Becoming comfortable with discomfort--learning to market my workshops
Maybe you are like me and are slightly uncomfortable selling your skills to others. Every time I think that I am getting more comfortable with it—I weird out again. (Sigh!) Don’t get me wrong—I know that I know my stuff, I have amassed a lot of experience and I am genuinely a good teacher.
But saying it—is hard. (Sigh!) I am always forcing my participants to play in areas that are out of their comfort zones, so that is what I did this week by sending out a message to my network. It went like this…
Won’t you be my neighbour?
I have always wanted to have a neighbour just like you I've always wanted to live
in a neighbourhood with you
…Since we're together, we might as well say
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbour?
— Mr. Rogers (one of my idols)
This photo above is from my neighbourhood—actually just a few blocks from my current home in Tampere, Finland. I would like to invite you to spend some time here learning with me and other wonderful humans from around the world with the help of technology. Here are 5 reasons why you should Zoom on in!
01
SHARING IS CARING! I WANT TO USE MY EXPERIENCE
TO HELP YOU TO THRIVE IN THE DIGISPHERE.
I have been working digitally and pushing the boundaries of the both/and space of digital & analogue methods for a long time—and I want to share that knowledge with you! There is no perfect app or software out there for visual practitioners—so I have learnt to bend the tech to my desired outcomes and I will share my hacks with you with love.
02
I CAN HELP YOU TO DEVELOP YOUR MINDSET & COMMUNICATE THE POSSIBILITIES TO YOUR CLIENTS
Of course you need to know about & be able to use technology, but moreover you need the right mindset. Focussing on WHY & your client’s goals will help you to provide them with the right choices. You might have supported clients in the past a certain way, but you need to let your work change and adapt to the current situation, being future-oriented.
I have experience supporting and hosting virtual, hybrid and face-to-face meetings. I will openly share concrete examples with you & the thinking behind my choices. READ MORE ABOUT MY THINKING BEHIND THE WORKSHOP
03
YOU NEED TO CREATE UGLY WORK AND NOT BE AFRAID TO FAIL IN A ENVIRONMENT THAT IS SUPPORTIVE AND CHALLENGING
If everything you are creating right now looks beautiful, then you are not making anything new. Reread that last sentence and think about it! Experimentation, exploration and serious play is what you need to be engaging in to find YOUR new ways of doing things. I think I have made every mistake there is and have every experienced every tech disaster—and I will share them with you so that you will know what to do IF or WHEN they happen to you! READ MY OTHER BLOG POSTS TO SEE SOME OF THE THINGS I HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT…
04
IT TAKES A NEIGHBOURHOOD!
KEEPING UP WITH THE TECH, THE PLATFORMS, THE SHARING OPTIONS…YOU NEED TO BE PART OF A SHARING NETWORK IN ORDER TO THRIVE
One of my purpose-driven goals has been to convene community around learning. It has brought me so much joy to see that after my workshops people have started meeting without me and supporting & challenging each other.
I have also been happy to convene alumni around different themes from time to time. I try to keep communication flowing through free access to the material we have created during the workshop & that I (or participants) update from time to time even when the workshop is over! I love researching and finding agile ways of working.
05
THIS IS JUST WHAT I THINK—SO READ FOR YOURSELF WHAT PARTCIPANTS ARE SAYING ABOUT MY WORKSHOPS
“Best professional development workshop EVER! ”
— LESLIE SALMON-ZHU, CONFERENCE ARTS AND INSIGHTS
“I was awed by your brilliance, Raquel. It’s one thing to see your work, but another to see you doing your thing. I had a lovely time with everyone learning and sharing, making connections and playing together. ”
— SUNSHINE BELBELKACEM, PRESIDENT OF THE IFVP, THAT GIRL SHINES
“This class is a game-changer. Do it!”
“So much great learning! I was inspired by your approach and work. I sold a new deliverable for a team too that blended images and text, so the workshop already paid for itself.
— NEVADA LANE, LANE CHANGE CONSULTING
“I’ve now taken 3 workshops with Raquel - two in person and one online - so I consider myself highly qualified to sing her praises. And I will sing them loudly and with gusto, because Raquel is one of the most gifted, generous, creative and imaginative teachers I’ve ever learned with. For starters, she knows a ton about almost everything to do with digital graphic facilitation, and what she doesn’t know, she learns overnight. She is also so infectiously enthusiastic about every geeky aspect of the work that you can’t help getting caught up in her enthusiasm even if you can’t imagine how you’ll use it. (You will.) Even more, Raquel has an endlessly curious mind and an improvisational mentality that sees every roadblock as an offer, and never met an app she couldn’t hack to make it do things its designers never imagined it doing. Most of all, she has a generosity of spirit that is unmatched, sharing her knowledge openheartedly, showering her students with resources, and continuing to make herself available long after the workshop is over. If you want to learn digital graphic facilitation, sign up right now for any course Raquel offers. You will be glad you did, and you will undoubtedly want to come back for more. I may yet find myself signing up for a fourth…”
— AVRIL ORLOFF, OUTSIDE THE LINES
“I can really only recommend to go on this journey! Raquel is the best teacher you can imagine, and brings out the best of the, at times overwhelming, amount of possibilities that we have in digital scribing and facilitation she creates a wonderful, creative and experimental space, where it is also possible to work with any fears/insecurities etc around working digitally. I can just say: GO GO GO!”
— MONA EBDRUP, VISUAL CONFIDENCE
“Thank you for everything!! I have been talking about your workshop NONSTOP!! Your creativity and passion for what you do was so inspiring!! Thank you for creating such a great incubator for all of us to share and learn and to learn and to meet so many fabulous and talented women!! ”
— LYNNE DALGLEISH, VISUAL TALKS (THIS WORKSHOP TURNED OUT TO HAVE ONLY WOMEN PARTICIPANTS)
“So much freaking fun... and learned so much!”
— LEAH SILVERMAN, DESIGN BY LEAH
“It was a fun 4 days with lots of learning from Raquel and co-learning and sharing with cohorts. Well worth it. Raquel Benmergui, I still don’t know how you flipped from one app to another, you Goddess you!”
— ROSANNA VON SACKEN, ADVANCED CONSULTING & FACILITATION
“ It was an absolutely wonderful experience that opened up several new lanes for me.”
— JULIE STUART, MAKING IDEAS VISIBLE
“I’m so glad to be finding ways to bridge the great analogue-digital divides. Workshops were both incredibly rich. Thanks to the amazing Raquel!”
— EMILY JANE STEINBERG
“Highly recommended - my time with Raquel was transformational!”
— ANGELIQUE MCALPINE, DRAWING IMPACT
“Raquel's workshops helped me feel confident and skilled pivoting to fully remote graphic recording work!”
— KARINA BRANSON, CONVERSKETCH
“Highly recommended! This workshop is a gamechanger ... not only to use different approaches on how to draw digitally but also on how to create a different innovative process using and mixing different technologies with ease.”
— SABINE SOEDER, COCREATIVEFLOW