“Attended Anna Gát’s session on ‘The Art of Hosting Salons’ last night and here are a few lessons that I found SUPER helpful!
If you’ve been hosting online sessions, discussions or salons, this is for YOU.
A. On silence
Silence is scary to a lot of us. I’ve also been here – if I’m hosting a group, and there’s silence between conversations, I immediately find myself thinking, “”Oh we’re doomed. People are bored!””
But, NOT all silence is bad. Not all silence is a sign of boredom.
When you host immersive sessions and conversations, it helps to be able to differentiate between when people are bored and when they’re thinking.
When they’re bored, you might want to steer the conversation in a different direction. Another idea is to pause and go back to check-in questions.
These check-in questions could be general or specific, based on the topic or nature of the conversation.
For instance, when Anshika and I hosted the Dais Townhall, we had a bank of check-in questions (along with ice-breakers) to use in case we noticed disinterest.
Examples from our bank:
👉 Pause, pick up your pen, and illustrate how you’re feeling
👉 Describe your ideal weekend
However, if there’s silence because people are thinking, let it happen! Embrace it. Enjoy it. And let the room direct your next move.
B. On being a host
I picked up many lessons, but here’s the one I want to share with you –
I told Anna that I’ve found myself feeling helpless and worried about being rude when someone takes over the conversation and doesn’t give others a chance to speak.
Here’s what she told me –
The room relies on you (as a host) to make sure there’s equal speaking time (if those are the kind of events you host), and politely point out when someone does not follow the rules.
And if you’re worried about being impolite, think about this –
Be the leader your attendees expect you to be! Your job is to make as many people happy, not just one. It might feel impolite at the moment, but in the end, you would have a room full of happy people who trust you to take care of them!
C. On unpredictability
Unpredictability is inevitable. When you’re bringing a room full of people together, you only have so much control over how things go. And here are two things you can do to keep it to a minimum –
👉 Share reading lists before your sessions. If you want people to come with a similar context and idea, share reading lists. It establishes common ground and a vibe from the get-go.
👉 Host specific events or audiences. The chances of highly unpredictable moments are low when you bring together people with the same values or interests. Even if your sessions are open for all, make sure there is some common ground.
Finally, you get better with practice! The more you spend time hosting people, the better you get at reading rooms and people. After all, that’s the ultimate “hack”. 🎯
Here’s a not-so-pretty picture. It was 2 am here!
#immersiveexperience #journeyofgrowth #events