Design Breakouts That Actually Break Through

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Breakouts are where your attendees explore, discuss, and internalize the message you most want them to remember. They’re where concepts are made real and tangible. But too often, they turn into just another slide-driven presentation.

We’ve designed breakouts for sales kickoffs, leadership off-sites, and enterprise-wide strategy rollouts—and we’ve seen what works (and what doesn’t). This guide shares the exact principles we use to make sessions that are engaging, purpose-driven, and actually move people.

Workshop Design Rules of Thumb

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You’re a content expert who been asked to teach what you know. Challenge yourself to reach beyond the typical “lecture style” approach to learning—it’s not that effective anyway—and build out an interactive and engaging workshop instead. Here are some basic rules of thumb to keep in mind as you create your learning experience.

ResourcesStephanie JuddJuly 20, 2023meeting design and facilitation, meeting design, toolComment

Craft Powerful Micro-Stories for Your Presentation

TOOL

To help our clients embed stories into their presentations, we typically encourage them to take an intentional look at their story ideas through the lens of the building blocks of the story. If you’d like to do the same, use this tool to get started.

ResourcesStephanie JuddJune 29, 2023meeting design and facilitation, meeting design, toolComment

Marked Up Agenda Resource

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In our work helping clients design their strategy retreats, we've come across plenty of draft agendas. Some are better than others. Download this file for two draft agendas that we've marked up with comments on their strengths and opportunities.

ResourcesStephanie JuddApril 4, 2023meeting design and facilitation, meeting design, toolComment

Ramp Up the Asks: How to Warm Up Attendees for High Quality Engagement

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Truly engaging your audience takes a lot more effort and planning and, as a result, is often neglected. Ramp up the “asks” for your audience over the course of the meeting. Check out this one-page reference on how to Ramp Up The Asks.

ResourcesStephanie JuddApril 4, 2023meeting design and facilitation, meeting design, toolComment

Materials for Meeting Success

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Turn off the slide deck and make your materials physical instead. Check out this one-page reference of Materials for Meeting Success.

ResourcesStephanie JuddApril 4, 2023meeting design and facilitation, meeting design, toolComment

Ground Rules for Success

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The best medicine is always and forever will be prevention, and that is something you can do pretty effectively by establishing thoughtful ground rules at the outset of the meeting. Check out this one-page reference with some high-quality ground rules you may consider adapting and/or adopting for yourself.

ResourcesStephanie JuddApril 4, 2023meeting design and facilitation, meeting design, toolComment

Clarifying Success for Your Working Group Meeting (with Downloadable Tool)

TOOL

Because working groups are often established to work through aspirational and shifting goals, and because participants are usually loosely organized, it’s critical that participants understand why they’re meeting, what they are expected to contribute, and what they can expect in return. Although you may already have a cursory idea of agenda topics for meetings, getting clear on your “why” will take your meeting from the typical boring event to a powerful gathering with better outcomes.

ArticleKara DavidsonOctober 31, 2022agenda template, agenda, meeting design, meeting design and facilitation, presentation, planningComment

Define Success for your Strategy Retreat: KNOW, FEEL, and DO Statements

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This reference offers a few examples of KNOW, FEEL, and DO statements that we worked through with our clients. Compare the “before” and “after” states and see our markup.

ResourcesStephanie JuddOctober 6, 2022meeting design and facilitation, meeting design, toolComment

Tool: Set Your Presentation or Meeting Up for Success

TOOL

This Google Sheets template will provide you with a framework to define success for your meeting or presentation. One tab offers a structure for you to think through a single meeting. Another tab offers a template for thinking through a multi-session gathering or retreat.

ResourcesStephanie JuddOctober 5, 2022meeting design and facilitation, meeting design, toolComment

Navigating Impostor Syndrome: Your Biggest Leadership Hurdle

A key hurdle for leaders stepping into their own leadership is their personal belief that they’re not ready. This article explores Impostor Syndrome, who it affects, and how to combat it effectively: check in with yourself, reframe your thinking, seek outside perspectives, and take a small step.

It’s Time to Update Your Meeting Agenda

Every month we host an Ask Me Anything forum where people bring their burning questions about meeting design or facilitation. More often than not, the questions we get can be summed up as, “Why is the meeting so boring? I feel like I’m pulling teeth trying to get people to engage. It just feels like a waste of time.” If you’re in a position where it feels like everything is bad about one of your critical business meetings, start by tackling the agenda.