On the 8^th of March, for the celebration of international women’s Day, I organized a workshop to tackle stereotypes of feminine and masculine acts. I was quite excited about the workshop as it is something that I am interested in and thought it would get good feedback from participants as the concept of the workshop was smart.

The idea was that participants are actively interacting with each other, and learn about communication modes in real-life examples, instead of listening and watching presentations all the time. So, the theory about action stances and communication domains was just a tool to activate their stereotypes.

But not everything went as I planned. There were things that went well, but certainly, many things to be improved for the future workshop.

1. What went well?

The concept of the workshop was interesting: it generated good discussions between participants. And some of the participants said that they learned something new. There were enough participants The event was cost-efficient as it cost under 30 euros.

2. What could be improved?

From the marketing perspective, it was a failure since we only had 2 people from outside of the proakatemia team. There could have been more marketing on different social media if there was no winter break in the middle. The content was not understandable enough from the participants’ perspective as it led sometimes a big confusion for them. There could have been more clear instructions available.

A roleplay was significant in this workshop for participants to reflect on the stereotypes that they have, but it was awkward for them to actively roleplay as they weren’t close enough to each other. An icebreaker activity at the beginning of the workshop could have been made.

3. What did I learn?

General understanding of action stances and different communication domains theory. It is worth having ice-breaking activity at the beginning of the workshop. Marketing needs to be done systematically according to the schedule

4. What will I take into practice?

More prepared marketing plan when it comes to events and workshops. Thinking about participants’ perspectives: making the workshop process more easily follow.

In general, it was a great experience for me to learn and improve as a facilitator. As the topic of the workshop is sensitive but still important in our daily lives, in school, and in workplaces, it was meaningful for me, and I hope for some participants as well.