Monica Cordoba | Learning Design & Program Operations Portfolio

the scrambled eggs session

A short experiential facilitation exercise on process, pressure, and adaptability, taught through cooking.

Something about yourself

The idea

Same ingredients. Different process. Different result.

I designed a 15-minute facilitated session that uses something as simple as scrambled eggs to make a point most training decks take an hour to land: outcomes come down to process, not just effort. Participants watch, then practice, then walk away with a repeatable method and a metaphor that sticks.

What it's built to do

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

• Describe the key steps to making scrambled eggs

• Identify how heat, timing, and movement change the outcome

• Demonstrate the process using a simple, repeatable method

My facilitation methodology

Different sessions call for different instructional models, and part of my job as a facilitator is choosing the right one for the room, the content, and the time I have. For this session, I used BOPPPS (Bridge-in, Objective, Pre-assessment, Participatory Learning, Post-assessment, Summary), a model developed for Canada's Instructional Skills Workshop and one I trained in directly. It's a strong fit here because it's built for tight, high-stakes teaching moments, exactly what a 15-minute session with strangers demands.

Here's how it shows up in this specific design:

Bridge-in: I open with a personal story and a low-pressure framing, not content. Before anything is taught, I lower the stakes: permission to get it wrong, a moment that makes the room feel safe to fail in. For a short session with strangers, this isn't optional, people learn faster once they're not afraid of looking foolish, and there's no time to earn that trust later.

Objective: I state a clear, plain-language objective, then test the room with a quick gut-check question to surface what participants already believe or struggle with. This shapes how I facilitate the rest of the session in real time, especially useful here since "everyone already knows how to scramble eggs" is exactly the assumption I need to surface and complicate.

Participatory learning: Rather than explaining the concept of process consistency, I show it: two photos, a side-by-side comparison, so the point registers before I've said a word about why it matters. Then participants practice the method themselves. Retention comes from doing, not watching, and a demo without hands-on practice would just be a demo.

Summary: I close on a single memorable phrase or frame, tied back to the opening story, something participants can carry out the door.

The full minute-by-minute run of show for this session is attached below, and it shows this specific application of BOPPPS against a real 15-minute clock.

Why it works

This is a facilitation-design sample, not a cooking lesson.

It shows:

• Tight timing discipline (a full learning arc in 15 minutes)

• Deliberate psychological safety-building before any content is

introduced

• A concrete, low-stakes demonstration that makes an abstract idea

(process consistency) tangible

• A repeatable structure that could be re-skinned for any "why

process matters" training

anchor project