Why your town hall is boring (and it isn't the slides)

Every few weeks someone asks us to 'make the town hall less boring'. They usually mean bigger screens, better lighting, a fancier stage. Almost never is that the actual problem.

A town hall is boring when no one has decided what it's for. When it's a list of updates that could have been an email, dressed up in a venue. Production value on top of an unclear purpose just makes the boredom more expensive.

Start somewhere uncomfortable instead: what should be true in people's heads when they walk out? Then cut everything that doesn't serve it. A ninety-minute all-hands with one clear idea beats a three-hour showcase every time.

The lights come last. They always should.