10 Tips for Leading a Successful Town Hall Meeting
Last week I lead a town hall meeting for Phoenix Design Week (PHXDW). Speaking in front of people is one thing, but facilitating a meaningful discussion where criticism is openly cherished is quite another task. The event went over really well, a dozen or so “Thank you’s” and “You did a really good job” followed the event. So I thought I would offer some tips for leading a successful town hall community meeting. Please use and share them.
Tip 1: Get to know everyone, make them feel welcome
I knew that in order for the event to work well, I needed to be welcoming to all the attendees. Phoenix Design Week is a community-run event. It is their event. I welcomed each person individually at the door with a smile and tried to remember their name and something about them to bring up at a later date.
Tip 2: Be prepared for any questions, have experts on hand
I asked for a few volunteers and organizers from the first Phoenix Design Week, held last September, to be in attendance. They weren’t going to miss the event anyway, so that was easy to do. They brought perspective and experience to the table. Past attendees, armed with ideas for this year’s event, made up the rest of the group and had tons to offer.
Tip 3: Know the format
After a quick introduction about myself for the stragglers who walked in, I thanked everyone for coming, explained how they were important for the evening’s proceedings, and offered a brief outline of the format for the town hall.
Tip 4: Get the conversation going
I listed 5 or 6 possible topics for the evening and called on a few people who earlier mentioned a discussion-worthy comment.
Tip 5: Crowd control
Often times the best ideas will come from a tiny voice. I tried to mix up the passionate vocal people with the quite folks who didn’t speak loudly. People knew who to turn to if everyone started talking at once.
Tip 6: Lead the conversation
I made sure everyone knows who had the floor, who would have it next, and then after that, and and so on. Having a queue of people kept the conversation moving quickly. Essentially, I said “You first, then you, and uh, you in the corner.”
Tip 7: Allow for natural conversation
Knowing when to break the queue and let people jump in was important to get different sides to a story. It’s ok to let one or two people debate quickly, but then get back to the queue.
Tip 8: Know when to give up control to the experts
I gave the mic, so to speak, to a few people when we needed in depth explanation.
Tip 9: Know when to end the night
There wasn’t a set time schedule, but I checked in with a few people throughout the night to see how they were doing and how the energy level was. I gave the crowd a heads up that we were going to talk about one or two more topics. And I ended with a question similar to “Who still needs to get something of their chest or is there something we missed in tonight’s conversation?” I pointed to two people who didn’t speak much and clearly stated they would have the last comments.
Tip 10: Inform people how they can continue the conversation
During the evening I passed out two MacBooks that with a web form. We were able to quickly get everyone’s name, email, Twitter info, blog URL, and what volunteer positions had interest for them. I gave everyone my business card and PHXDW staffers greeted and thanked everyone for coming.
Interested in volunteering for Phoenix Design Week? Fill out the volunteer form. http://phxdw.com/i-want-to-volunteer
Did I miss something? What would you add to this list?
Tags: PHXDW, public speaking, tips
