Speed Geeking
Presenters stand at stations around the edge of a room and the audience splits into small groups, one per station. Each presenter gives a five-minute demo with time for questions, then a whistle blows and every group moves to the next station. Ten or so demos fit into an hour, and every presenter repeats their pitch to every group.
Use at a conference or offsite when many teams or people have work to show and you want everyone to see all of it in under an hour.
Solves: Demo sessions turn into an afternoon of slides where the audience sees three projects in depth and misses the other ten.
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Step 1: Recruit up to ten presenters and set up a station for each around the room (before the session).
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Step 2: Split the audience into as many groups as there are stations and send each to its first station (5 min).
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Step 3: Start the clock. Presenters demo and take questions (5 min).
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Step 4: Give a one-minute warning, then blow the whistle; groups move clockwise to the next station (1 min).
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Step 5: Repeat until every group has seen every station (40-60 min).
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Step 6: Thank presenters and point people to where they can follow up (3 min).
- Keep it to about ten demos. Beyond that people's heads are full.
- Ask presenters to cover no more than four points and to be loud and lively.
- The timekeeper has to move people firmly. Groups always want 'one more question'.
- Peer speed geeking: participants rather than invited presenters each host a station.