We’re running the He Saved The Day Men’s Conference tonight. I wanted to share some of the thoughts behind how we’ve changed the format to make it more about learning and connecting.

A lot of this comes from what I’ve learned from Jeff Hurt and Dave Lutz at Velvet Chainsaw. It seems like common sense that an event should be about talking and learning rather than just listening, but it’s not that common because of the ego issue.

The reality is that most times speakers (in church and without) like to hear their own voices and get the promotion that comes with speaking more than they want people to learn. Or, they want people to learn but incorrectly think the key to is people listening to their wisdom, more than discuss with them. We discussed this in Let Attendees Be Participants, in which I also reference Edgar Dale’s Cone of Learning.

Your Leading Thoughts

  • How are you running events and using different formats to encourage participation? What works and what doesn’t?
  • Do you find it difficult to confront the norms when it comes to event format? I find it can be hard work as people have quite cemented expectations.

Archived Comments

  • http://twitter.com/stevegrossman stevegrossman

    Got me thinking on multiple levels about multiple events. I pray yours was a success today btw. Thanks for the rich and insightful content as always Scott

  • / Scott Gould

    Hey Steve

    Tonight went very well thanks – the format was very successful. Wil write about it next week :-)

    What events are you running?

    Scott