Workshop Planning
Presentations card, MethodKit for Workshop Planning
Card 57 of 60 · MethodKit for Workshop Planning
  • ThemeCapture & close
  • CardCard 57 of 60
  • Questions5 to explore
Capture & close

Presentations

Who will be presenting? For how long?

Presentations take longer than expected and need more structure than most presenters give them.

Whether it is a group presenting their work to the room, an expert sharing context, or a sponsor giving a brief, presentations are a common workshop element that frequently overruns and underdelivers. The solution is almost always more structure and less time, not the other way around.

Plan every presentation slot with a specific time limit, a clear format, and a named purpose. Why is this presentation happening, what do you want participants to do with the information, and what comes immediately after? If you cannot answer those questions, the presentation probably needs to be rethought.

If participants will present their group work to each other, make sure they know the format in advance, how long they have, and what they are expected to cover. An unplanned group presentation at the end of a workshop is one of the most common sources of overrun.

Easy to missTell presenting groups their time limit and format at the start of the activity they are working on, not five minutes before they present, because groups given insufficient notice default to improvising and that almost always runs long.

How experienced facilitators handle it

The same building block, handled by people who have run a lot of workshops. Patterns and illustrations to react to, not rules to follow.

Set a hard time limit

Experienced facilitators set a specific time for each presenter or group and stick to it, giving a one-minute warning and cutting off cleanly, because one overrunning presentation compresses everything that follows.

Define the format, not just the topic

They tell participants not only what to present, but how: two minutes, one key insight, one open question, no slides. Format guidance reduces the variance in what the room receives.

Brief presenters before the session

When an external speaker or sponsor will present, they speak with that person in advance about timing, tone, and what participants need from the slot, rather than managing it live.

Questions to plan around

Use these on your own or in a group. There are no right answers, only better conversations.

  1. Who is presenting, what are they presenting, and for how long?

  2. Have you briefed presenters on the format, time limit, and what you need from their slot?

  3. What do participants need to do with the presentation: listen, respond, vote, discuss?

  4. What happens immediately after the presentation, and does it connect to what was presented?

  5. What is your plan if a presentation runs over time?

Watch for

  • Groups consistently underestimate how long it takes to present their work; four groups given five minutes each almost always takes 35 minutes, not 20.
  • A presentation with no stated purpose for the audience, 'and now the team will share what they came up with', often leaves participants unsure whether to respond, clap, or wait.
  • External speakers and sponsors frequently have a different idea of what 'ten minutes' means than the facilitator does; always confirm the format and length with them the day before.