The Conversation Menu

I recently heard this term and absolutely loved it. Oftentimes, when groups of event attendees are sitting around a table, either waiting for a session to start, or the purpose of the session is networking with others, people have trouble getting the conversation going (especially the introverts). To help facilitate this, provide a conversation menu at each table or for each attendee.

Similar to an icebreaker, a conversation menu might have a list of questions attendees could ask of one another. Or, it might be a list of topics attendees would be familiar with that would spark someone to start up a conversation. They are usually divided into “courses” similar to a menu, such as starters, mains, and desserts. The different sections are designed to guide the conversation, taking the attendees from getting to know one another to much more personal or deeper conversations. The menu for each table could be different, or the same questions could be in a different order, so the entire room isn’t talking about the same thing at the same time. And if attendees are participating in a morning and afternoon session, if the menus are different, you can mix up the menus and redistribute them, ideally giving each table a new menu to use to restart with after lunch.

The concept of an icebreaker feels outdated. These have been the bane of the start of business meetings and teambuilding exercises for years. The thought of seeing a conversation menu at my seat or on the table feels fresh and fun. As a dinner menu, I get to select what I wish to talk about, versus an icebreaker where the facilitator hands me a topic and says, “go.” These days, attendees would rather participate in the experience than be talked at, and what better way to include them than to intentionally craft questions with your specific audience, and the journey you want them to have, in mind.

To add an extra layer of adventure to this process, I would have people stand, at least for a portion of this exercise. A friend of mine, also a CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) and CFMP (Certified Faith-Based Meeting Professional)*, has a fantastic saying he uses all the time when he gathers people together for an event, especially when it includes roundtables, networking, or other interactive components. He tells the attendees, “We practice the Law of Two Feet.” If you are in a conversation or at a roundtable discussion and it no longer interests you or you get your question answered, use your two feet! Walk on over to another group or table and join a new conversation. This sets up the “rules of engagement” to remove any stigma from a speaker or a table host feeling as if they’ve failed when someone walks away, and gives permission for someone to move about the room. If you have attendees stand while they discuss their menu item, they can easily incorporate the Law of Two Feet. The attendee is in control of their experience. Brilliant.

There is no prescription for creating a conversation menu. The initial conversation your team wants to have is about your goals and objectives for the event. I’d recommend spending some time analyzing who your attendees are, their pain points, the journey you want to take them on, and what you want them to walk away with. Personally, I’d create these cards to actually look like menus. Brand them to match your organization or your event. Have a host or emcee who can set up the activity, keep the energy going in the room, encourage people to use their two feet, and watch the crowd to move the event along as needed.

Next time you have a group of people gathered, surprise them with a conversation menu. If nothing else, they’ll at least be talking about that!

Have you used a conversation menu? How’d it go? Leave your comment here or
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*Shout out to Dean Jones, CMP, CFMP of RCMA (Religious Conference Management Association)