Here’s a facilitator’s toolkit of digital tools that pair beautifully with SmartLab—before, during, and after your sessions.
Use it for: Planning sessions visually, mapping out workshop flows, and storing inspiration
Why it works: Milanote acts like a digital whiteboard for your behind-the-scenes thinking. Perfect for designing session arcs, collecting resources, or collaborating with co-facilitators before the live event.
Link: https://milanote.com/
Use it for: Transcribing discussions, capturing feedback, and summarising meetings
Why it works: When you need to keep a written record of a conversation or breakout session, Otter helps generate transcripts that you can later review or convert into session outputs.
Link: https://otter.ai/
Use it for: Building a facilitator’s knowledge base, managing workshop assets, and storing reusable resources
Why it works: Notion is a great hub for your session templates, facilitator playbooks, reading lists, and retrospective notes. Think of it as your facilitation brain—always ready for the next workshop.
Link: https://www.notion.so/
Use it for: Pre-session needs assessments or post-session feedback
Why it works: Typeform’s conversational form format is perfect for gathering participant input before a session, or running a short follow-up survey to capture feedback and outcomes.
Link: https://www.typeform.com/
Use it for: Project-managing multi-session engagements or tracking session action items
Why it works: For facilitators working on longer-term programmes or tracking client deliverables, Trello helps visualise progress and coordinate tasks between sessions.
Link: https://trello.com/
Use it for: Pre-session walk-throughs, asynchronous intros, or post-session debriefs
Why it works: Sometimes a short, human message goes a long way. Loom is great for welcoming participants before a session or summarising what happened afterward—especially when you can’t all be in the room at the same time.
Link: https://www.loom.com/
Use it for: Curating music for arrival, energisers, or reflection moments
Why it works: Whether you’re setting the tone for a quiet reflection or energising the room after a long activity, a great playlist can transform the vibe of your session.
Link: https://www.spotify.com/
Use it for: Designing and delivering interactive, structured virtual and hybrid sessions
Why it works: SmartLab brings all your facilitation elements into one shared experience—activities, inputs, breakout logic, timing, visuals, and live collaboration—so you can stop juggling tools and start focusing on the group.
SmartLab isn’t just another facilitation tool—it’s the space where your workshop actually happens. The tools above help you plan it, support it, or reflect on it—but SmartLab is where it comes to life.