How to Run Roundtable Discussions at a Conference: A Step by Step Guide

Roundtables should be the best hour of a conference. Small groups, a topic people care about, and peers who face the same problems. Too often they are a folding chair, a vague topic card and a host who was asked that morning. Attendees notice.

The format is not the problem. The way it is run is. Here is how to run conference roundtables that people remember, step by step.

Step 1: Plan the roundtable block early

Roundtables need a real place in the program, not whatever room is left over. Decide these things 6 to 12 months out, before your agenda and room plan lock:

• How many tables. Plan for 8 to 10 people per table. Divide your expected attendance for the block by 9 and you have a starting number.
• How many rounds. Two rounds of 30 to 40 minutes lets attendees join two conversations without the block running long.
• Where it sits. Mid morning or right after lunch works well. Avoid the last slot of the last day.
• The room. Round tables, enough space between them that groups can hear each other, and a clear sign on every table.

Less than 6 months out? You can still run a good block. Lock the room and the agenda slot first, pick 10 to 15 topics from past session feedback or a quick attendee email, recruit a leader for each table, and run one leader training plus the onsite refresher. The rest of this guide still applies.

Step 2: Let attendees pick the topics

An easy way to end up with an empty table is a topic chosen by a committee. Run a short topic poll a few weeks before the event:

1. List 15 to 25 candidate topics, each written as a real problem ("Keeping new hires past 90 days", not "Talent").
2. Ask registered attendees to vote for their top three.
3. Fold the weak topics. Give the strongest ones a second table.
4. Approve the final list as the organizer.

Specific beats broad. A topic people can picture themselves talking about fills a table. A topic that sounds like a keynote title does not. For ideas, see our list of roundtable discussion topics for conferences.

Step 3: Pick table leaders and train them

Every table needs a leader. The best leaders are usually your own speakers, members and subject experts, because they know the topic. But knowing a topic and running a conversation are different skills.

Train leaders twice before the event and once more onsite:

• Training one: what a great table looks like, the leader's job (ask, listen, draw people in, keep time), and the ground rules.
• Training two: walk through the one page table script, practice opening the table and handling the hard moments.
• Onsite: a 15 minute refresher right before the block, so the script is fresh.

Give every leader a one page script. One page, because nobody reads more than that while eight people are sitting down. Our guide to moderating a roundtable discussion has a script you can copy.

Step 4: Set the ground rules

Ground rules make it safe to talk. Put them on the table card and have the leader read them in the first minute:

• Everyone speaks before anyone speaks twice.
• Share ideas, not names. Keep other people's stories at the table, and leave out details that would identify a person or a business.
• Takeaways people choose to share go into an unnamed summary for the organizer.
• No pitching. Sponsor reps can sit and join the conversation, but they do not lead it or sell.
• Some topics are off limits between competitors: prices, fees, wages, bids and territories.

Here is a full set of roundtable ground rules you can use as is.

Step 5: Run the tables

On the day, the leader's job is simple and hard: get every person talking within the first ten minutes, keep the conversation on the topic, and keep time. A good rhythm for a 35 minute round:

• Minutes 0 to 5: welcome, ground rules, one line introductions.
• Minutes 5 to 25: the conversation, driven by two or three strong questions.
• Minutes 25 to 32: each person names one takeaway and one thing they will do.
• Minutes 32 to 35: capture and close.

Step 6: Capture takeaways at every table

If nothing is captured, nothing is learned beyond that table. Put one QR code on every table. In the last few minutes, each attendee shares their main takeaway and one action they plan to take, while it is fresh. Keep a few cards on each table for anyone who cannot scan, and have the leader collect them.

If you record, be careful about how. Tables are recorded only with clear notice and consent, every round has a table that is not recorded, and anyone can ask to pause.

Step 7: Deliver the report and follow up

About 10 days after the event, turn the takeaways into a report organized by topic: the themes, how often they came up, and unnamed quotes. As a reporting rule, never show a group smaller than five people on its own, which makes it much harder to pick anyone out.

Then follow up. Tell attendees what their table came up with. Sit down with your team and agree what to change next time. See how to capture takeaways and write the report for a template.

The short version

1. Plan the block 6 to 12 months out.
2. Let attendees vote on the topics.
3. Train your table leaders twice, plus a refresher onsite.
4. Set clear ground rules.
5. Run tight 30 to 40 minute rounds with 8 to 10 people.
6. Capture takeaways at every table.
7. Deliver a report about 10 days later and follow up.

Want professionals to run your roundtables?

Round Table People runs the topic poll, trains your table leaders, sets up capture at every table and delivers the report. Your team approves the topics and picks the leaders. See how it works or book a conversation.