Round Table Discussion
How to Run a Round Table Discussion
A round table is an important format to have in your toolbox. Commonly, when organizing a large broadcast you will have many experts in the audience who all have brilliant things to say. A round table can provide them with the space to share their important ideas. It’s not just for big meetings though, in working groups, having a round table with some of your participants can bring energy and ideas to the surface.
When to use a round table:
For broadcasts of less than 200 people
Working sessions
When choosings your questions to present to the table, it’s best to have only two or three as more will come up through the discussion and you want to give as much time as possible to your participants. They’re the ones with the important things to say! Some example questions are: “What are the pros and cons of this solution?” “What is working?”
Manage time for the whole section, more than 30 minutes can feel exhausting to a group.
Have a clear time limit for each response to guard against ramblers, and have the host recap comments between speakers.
What can go wrong in a round table?
One person talks too long. Fix: At the beginning remind everyone of the timing, one minute is a good safe number. If you have a violator, cut in at about 1.5 minutes and say, “You're making some good points, but we also need to hear from other members of the team. Thank you.”
No one says anything. Fix: Have some plants in the audience that you know you can all on. Ask them ahead of time to start the conversation. If you didn’t ask ahead, you can call on a specific talkative person who you know has thoughts on everything.
Someone goes off topic. Fix: Cut in and remind them that we are talking the current subject and the other subject can be put on the parking lot for later discussion.
I hope you take advantage of the round table discussion at your next meeting to increase engagement.
