For organisers · Formats
Pick the format for the room, not the calendar.
Five ways to run a session, and an honest view of what each one is actually good at.
Most agendas pick a format by slot length. That’s backwards. A keynote changes how a room thinks; a workshop changes what a team does on Monday. Choosing the wrong one is why good speakers land flat.
Keynote · 30–45 min
One argument, hard evidence, a room that leaves debating. Best for conferences and summits where you need the agenda’s centre of gravity to move. Any of the nine topics.
Fireside chat · 30–45 min
A good interviewer gets the version a keynote can’t: the failures, the internal politics, the things I’d do differently. Best for intimate rooms and career-stage audiences. Send questions in advance and I’ll answer the hard ones.
Workshop · 60–90 min
Working session, not an audience. We build something — a hiring rubric, a measurement architecture, a positioning argument. Capped attendance, real outputs. Best for in-house teams and leadership offsites.
Panel · 30–60 min
Only worth doing if there’s genuine disagreement on the stage. Happy to take the unpopular side — that’s the point of a panel and the reason most of them fail.
Masterclass · half day
Deep, structured teaching on one domain — brand building, AI-native marketing or BFSI. Best for institutions, academies and cohort programmes.