Beat ‘format fatigue’ with these 10 killer ideas for breakout sessions

Even the best business events, with amazing speakers and a great crowd, can sometimes fall prey to what we in the trade refer to as ‘format fatigue’.

Format fatigue is essentially a decline in engagement or effectiveness resulting from the overuse or monotony of an event format, whether in terms of the agenda design, or just too many presentations of the same length and type being delivered all day long.

Too much repetition and predictability in your event format can lead to audiences tuning out, becoming tired, or even overwhelmed by the seemingly non-stop delivery of traditional content.

What’s the answer? Why, to change it up of course! And one of the easiest ways to do this is by replacing one of your more conventional, presentation-led sessions with a more novel breakout session. Something a little different with the potential to raise the engagement and interaction levels for some (or all) of your audience, and might even be a little (dare we say it) fun.

So here are 10 ideas for novel breakout sessions to get you started. Some, you will already know and have used. Others might be a touch leftfield for your crowd. But bear with us!

After all, it was Ben Franklin who said, ‘When you’re finished changing, you’re finished’. And he was almost certainly sitting in a planning meeting for a sales kick-off conference when he said that.

Buckle up. Here we go.

1 Speed networking

Let’s start with a classic.

Now I wish I could tell you that the idea here was to get all your delegates onto a bus, being driven by Sandra Bullock, and they all have to work together to defuse a bomb …

The reality is bit tamer, but traditional speed networking can still add a frisson of excitement to your event format – and without the pesky insurance issues of the whole bomb-on-a-bus thing.

Speed networking offers a fast-paced alternative to the regular social events you’ll likely already have as part of your programme. The time-constrained format encourages concise and impactful interactions, enabling participants to meet and connect with more fellow attendees than they normally would.

It can take several forms, but all speed networking is basically a structured session that allows participants to have brief, one-on-one conversations with multiple people in quick succession. The goal is to make as many connections as possible and exchange information fast.

Typically, participants are seated at tables or in a circle and they have a set amount of time (usually a few minutes) to introduce themselves and converse with someone across from them. When the time is up, a bell or buzzer sounds, and one group of participants moves to the next table or person.

The process continues until everyone has had a chance to meet and speak with each other. Participants are encouraged to take notes and exchange business cards or contact information with those they’re interested in connecting with further.

Speed networking can be done in person or virtually, and the format can vary depending on the event goals and the organiser’s preferences. Some events may have a specific theme or focus, while others may be more general.

Speed networking works because it encourages people to talk to someone new and get straight to the point without the need for any uncomfortable small talk. It can be good for introverts and the socially anxious because it simplifies the stressful process of finding time and a location to chat, lowers the pressure, and encourages people to open up.

2 Roundtable discussion

Another classic (often neglected) format that can work really well, is our old friend the roundtable discussion.

Splitting audiences into small groups to work on a question or problem is a proven way to open dialogue, idea sharing, and networking, giving attendees a platform to delve into topics or challenges in ways that can’t be achieved in a one-to-many format.

This makes roundtables a great option as a breakout format for large conferences where, otherwise, attendees can come away feeling their learning experience was largely passive and one-way.

Again, the key here is in selecting the right facilitator for each table. It needs to be someone with the subject expertise to handle deep discussion, but not so opinionated or evangelical that they dominate or steer the discussion too much in their own preferred direction.

It’s a difficult balance to strike, but agreeing a fixed set of questions, objectives or talking points for the group in advance can help everyone stay on track.

Get it right, and the good old-fashioned roundtable setup will get you genuine inclusivity, allowing every participant to contribute, ask questions, and gain insights from their peers – with minimal cost or organisational premium.

3 Trivia quiz

Fun fact: people really like quizzes.

The timeless appeal of quizzes lies in their ability to engage people through challenge, curiosity, and instant gratification. Basically, people enjoy discovering more about themselves and showcasing their knowledge or personality traits, whether they end up doing well or badly in the quiz itself.

So, including a trivia quiz breakout session within a conference is a great way to inject fun and engagement into the learning experience. Think of it as an interactive way to allow participants to test their understanding of key concepts in a light-hearted setting, while promoting camaraderie and a sense of achievement.

Start by considering a theme relevant to the conference or your attendees’ interests. Then, structure the quiz into rounds with varying topics and degrees of difficulty.

For example, you could have a mix of general knowledge and conference-specific questions relating to topics covered by the event or the industry your attendees come from.

Organising participants into teams is a great way to encourage teamwork and collaboration.

People are competitive, so don’t forget to offer prizes for the winning team to add to the excitement and motivation.

Use interactive technology, such as audience response systems or mobile apps, to help collate the responses. Real-time feedback and scoring helps a lot with the atmosphere and makes the session easier to manage. If you can, incorporate multimedia elements like images or videos to make the questions more visually appealing.

4 Guided sightseeing walks

Sometimes what your attendees really need is a total change of scenery – especially if your conference lasts for multiple days.

Organising guided outdoor walks as breakout sessions offers a breath of fresh air along with a host of other benefits (like physical well-being and greater mental clarity). It also creates some nice informal networking opportunities and encourages spontaneous conversations among attendees.

It’s a fact that traveling to new places is a major motivational factor behind peoples’ decisions to attend business events in the first place (think bleisure). So why not lean into that and organise a session where delegates have the chance learn some interesting anecdotes and hidden gems about the city they’re in – beyond just a quick Google search at the airport.

Most cities have local experts or guides who can offer unique insights into the city’s history, architecture, and culture. Your venue or DMC will likely already have their connections.

As with all things, a little advance preparation goes a long way. Brief your guide with some background about your community and the purpose of the event itself, and they should be able to enhance the experience by providing context that aligns with the conference theme.

5 Delegate debate

People love a debate. Let’s face it, we all enjoy disagreeing on topics we feel passionately about – including those discussed at the conferences we attend. There’s never enough time in the Q&A at the end of a regular session to really get into a deep discussion, all of which makes a debate a no-brainer for a breakout session.

Done right, a delegate debate session can bring active participation, critical thinking, and diverse perspectives. The format automatically encourages attendees to engage deeply with the conference topics, promoting intellectual exchange and dynamic exploration of ideas and helping your attendees to challenge accepted orthodoxies.

This gives rise to a vibrant and interactive atmosphere and can lead to the kind of memorable conference experience that transcends that of traditional lecture-style sessions.

So how to do it?

Start by defining the topic (or rather the question) you’ll ask your invitees to debate. It needs to be sufficiently thought-provoking, yet broad enough to accommodate several diverse perspectives. Critically, it needs to be something your audience will surely have differing opinions on. Optimistic vs pessimistic; conservative vs radical, etc.

Say for example you’re running an automotive industry conference. A possible debate topic could be: ‘Can self-driving cars ever be 100% safe?’

You identify a speaker or speakers who believe that they can, and a set who take the contrary view.

Next, you’ll need a structure – how long does each participant get to speak? How do you handle questions & cross-examination? And (critically) how do you involve your audience in asking questions and contributing their opinions to the debate?

You can choose between a formal debate (pro and con arguments) with two opposing experts, a panel discussion, or a structured Q&A session (question-time) with experts.

But whichever you choose, be sure to base everything around a skilled, experienced moderator who can keep the discussion on track, manage time, and ensure all participants have an opportunity to speak.

Your conference app can be useful here too, as a means of soliciting moderated questions from your audience and running live-polls to see which arguments are prevailing.

6 Lightning talks

Lightning Talks are a series of short presentations or talks, with each typically only lasting around five minutes.

Their goal is to encourage concise and engaging presentations, fostering quick knowledge sharing, sparking discussions, and allowing for a broad overview of diverse topics in a short amount of time.

The time constraint forces speakers to distil their message to the most important points, ensuring the audience receives the core information. As such, lightning talks can be a refreshing contrast to the lengthier, more discursive presentations delegates are used to sitting through at business events.

The fast-paced format and scope for diverse topics can help keep audiences engaged and interested, making them a useful shot in the event planner’s locker.

They can be particularly useful during innovation and design sprints, offering a quick way to explain problems, share ideas, and fuel the creative process.

Lightning talks can be a great way to learn about the work being done among colleagues with similar interests within a short period.

For novice speakers, lightning talks offer a comparatively low-pressure environment to practice public speaking skills and gain confidence, making them a valuable route to help nurture your next generation of speakers.

A commonly used structure for lightning talks is the PechaKucha format (not to be confused with Pikachu which I believe is a Pokémon species). This is essentially a slide show of 20 images, each auto-advancing after 20 seconds. It’s non-stop and each speaker has 400 seconds to tell their story, with visuals guiding the way.

7 Meet and greet session

A meet and greet session is all about providing attendees with a relaxed, but semi-structured opportunity to connect.

Your participants might attend a meet and greet session to develop existing relationships with colleagues working in related fields, to get career support or simply to add new connections to their network.

The best meet and greet sessions differ from, say, a welcome reception in that they have a stated purpose. Examples of the things a meet and greet session can facilitate include:

Collaborative research: Get the molecular biology crowd together in one room with the specific objective of chatting about their current research projects and the partners, collaborators they’re looking for in order to complete a study, apply for a grant, etc.

Funding: Invite potential investors, advisors and executives from larger companies in your sector to come and hang out with the entrepreneurs, the start-up crowd and research stars interested in commercialising their work.

Learning about new job opportunities: Line up the sponsors, exhibitors and other stakeholders at your event who are looking to hire, and get them in a room for 90 minutes with delegates interested in discovering companies, roles and open positions in your industry.

Finding a mentor or mentee: Bring experienced professionals in your field who can mentor people as they develop in their careers. Or, if you're an experienced individual in your field, you can find a less experienced professional to mentor at a meet and greet event.

If you have a VIP, special guest or star speaker attending your event, you might consider making them the central attraction for your meet and greet. For example: ‘Don’t miss the chance to meet JD Vance, who’ll be sharing makeup tips and signing copies of his new book, Getting off the Couch.

You can use your registration and badging system here to help with conversation starters. Instead of just displaying names and titles, try adding additional information like interests or a fun fact, eg ‘I recently visited Greenland!’ This can really help to break the ice (pun intended).

8 Meditation session

Now this one depends very much on your event and your audience. At a healthcare conference it might work really well. If you’re organising an arms fair, it might be a tougher sell.

But it’s undeniable that today’s event attendees are much more tuned in to wellness, and much more interested in mitigating the stress of a hectic atmosphere that can be part and parcel of large business gatherings.

Done right, a meditation breakout session can add significantly to the overall conference experience, promoting stress-reduction and mental clarity and providing a refreshing pause amidst the information-heavy agenda, allowing participants to recharge and focus.

Organisers who’ve done this tell me that feedback suggests attendees are better at listening to whoever is speaking next – which rather suggests It works.

Others have concerns that meditation is going to be too New Age or weird. They worry that it might have a negative impact on how seriously the attendee perceives the event.

If you do decide to try a meditation session, try to do it in a way that meets the attendees at the level that they’re at. Look for a facilitator who uses language that is relatable (preferably clear and scientific). Dial down the woo-woo. Meditation is medically proven to be beneficial in social and work environments, so if it’s offered in an inclusive way, it could be a real value-add.

9 Gaming session

Again, this one may or may not be a fit – depending on your crowd, topic and overall demographics.

For a user conference on cyber security, I’d say ‘maybe give it a go?’ If you’re running a meeting about strategies for severing the link between poverty and disease in developing nations, honestly I’d skip ahead to the next suggestion.

That said, (as a non-gamer myself) my mind was pretty much blown by just how many people play video games. Are they still called ‘video’ games? I am old.

Anyway, globally, there are approximately 3.32 billion active video game players. That’s billion with a ‘b’. The US alone has over 3,000 esports players (which I believe might be people who literally play video games for a living).

There’s a well-worn stereotype that says all gamers are male. But according to Statista it’s more like 55% in the US. Plenty of women are into gaming these days.

A bit like the quiz format, game-playing encourages attendees to engage with one-another through a combination of light-hearted challenge and shared experience. Whether they’re good or incredibly bad at the games, it’s equally bonding.

Look for interactive party games that most of your audience is likely to be interested in, or host multiple breakout sessions so they can find the perfect game for them.

Avoid violent shoot-em-up formats (unless you’re literally the military). Games like Mario Kart are easy to pick up, or you could opt for virtual versions of tabletop games like Scrabble or Pictionary.

If you can, try to think of ways to tailor your chosen games or tech to the conference theme, perhaps by incorporating industry-related challenges or even promoting products through technology.

And, as with all tech, be sure to conduct thorough rehearsals beforehand, considering factors like internet connectivity and device compatibility.

10 Business book group

Just like a regular book club you might host at home – a business book group can make for an interesting breakout session at a conference.

A shared discussion about an interesting or provocative text can be a great way of bringing people together in a relaxed atmosphere to exchange opinions and evaluate ideas that are directly relevant to your conference theme.

Start well in advance of the event by asking registrants for suggested books in the field (marketing, finance, tech etc) or inviting them to pick from a few options you’ve identified. Once the text has been chosen, inform your participants and make sure they have time (ideally a month) to read it before your event.

It’s a good idea to Include a synopsis and notes for attendees who didn’t get the chance to read the book, but still want to participate on the day.

At the session itself, the facilitator goes around the group soliciting reviews and thoughts on the book and the ideas it espouses. ‘Did you enjoy it?’ ‘What did you learn?’ ‘Do you agree with the hypothesis?’ ‘Would you recommend it to a report or to your boss? And so on.

The book group session works well because it provides a degree of distance between attendees and the ideas they might have strong opinions about. They can agree or disagree with the author more easily than with a speaker or panellist who’s actually in the room.

So, there you have it. There are endless other possibilities out there for breakout session ideas, but hopefully some of these might get you started thinking about what could work at your next event.

Remember the wisdom of Ben Franklin and never stop experimenting with your format. Just because it’s not literally broken, doesn’t mean it can’t benefit from a refresh.

But always gauge the interest you get in a new breakout format: see where you succeeded, and learn which ideas or snags to focus on for next time by getting solid post-event feedback from your participants.

In the end, that’s the real key to banishing format fatigue and being able to offer your group learning experiences that are both fresh and memorable.