Paula Gallant Coaching

If you’ve been wondering whether The Power of Presence in Facilitation is for you, here’s a simple way to think about it:

✔ Yes, if you lead conversations, meetings, workshops, or groups, or want to do more of this.

✔ Yes, if you sometimes overthink, over-prepare, or worry about how things will unfold in the room.

✔ Yes, if you want to feel more grounded and confident facilitating difficult conversations, group dynamics, or emotional moments.

✔ Yes, if you want practical support, not just theory.

✔ And yes, even if you don’t call yourself a “facilitator.”

One person who recently applied shared that they had spent years running workshops, speaking at events, mentoring students, and leading sessions before realizing that this, too, was facilitation. I think that’s true for many people.

Facilitation isn’t only standing at the front of a room with a flip chart. It’s the practice of helping people move through conversations, learning, reflection, decision-making, and change together.

At this point, I’m not planning any additional offerings in 2026, so this June cohort is the only one currently scheduled.

The program includes:
• a full-day in-person training on June 9
• a virtual orientation on June 3 (recorded if you can’t attend live)
• a private 30-minute coaching session
• reflection practices and online resources

We’ll gather at Andrew Hall, UPEI in Charlottetown, PEI.

This is a small-group experience with space for meaningful dialogue, practice, and individualized support.

If payment timing or logistics are the only thing holding you back, feel free to reach out and we can talk it through.

Registration closes June 2.

Learn more and apply here: https://www.paulagallant.ca/facilitation-path/ -power-of-presence

There’s a common myth that presence means being calm, composed, and steady at all times, but real presence has very little to do with perfection.

Last week, I had the flu and missed the wake of a dear friend. The experience reminded me how important it is to be able to stay with a range of experiences instead of trying to push past them or hold everything together neatly. Grief, disappointment, tenderness, exhaustion, joy, uncertainty, connection. Being human asks us to move through all of it.

That’s true in facilitation and leadership too.

Being present does not mean having it all together. It means learning how to stay grounded and intentional while also being fully human.

When we stop trying to prove ourselves or be the most clever person in the room and instead meet the moment and the group with openness, honesty, and care, something shifts. Trust deepens and possibilities expand. Others feel permission to show up more fully too.

This is something we explore in The Power of Presence in Facilitation. Together, we practice staying present without performing, naming what is happening in the room, holding space without rushing to fix or control, and standing in our humanity even when things feel uncertain.

The program begins in June here on PEI and applications are open now through June 2. Apply now: https://www.paulagallant.ca/facilitation-path/ -power-of-presence

What myths about presence have you noticed or experienced?

What does it look like to grow your confidence as a facilitator?

Sometimes it starts with realizing you don’t have to rely on over-preparing, hiding behind slides, or questioning whether you're ready.

This year’s The Power of Presence in Facilitation: From Worried to Confident cohort includes:

✔ Entrepreneurs and content experts who want to lead engaging webinars and workshops
✔ Leaders stepping into new roles
✔ People who bring others together every day but never thought of themselves as “facilitators” before

And program facilitators like these past participants:

“Not only did I feel more present, but my confidence in managing the room was greatly impacted.”
— Jasonique

“I became more aware of how my presence and communication style influence the people I work with. I gained practical tools that I could apply right away.”
— Bushra

"Through one on one focused coaching, I was able to reframe a recurring challenge I have in order to have greater confidence moving forward in my work."
— Megan

Doors close June 2. If you’ve been thinking of joining, now's the time. To learn more and apply: https://www.paulagallant.ca/facilitation-path/ -power-of-presence

Curious about The Power of Presence in Facilitation but not quite sure what it looks like in practice? Here’s a closer look at what the day includes.

✔ We’ll gather in person in Charlottetown, PEI for a full-day session on June 9, held at Andrew Hall, UPEI. This is where we ground the work together—through practice, reflection, and learning directly from real-time experience.

✔ To support your integration, the program also includes a one-hour virtual orientation on the morning of June 3, along with simple practices and reflection prompts you can return to after the session.

✔ You’ll receive a one-to-one, 30-minute coaching conversation focused on your real-life facilitation challenges, offering space to explore what’s actually showing up in your work and how you want to meet it.

This is a small group experience which allows for meaningful dialogue, personalized feedback, and a sense of connection that’s often missing in larger programs.

If you’re ready to explore what it means to show up fully in your facilitation—without performing or trying to fix everything—this is your invitation.

Doors close June 2, and we gather on June 9.

You can find all the details and apply at: https://www.paulagallant.ca/facilitation-path

If you have questions, feel free to reach out directly. I’m always happy to connect.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re “qualified enough” to hold space, you’re definitely not alone. I’ve felt that question come up many times in my own facilitation work.

Like the time I facilitated for hours in my second language, worried the whole time about whether I was getting it “right.”

Or when I was invited to facilitate meetings between the Chiefs of the Innu Nation of Labrador and Health Canada. I was so nervous. Thankfully, a trusted colleague looked me in the eye the night before and said, “You can do this.”

Then there are the times I teach a course on facilitation skills - the irony not lost on me as I try to model in real time the very things I’m teaching.

But the story that really sticks with me happened at the Tatamagouche Centre, where I was facilitating a program using the ASPIRE model, something I had first learned from a past facilitator.

That amazing facilitator was now a participant in the program. They’d never taken the formal training before and were attending as a learner, but still, I had to remind myself (more than once) that I wasn’t there to be the expert. I was there to hold space for learning and deepening.

That’s the thing: we’re all learners, and we take on different roles at different times.
But over and over again, I’ve learned that presence, curiosity, and a belief in the collective often matter more than knowledge.

That’s the heart of presence: it’s not about knowing everything. It’s about being with what’s emerging.

We explore these assumptions in The Power of Presence in Facilitation. We look at what it means to hold space without fixing, performing, or proving. We ground in practices that help us stay present, especially in moments of doubt.

If this resonates, I’d love to have you join us.
The Power of Presence in Facilitation: From Worried to Confident
Date: June 9, 2026
Location: Andrew Hall, UPEI, Charlottetown

A one-day, in-person, practice-based training where you’ll:
• Work with real facilitation situations
• Build your capacity to stay present
• Practice without needing to perform or prove

Includes:
• A one-hour virtual orientation session on the morning of June 3
• One full-day training session
• One one-to-one coaching conversation
• Online resources to support your learning

You’ll leave with practical tools and more confidence in moments that can’t be fully planned.
Learn more: https://www.paulagallant.ca/facilitation-path

Our world needs more people who can hold space when conversations get hard, who can lead meetings that are actually productive, and who can listen in ways that make others feel seen and understood.

In a time when polarization often replaces dialogue, we need facilitators who do not simplify complex issues but instead help groups stay with discomfort long enough to surface the deeper truths beneath disagreement.

I teach facilitation skills that foster curiosity over certainty and connection over control so that communities, teams, and organizations can move forward together, not apart.

How we each show up in group conversations truly matters. Presence is not just for facilitators; it shapes the whole experience for everyone involved. Here are some tips to help both facilitators and participants bring their full presence to any facilitated event:

For Facilitators:
🔹 Pause and breathe before responding.
🔹 Set clear intentions at the start.
🔹 Practice radical curiosity through open-ended questions.
🔹 Notice and soften your own judgments.

For Participants:
✔ Listen with your whole self to words, emotions, and intentions.
✔ Name what you are thinking, feeling or noticing.
✔ Lean into discomfort instead of avoiding it.
✔ Respect the facilitation process even when it is challenging.

Presence is about showing up fully - messy, real, human, and open to the possibility that arise when we bring our whole selves. It is in this full presence that transformation can happen.

If you want to build presence and confidence in facilitation, join me for The Power of Presence in Facilitation: From Worried to Confident.

A one-day, in-person training focused on real practice, reflection, and grounded facilitation.
Location: Charlottetown, PEI
Date: June 9, 2026

Includes a virtual orientation, coaching and ongoing learning support.

Learn more and apply at: https://www.paulagallant.ca/facilitation-path

For years, I’ve come back to a quote from Prentis Hemphill that shaped how I think about boundaries: “Boundaries are the distance at which I can love you and me simultaneously.”

I appreciated how it framed boundaries as something that can protect connection rather than damage it. Recently, I was at a retreat weekend where a counselor shared another definition: “Boundaries are what we tell people we will do, and they require the other person to do nothing.”

It was one of those moments where I immediately thought, of course. One of those ideas that feels obvious once you hear it, but completely shifts how you understand something.

That idea helped me notice how often I confuse boundaries with requests. When I say, “Please don’t speak to me that way,” I’m making a request and hoping someone responds differently. There’s real value in that. I’ve learned a lot from nonviolent communication, which teaches us to better understand our needs and make clear, respectful requests.

A boundary is different because it focuses on what I will do. It might sound like, “If this conversation continues in this way, I’m going to step away,” or “I’m not available to respond to work messages in the evening.”

The boundary isn’t successful because someone else agrees with it or changes their behaviour. It works because I’m clear about what I will do to take care of myself.

That feels important because making the success of our boundaries dependent on someone else can leave us feeling frustrated and powerless. Being clear about our own actions feels more honest and more empowering.

One of the things I appreciate most about being a lifelong learner is realizing there is always more to understand about relationships, communication, and human behaviour. Sometimes a small shift in language can completely change how we show up with others and how we care for ourselves.

This was one of those shifts for me, and I thought you might find something in it too.

What’s a lesson about boundaries that has stayed with you?

We’ve all felt it. That awkward silence in a meeting or workshop.

In facilitation, it can feel like forever, especially after you’ve asked a powerful question and the room goes quiet.

The instinct is to jump in, fill the gap and keep things moving. But what if that pause is exactly what the moment needs?

In The Power of Presence in Facilitation: From Worried to Confident, we explore silence not as something to fix, but something to allow.

Because silence isn’t empty, it’s full of possibility. It’s often where insight lands, where clarity emerges, and where trust deepens.

When you can stay grounded in those moments, you give the group permission to do the same.

This is one of the core practices we work with in this one-day, experiential training, alongside real-time practice, reflection, and support.

Where? Charlottetown, PEI
When? June 9, 2026 (Andrew Hall, UPEI)

Program includes:
• A full-day, in-person training
• A one-to-one coaching conversation
• Online resources

You’ll learn to:
• Use silence as a tool
• Stay steady in quiet and uncertain moment
• Build trust in what’s emerging

Learn more: https://www.paulagallant.ca/facilitation-path

I have to admit, facilitation isn’t always easy to explain. You may not even call what you do facilitation.

At its core, it’s helping groups have the conversations they need or want to have.
It means guiding people through learning, discussions, or decisions in a way that ensures everyone feels heard, understood, and included so the group can achieve the results they’re aiming for.

Whether you realize it or not, if you’ve ever…

✔ Kept a meeting on track while making sure everyone was heard
✔ Helped a group handle tension without things falling apart
✔ Made sure everyone felt included in a family or community conversation
✔ Drew out quieter voices and balanced louder ones
✔ Helped a group learn something new together
✔ Managed time, flow, and energy to keep things moving
✔ Stayed calm and thoughtful when emotions ran high

…you were facilitating.

Facilitation skills are essential because they help you:

- Keep conversations focused and effective
- Build trust so people feel safe to share
- Navigate group dynamics with care
- Adapt when things don’t go as planned
- Hold space without feeling like you need to fix everything

If you want to go deeper, join me for The Power of Presence in Facilitation: From Worried to Confident.

This is a one-day, in-person, practice-based training where you won’t just learn about facilitation — you’ll practice, reflect, and work with real situations.

Location: Charlottetown, PEI
Date: June 9, 2026 (Andrew Hall, UPEI)

Includes a one-to-one coaching conversation and online resources to support your learning.

You’ll leave with practical tools, a clearer approach, and more confidence when things don’t go as planned.

Learn more: https://www.paulagallant.ca/facilitation-path

Alongside my coaching work, I’m offering a one-day, in-person program on June 9 in Charlottetown. It’s designed for people who regularly bring others together in their work, whether that’s in meetings, workshops, classrooms, team conversations, or community spaces.

The program is called The Power of Presence in Facilitation: From Worried to Confident.

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering…
🔹 how do I stay grounded while leading a group
🔹 how do I respond when something unexpected happens
🔹 how can I create more meaningful engagement
…this program may resonate.

This is a practice-based, experiential program where you’ll work with real situations, reflect on your own facilitation, and build your ability to respond in the moment. The intention isn’t to get it right, but to strengthen your capacity to stay present and work with what’s actually happening in the room.

The program includes a one-hour virtual orientation, a full-day in-person group session, a private coaching conversation, and online resources to support your integration.

📍 June 9, 2026
📍 Andrew Hall, UPEI, Charlottetown

I’ll be sharing more over the coming weeks as I fill the group. If this feels like a fit, you can learn more and apply here:
https://www.paulagallant.ca/facilitation-path

As always, thanks for helping me spread the word.