that cover topics such as the introduction to facilitation, the stages of facilitation, group management, and a quiz, among others. The course concludes with a summary of the key points covered.

7. Facilitation: Become a Master Facilitator and Team Leader by Jason Teteak (Udemy)

The Facilitation: Become a Master Facilitator and Team Leader course, instructed by Jason Teteak, aims to provide learners with 48 strategies, techniques, and tools to become a proficient facilitator and team leader. The course seeks to address the top 22 concerns that facilitators have when it comes to their audience, such as not knowing how to answer questions, creating compelling deliverables, losing credibility with the group, and feeling nervous and uncomfortable throughout the session. Facilitate is a 7-module system with a hands-on approach that helps facilitators and leaders to conduct valuable group discussions that can change people’s behavior.

The first two modules of Facilitate aim to help learners gain the trust, belief, and attention of their audience by showing credibility and hooking them. The course covers how to get the audience to trust the facilitator by showing credibility, introducing themselves, giving their credentials, and removing their nervous habits. The modules also discuss how to hook the audience and tell them how the facilitator can help them. The circle of knowledge is a technique that allows facilitators to stimulate discussions, immediately find out what the audience wants to know, and build rapport with them.

Modules 3 and 4 of Facilitate focus on building a strong relationship with the audience by building rapport through body language and tone. The course provides steps to build rapport and make the audience feel good about the topic, use engaging non-verbals, show confidence, and use a unique tone of voice to keep the audience entertained and interested.

Modules 5-7 of Facilitate are designed to keep the audience engaged, ensure they understand the material, and close the session with action and enthusiasm. The course teaches how to get the audience engaged, ensure they understand the material, and use questioning techniques to help them remember, think, apply, and use the information. The course also covers how to close the session and make the audience respond with enthusiasm.

8. The Change Facilitator: Dynamic Group Facilitation Skills by Neil Almond, Sarah Smith (Udemy)

The Change Facilitator: Dynamic Group Facilitation Skills Course is designed to help participants become highly effective facilitators of group learning or team change processes. The course is led by Neil Almond and Sarah Smith, two top UK facilitators, and offers a personalized mentoring approach to help individuals develop facilitation skills. The course consists of over 7 hours of video, with additional exercises and practice recommended throughout.

Mentoring is the primary approach used in this course, with the idea of “trying on skills and attitudes” to assimilate what works best for each individual to become the best facilitator possible. The course is not just about learning skills or a set formula but rather about ‘being’ and ‘doing’ and having true behavioral flexibility when working with a group. The program is intended to add value to people who share the vision of making a positive difference in the world, as facilitation skills can help individuals navigate change and find ways to thrive personally and professionally.

This course is suitable for complete beginners who have a facilitation project in mind to apply their learning to. Five key categories of students are attracted to this program, including coaches, consultants, L&D professionals, trainers, existing facilitators, charity professionals, civil servants, and people changing professions. The focus is on developing a personalized framework for facilitation, creating a positive learning space, setting strong learning outcomes, designing facilitation programs, opening sessions, and building facilitation skills.

The course consists of taught modules recorded specifically for this program, as well as classroom recordings from previous NLP Trainer Training and Change Facilitation programs. The course is interactive and offers a cost-effective way to access much of the same material as students who paid up to £3500 to attend the course in Bristol. Participants have a 30-day money-back guarantee, and the course offers a personalized approach to help individuals develop their facilitation skills.

9. Instructional Design : Classroom Training Essentials by Ken Brown (Udemy)

The “Instructional Design: Classroom Training Essentials” course, led by instructor Ken Brown, focuses on effective corporate training techniques and instructional classroom design. The course aims to improve student engagement and create an impactful classroom learning experience by addressing common scenarios trainers and facilitators face.

The course includes 36 lessons over a 4-hour period and covers six critical facts and principles about how students learn. Participants will also learn how to evaluate their current classroom techniques and apply the participant-centered tips and techniques of facilitation.

The course is designed for instructors, trainers, facilitators, or teachers who are open to learning new training techniques and willing to put in hard work before and after the course. By completing the course, participants can expect to become more effective and confident trainers, instructors, facilitators, or teachers.

Overall, the “Instructional Design: Classroom Training Essentials” course provides a comprehensive approach to improving training techniques and creating a memorable classroom learning experience.

10. Introduction to Online Community Management by Standing on Giants (Udemy)

The Introduction to Online Community Management course offered by Standing on Giants aims to provide beginners with the basics of online community management to launch a new career. The demand for community managers has been on the rise in recent years, and the course is designed to help individuals learn the essentials of online community management. The course creators, Kirstie, Toby, and Elisa, have extensive experience in community management and work with the Standing on Giants team to help businesses globally establish thriving communities.

The course is suitable for those who are new to online community management, looking to retrain, or passionate about the industry. Participants will learn about various topics like welcome messaging, peer-to-peer help, and handling difficult members or situations. The course is designed to offer best practices and tips from the instructors’ years of experience. Participants can take notes and complete exercises that support the lessons with the downloadable interactive workbook provided with the course.

Standing on Giants is a certified B Corp based in London, UK, and works with prominent brands like Airbnb, O2, Tesco Bank, and Lenovo Legion to help their communities thrive. The course content comprises an introduction to the role of online community managers, building engagement as a community manager, and handling difficult situations. The course ends with some last words of wisdom from the instructors.