2017 Conference presentation formats

There are many creative ways to structure a conference session. Whether you are trying to facilitate open discussion, encourage small group discussion, present many different ideas in a short amount of time, or discuss snapshots of projects in progress, there is probably a format that could take your presentation to a new level. When submitting a session proposal for the Midwest Archives Conference, feel free to propose a traditional panel session or an alternative session type, if you feel that it’s appropriate for your topic. Additionally, a quick search for “alternative conference session types” on the web can lead you to inspiration and session types not covered in this brief list of presentation formats. 

  • Traditional Panel Session - Traditional panel sessions usually consist of several individual people discussing a specific topic with a significant amount of time for audience questions, moderated by a session chair.
  • Lightning Round - A lightning round consists of several short talks by different speakers, which all revolve around a central theme. These short talks usually last only a few minutes and question and answer time is usually reserved for the end of the presentation. [Read more]
  • PechaKucha - PechaKucha is a type of lightning round presentation style that also incorporates PowerPoint slides. Each presenter has 20 slides that are shown for 20 seconds each, which makes for 6 minutes and 40 seconds of presentation time per person. [Read More]
  • World Café - World Café style sessions allow for many small group discussions to happen at the same time. It usually consists of 3-5 topics which are led by a facilitator/presenter that cover a specific topic that relates to a shared overall theme. Audience members pick a table and participate in that discussion for a certain amount of time (generally 15 minutes) and then are free to switch tables/topics for the next time slot.  [Read more]
  • Fishbowl - A fishbowl session is a participatory presentation type, generally used when a large group wants to discuss a specific, narrow topic. In this session type, 1-5 chairs are arranged in an inner circle (fishbowl) and the audience chairs are arranged in concentric circles outside of the fishbowl. Presenters then sit in the fishbowl and have a discussion about that topic with the audience listening in. At the end of the session, a moderator summarizes the discussion. There are many variations on this session type, including open fishbowls, closed fishbowls, and 1-1 fishbowls.  [Read More]
  • Debate - A debate session, or public forum, is best used to tackle controversial or research based topics. Presenters are teamed up and a moderator facilitates speaking time for each side to make persuasive and logical arguments and rebuttals to either affirm or negate their topic.
  • Open mics - An open mic or open forum session consists of one or more presenters facilitating a discussion between audience members, who offer strategies and perspectives on a topic. There are many variations on this type of session, such as the Campfire session type.