Imagine you have 45 minutes to present your topic to an interested group of people. Which method do you choose? Hans and Michael from blink.it found the perfect format for this occasion at the GABAL Autumn Impulse Day: The discussion marketplace. Here, the audience decides which questions should be answered – under very special conditions!

5 minutes – the timer is running!

The basic principle of the "discussion marketplace": Answer as many questions as possible in a short amount of time. If you want to present your heartfelt topic to different people as described above, you will probably also resort to a classic lecture – with more or less audience participation. Perhaps you have prepared slides, or maybe you rely on a purely oral presentation – either way, you will prepare accordingly for the event.

The classic for introductions to the topic: Lectures with subsequent discussion/Q&A rounds

In the discussion marketplace, this principle is turned upside down: Here, the participants determine which questions you should answer. For each question, you have exactly five minutes – the timer is running. With this method, you manage to answer all the important questions even in a limited amount of time. And exactly the questions that are most important to the audience!

Michael and Hans from blink.it first tried this method at the GABAL Autumn Impulse Day 2018 – the participants were thrilled. And above all: Although the audience consisted almost entirely of trainers, no one had previously known this clever format. A good reason to take a closer look at this method!

Michael at the GABAL Impulse Day 2018: With the "discussion marketplace" method, he answers only the questions that are truly important to the audience in a short time.

The perfect method for Barcamps

The discussion marketplace is the perfect method for Barcamp formats: That is, for all kinds of lectures that should actually have much more audience participation than is possible in a typical lecture. By Barcamp principle, I mean all events where you, as an expert, speak to people who are generally interested in your topic.

The optimal conditions for the discussion marketplace:

• The participants want to learn more about a topic

• The time is limited (e.g., 45 or 60 minutes)

• You want to address as many questions from your participants as possible or you want to know which questions are important to them (especially if you are speaking about a topic for the first time)

Suitable occasions include not only classic presentations at trade fairs and Barcamps, but also kickoff events in training and continuing education of all kinds.

The audience can also be a colorful mix: Where usually half of the participants tune out, in the discussion marketplace, only the questions that are interesting to the majority are asked.

The probably most democratic lecture format

In the discussion marketplace method, the audience decides the questions, and you provide the answers. After five minutes, the majority of the audience decides whether the previous answer was sufficient – or whether you should speak for another five minutes on that same question. Through this principle, the discussion marketplace is probably the most democratic method you can use for a lecture.

And here’s how the discussion marketplace works, step by step:

Step 1: Collect questions

Ask your participants what exactly interests them about the topic. Write down all the questions (or at least the first 7-10). Ideally, you project your notes onto the wall using a projector – or you use a classic flipchart.

Step 2: Prioritize questions

Once you have enough questions, round 2 follows: prioritization. For this, read each question aloud and let those who want an answer to that question show hands. To keep it democratic, each participant has two votes. Note the number of votes next to the question, so in the end, you have a prioritized list.

Step 3: Answer questions

Start with the question that received the most votes – that is the question that most participants in the room are interested in. Set a timer for five minutes and answer the question.

Step 4: Check interest

Are the five minutes up? Then the audience decides again whether the question has been answered sufficiently! To do this, you let them show hands again: A thumbs up means "I want to hear more about this topic and want to listen for another five minutes." A thumbs down means "I’m satisfied with the answer, I’d rather move on to the next question."

Again, the principle of majority applies: If you see mostly thumbs up, set your timer for another five minutes and continue speaking. If the thumbs are mainly down, set your timer back to five minutes as well – and answer the next question in the queue. You continue this until the allotted time for your lecture or training session is over. With this method, you can best address your participants.

Tip: The discussion marketplace works even better if you offer the format together with a colleague/partner. At the GABAL Impulse Day, Hans and Michael were a team – one moderates and takes notes on the questions, while the other answers the questions in parallel.

Tip 2: Some questions are too complex to be answered adequately in five minutes. The solution: Do it like Michael and Hans and ask for business cards at the end to send interested parties further information digitally. If you offer the format in a closed group, such as in a longer training, you can ideally answer such questions for all in an online follow-up.

The discussion marketplace: Probably the most democratic form of a lecture or presentation. Here, the audience not only determines the questions but also how much time they want to give for each answer.

Live or digital discussion marketplace? Both fit!

The principle of majority decision-making and prioritization works just as well online as offline: For example, you can offer the entire format as a webinar.

The discussion marketplace works even better as a bridge between your in-person event and the online follow-up. After getting to know each other in the discussion marketplace, you can collect the most important questions from the participants and answer the top 5 live on site.

For all other answers, you refer to your online follow-up. There you can, for instance, record 3-minute videos of yourself answering the remaining questions. Since you can prepare for the answer in this case, three minutes should be sufficient – as the viewer's attention span is often lower online anyway.

In this way, you perfectly engage your participants and encourage them to watch your answers online – after all, they are their questions. In the online follow-up, you can gradually release further content that matches your participants' interests, thus motivating them long-term and sustainably.

This combination of offline and online methods is called blended learning. Together with the discussion marketplace method, it is the perfect way to convey: as much content... in the shortest time possible... to heterogeneous participant groups.

By the way: We at blink.it are so excited about the discussion marketplace method that we will now try it in internal meetings as well: About once a quarter, the entire team meets, and everyone can bring questions/ideas. This way, we want to give topics that otherwise have no time a fixed space.

Do you know this format? Hans and Michael were thrilled by the positive feedback from participants after their test run. Of 25 people, 19 handed in their business cards because they were eager for further answers.

Take five minutes for yourself right now and consider: Where could you use the discussion marketplace? Perhaps as a kickoff event for a training or at the next Barcamp? Try out the format, we highly recommend it!