How do you make sure your event attendees are left wanting more? By making sure your conference or event is imaginative, interactive, and adds value. With that in mind, here are 20 creative event formats to consider:
1. Campfire
Want an informal way to present and discuss topics with attendees? Consider a campfire session - arrange a few chairs or couches in a circular format to duplicate the casualness and intimacy of listening to stories around a campfire. This format is ideal for groups of 15-20. A designated speaker or presenter starts the conversation and then facilitates a group discussion.
2. Talent Show
Think the U.K.’s Dragon’s Den or the U.S.’s Shark Tank and you get the idea behind the Talent Show format. Ideal for presenting multiple ideas or varying points of view, each participant is given a few minutes to pitch their ideas or concepts to an audience, all the while soliciting feedback and generating meaningful discussion.
3. The Solution Room
The Solution Room is a great way to arrive at… a solution! The idea is to use the participants’ knowledge and insights to help individuals solve a particular challenge. With attendees first divided into groups of five, this format is scalable for an event of any size. The Solution Room moderator directs each person in the group to share a problem and then the group takes five minutes to brainstorm potential resolutions.
4. Roundtable Discussion
You don’t need a pre-planned agenda with a Roundtable Discussion. All that’s required is a group of like-minded individuals who want to come together to discuss a certain topic – perhaps during a conference lunchbreak or a coffee break. It’s a great way for smaller groups to meet, chat, and network.
5. Human Spectrogram
We’re all used to raising our hands to vote, but with a Human Spectrogram, you use movement. Asking multiple choice questions, the session moderator will designate different areas of the room to represent the various answers; to respond to the question, participants move to stand in the corresponding area. It’s an energetic and fun way to break the ice within a group and a great way to kick-off (or end) a meeting or training session.
6. Lightning Talks
Lightning Talks, as the name suggests, are designed to speed up presentations. Participants are given a short amount of time (usually no more than 10 minutes) to deliver their talk. If slides are involved, have them moved forward automatically to ensure there’s no run over. It’s a simple but powerful way to keep an audience engaged.
7. Ignite Session
Ignite Sessions is another iteration of the Lightning Talk. Speakers are given five minutes and 20 slides that auto-advance for a fast, fun, and speedy presentation.
8. Silent Disco Talks
Participants at a Silent Disco Talk wear wireless headphones which they can use to tune in to hear different speakers in the same room. It’s a simple way to ensure attendees are always listening to what interests them.
9. World Café
The World Café format allows a large number of participants to explore topics from a wide range of perspectives. The process begins with a question and then groups discuss at several small tables - like a café. After a set period of time, such as 10 minutes, the members of the group move to different tables leaving one person behind who provides an overview of the conversation to the next group. Once participants have sat at each table, the key points from each table are presented to everyone involved and this can inform a final discussion.
10. PechaKucha 20×20
A PechaKucha 20x20 also falls within the Lightning Talk category and is a presentation that comprises 20 images for 20 seconds. The slides change automatically and the speakers narrate each image. The entire presentation lasts for precisely 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
11. Jigsaw Session
A Jigsaw Session is a cooperative learning strategy that enables each participant of a ‘home’ group to specialize in one aspect of a topic - for example, an event focusing on developments in obstetrics would have one group studying prenatal care while another group studies postpartum recovery. Participants meet with members from other groups who are assigned the same aspect, and after mastering the material, return to the ‘home’ group and teach the material to their group members until they complete the jigsaw puzzle.
12. Braindates
Braindates are a one-to-one match between people who have expressed interest in a particular topic or area of study. The pairing can be done via an app or through a host and matched individuals then meet up to network and learn from each other.
13. Soapbox
Want to create a buzz at your event? Include a Soapbox session. Participants have the opportunity to present their thoughts, research, or a project on stage – or on an actual soapbox. - for a short amount of time.
14. Every Voice Brainstorm
Brainstorming sessions with 10 – 15 participants are a great way to generate ideas. One way to make sure every voice is heard is to kick off the session by asking everyone to write down their thoughts and solutions on separate cards. These cards are then pinned-up and the merits of every single idea are discussed.
15. Speakers’ Quiz
Rather than simply asking an audience a series of questions and then sharing the results in a poll, the Speakers’ Quiz is a way to inject some fun into proceedings by inviting the presenter to guess the results of the poll before they’re revealed, just like a gameshow.
16. Storytelling
A Storytelling session is a compelling way to share ideas tailored to the topic you are there to discuss. The moderator presents the information as a story, using characters to illustrate the experience of an individual, team, or a community, and follows the story with an audience Q&A.
17. Debate Club
A Debate Club session kicks off by polling the audience on a given topic. Two speakers are then selected to debate the topic’s opposing viewpoints . Afterwards, the audience is polled again and the winner of the debate is the speaker who influenced the most attendees to change their votes.
18. Personal Introspective
A Personal Introspective session requires all attendees to privately write down answers to five questions. They can then share those answers with the group… but they are not obliged to. It’s a way for attendees to reflect on their day’s experience.
19. Fishbowls
A Fishbowl is a way to organize a medium-to-large group discussion (around 50 people). Participants are divided into an inner and outer circle. The inner circle is the ‘Fishbowl’ and this is where three to four people discuss a given topic. The rest of the participants listen and take notes. After a set time, the ‘Fishbowl’ is replaced with other members of the outside circle. This is rotated until everyone has spent time sharing their thoughts in the Fishbowl. This format is often facilitated by a moderator.
20. Tag-Team
Similar to the Fishbowl, a Tag-Team session includes participants inside and outside the circle with the main difference being that a listener who wishes to talk can be ‘tagged’ into the inner circle for a chance to present.
Looking for a place to host your next interactive meeting session? The Convene portfolio of brands, which includes etc.venues, has 35+ locations globally that are purposefully designed for meetings and events. Reach out to our team to discover more.
