Every good story needs a hero. Someone to swoop in and save the day, get all the credit and have their picture taken for posterity.
In an effective accessibility workshop, that hero isn't the facilitator.
Just like every good story needs a hero, every good hero needs a guide. The Alfred to your Batman. The newspapers don't mention Alfred. The bad guys, they don't fear Alfred, nor do they know he even exists. But to Batman, he's the voice in his ear (literally) to guide him around Gotham.
That is the facilitator. That is the job. They're there to guide others on their journey.
The facilitator's responsibility is to show others the path, not walk it.
The best workshops I've been a part of had an Alfred. They were confident in everything they did. They always felt in control and never panicked. They were kind and polite at the same time. And they were never strict. They always showed some flexibility and no matter what happened it seemed like it all went according to their plan.
They read the room. They adjust the tempo of the exercises. They keep the energy flowing. They bridge the gap between different perspectives. They help developers understand users' needs and help designers understand how they can help the dev team succeed.
They are in service of the group. They guide everyone how to think beyond their own experiences. They are there to help everyone in the workshop discover the best way forward.
And the worst workshops I've been to?
The facilitator who makes it about themselves. The one who needs to prove how smart they are. The one who needs to show off their expertise.
They missed the point. And they lost the team's trust. And that's hard to win back.