Round tables can be a great event format for generating high-trust, peer-level conversations rather than one-way marketing, but what makes a successful round table?
You can use round tables to:
• Bring together senior industry stakeholders
• Share real industry challenges and workshop ideas.
• Kick off a campaign or as part of a campaign
• Means for gaining qualitative insights
• Generate a variety of insightful content
• Build a reputation as a leader within the industry and a brand around which experts gather.
How to deliver a successful round table?
PURPOSE: Have a clear aim. What do you want to get out of the people that you are gathering together in one place?
How do you want to use their knowledge and experience? Is there a particular question you want them to answer or a problem you want them to solve?
GUESTS: Think about the best combination of guests to deliver on your purpose.
You don’t want a group that is going to say similar things, so make sure there is a variety of voices with different experiences.
Will the people around the table learn something from each other?
Are there people who will challenge thinking and, therefore, help drive the conversation in a more interesting way and deliver better results?
TIMING: How much time are you allocating for the discussion, given the size of the group and what you want to cover?
For example, an hour-long round table with 14 people averages at less than 4 minutes speaking time each, once you’ve allowed for intros and summing up. Is that enough time for them to properly dive into the topic?
FRAMEWORK: Don’t try to cover too much; have a few core, must-cover themes or discussion points for your moderator.
The more people around the table, the longer you are likely to spend on any one question.
A simple check for whether you have allowed enough time to cover everything is to work out roughly how much time there is for each discussion point.
Divide the allocated time by the number of discussion points to get the average per point.
Does that seem like enough time for the depth of discussion you want, given who you have around the table?
GROUP QUESTIONS: Going around the table and asking everyone to answer the same question can seem like a good idea, but be cautious, particularly with a big group.
Will there be enough variety in the answers, or will all the pertinent points have been made after a few people have spoken?
Also, group-wide questions can be a significant drain on time if they do not deliver enough meaningful information.
CONTENT: Extend the life span of your round table and keep the conversation going with related content, but plan ahead.
Record the conversation and run it through a transcript app (I use Otter) to get a verbatim record of the whole discussion, then turn it into a white paper, mini report, articles, LinkedIn post, etc.
If you want to use direct quotes in the write-ups, you’ll need to take steps to identify speakers in the recording/transcript.
Make the most of your attendees and record short social videos on the day to create teasers and soundbites.
• Organising a round table with a real estate-related theme? I’m an experienced moderator with a background in journalism. I’m also a dab hand at turning round table conversations into engaging content. Use the contact form to get in touch.
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