A portal is a “transitionary device”, according to Wizard Roy. I think of a transitionary device as a state shifter — a tool to move the viewer or learner into a receptive state.

Whatever you call it, Roy certainly gets the concept. The campus of the Wizard Academy is layered with portal after portal. The gate into the campus, the architecture of the buildings, the suspended foot path you cross entering the classroom, the drapes you pass through and the grand music playing in the “Hall” all create a sense of moving into a different space.

Most corporate training facilities I experience are well, corporate. They are homogeneous and sterile. They look like the office the learner just left — same furniture, same carpet, same lighting. Without benefit of a construction budget, how do you create a portal? Think about:

• Food and food messages
• Provocative pre-session emails
• Candles, flowers, manipulatives
• Signage at the door with a quote or question
• Music with images — check out animoto.com which allows you to create quick videos
• Non-traditional seating — circular, on-the-floor, bean bags, outdoors
• Rituals — opening sharing sessions, kinesthetic movements at the end of each session
• Powerful use of powerpoint — there are hundreds of ways to better utilize this tool

Cheers,
Jeanine O'Neill-Blackwell
President/CEO, 4MAT 4BUSINESS