English for

3 
 
Suggested answers
1 c problem-solving 
2 b a lot of creativity
2 c clear goals
2 d an appropriate atmosphere
2 e mixing people up properly
3 c to manage when things don’t go as planned
3 d to use the equipment
3 e to encourage people to speak up in an unfamiliar group
3 f to prevent some participants from speaking too much
Audioscript 
5
Alan: My first experience with facilitating workshops? Oh, it 
was a complete disaster. Want to hear? OK. I had gathered 
that planning a workshop was a serious job. So, of course, I 
had put a lot of careful planning and creativity in it. I spent a 
whole working day defining clear goals and thinking of ways 
to keep the discussion focused. I had a carefully thought-
out list of needs: the size of the room, the technology, the 
handouts. I was looking forward to getting people involved in 
problem-solving. 
Josie: So, why did it go wrong? 
Alan: Unfortunately, the workshop had been over-publicised. 
Josie: Too many people came?
Alan: Yes. Instead of the 10 to 15 attendees I had estimated, 
about 40 turned up! Oh, I thought, OK, I’ll manage somehow 
… I’ll split them into smaller groups for discussion! But as the 
attendance had exceeded expectations they had to move the 
workshop to a bigger room, which had columns blocking the 
view for part of the audience. And, of course, the equipment … 
it was set up at the last moment and it took us some time to 
get it working properly. To be fair, the technicians were really 
helpful, but we were late starting.
Sarah: That was unfortunate.
Alan: Yes, it was. So, I failed to create an appropriate 
atmosphere. As a result, some people were too nervous to 
speak up in an unfamiliar group. I also failed to mix people up 
properly. So, people in the small groups were from the same 
institutions. They had nothing new to share!