Creator Spotlight: Myriam Hadnes

Introducing Myriam Hadnes and the ‘Workshops Work’ podcast

Meet Myriam Hadnes, the insightful host of "Workshops Work," a podcast dedicated to the art of facilitation. Each week, Myriam engages with experts in collaboration and leadership, exploring group dynamics and communication skills. With over 235 episodes, her podcast has become a key platform for facilitators, drawing 2,000 listeners weekly. Her unique, curiosity-driven approach offers deep insights into the process of guiding groups, making "Workshops Work" a blend of professional expertise and personal growth for her engaged audience.

You can listen to their podcast here: https://workshops.work/podcastmap

Tell us about your show!

Workshops Work is a weekly conversation/interview podcast for facilitators of collaboration (including trainers and team leaders). Every week, we explore what it takes to navigate group dynamics, develop communication skills and create methods and processes that help groups work better together. It's a long-form style with episodes usually 90 minutes in length. Instead of following an interview script, I follow my curiosity and intuition to peel back the layers and deeply understand what my guest does to create impact in their work. Every week, we get about 2,000 downloads of the show and I have recorded over 235 episodes already.

Why did you start your podcast?

The facilitation profession wasn't really known when I started the podcast, and I wanted to advocate for the importance of facilitating collaboration as well as for the medium of the workshop to do so. When I started calling myself a facilitator, I faced prejudice and misunderstanding regarding the profession and the format of workshops. People wanted to put me into the box of a coach, trainer or consultant, not seeing the difference between someone who guides through content (trainer/consultant) and someone who guides through process and structure (facilitator)

What's been your biggest challenge so far?

Keeping the quality of the show up and helping my audience grow with me. I have exploration calls with every guest before the show to ensure alignment. And if the quality doesn't speak to me, I won't publish the show. And for each episode I write a 1-page summary with my personal highlights. Finding time and motivation to do that is a challenge. Podium now helps me to stay focused and structure my own thoughts and highlights. It's not replacing my work, it rather became my collaborator :)

How has podcasting impacted your personal and professional life?

I have grown to become a spokesperson in the field of facilitation. I might have one of the largest or at least most diverse networks because of interviewing an expert every week. I have won client gigs and most importantly, built a paid community of facilitators.

What advice do you have for new podcasters?

Start a podcast out of passion, not as a business development or marketing tool because it takes time and commitment to build an audience and to build trust. We must care for our audience and acknowledge that we ask them to share their most important resources with us: their time and their attention. The audience will reward us with loyalty if we make it easy for them to spend time and attention on our show, I believe. Therefore also invest in good equipment and do the homework about who you invite on the show and why.

Anything else you'd like to share with the world?

I have built strong bonds with my audience because I am constantly in their ears as they tell me. They almost consider me as their friend and therefore trust me. Podcasting is as authentic and real as it gets because we cannot 'fake it'. That's a beautiful gift we receive from the audience.

How has Podium improved your workflow?

Yes, it freed up one hour weekly because I can now listen to the podcast while going on a walk and then rely on the Podium scripts and highlights to structure my thoughts and write the summary. Podium became an additional team member beside me and my copy writer - not instead :)