Once greetings are complete, there are several different ways you could begin your session. A well-chosen, thoughtful start to the session can help engage participants and create a purposeful atmosphere.
You might choose to briefly share your background and the motivation behind creating the workshop, as personal context can help establish credibility and relatability. You could start with a question for the participants and ask them to share their answers with someone sitting next to them (if in person) or in the chat (if online). You may wish to open your workshop with a quick game or a short activity. This can be especially useful when you have group activities planned for later in the session, as it gives participants a chance to interact early on and begin building rapport.
However you choose to start, be sure to clearly communicate the learning objective and outline the session schedule at some point during the introduction. Providing participants with a brief overview of the key activities and how they connect to the learning objective helps set expectations and give the session a clear sense of purpose.
As always, be mindful of time constraints. In shorter workshops, even brief activities can cut into the time needed for core content. Sometimes, a concise introduction and overview is all that is necessary.