diverge · Knowledge Sharing, Energizer · 40–70 min · 15-100 people · high energy
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.
When to use Speed Geeking
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.
What it solves
Demo sessions turn into an afternoon of slides where the audience sees three projects in depth and misses the other ten.
How to run Speed Geeking, step by step
- Recruit up to ten presenters and set up a station for each around the room (before the session).
- Split the audience into as many groups as there are stations and send each to its first station (5 min).
- Start the clock. Presenters demo and take questions (5 min).
- Give a one-minute warning, then blow the whistle; groups move clockwise to the next station (1 min).
- Repeat until every group has seen every station (40-60 min).
- Thank presenters and point people to where they can follow up (3 min).
Materials needed
- A large room with stations around the edge
- Whistle or bell
- Timer
- Presenters' visual aids or laptops
Facilitator tips
- 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'.
Common pitfalls
- A small, quiet room where every presenter shouts over every other.
- Demos depend on live internet that fails at station three.
Variations
- Peer speed geeking: participants rather than invited presenters each host a station.
Running it online or hybrid
Each presenter gets a breakout room; the host moves groups every five minutes.
What it produces
Every participant has seen every demo, and presenters have had ten rounds of questions.
Origin
Originated at the AdvocacyDev conference as a play on speed dating; documented by Aspiration in its facilitation wiki. — source
Build a session around Speed Geeking
METODIC places Speed Geeking inside a complete, timed session plan — agenda, worksheets, facilitator guide and slides — matched to your group and goal.