Among all the professional events PR experts are used to organising, roundtables are the ideal format to bring industry leaders and specialists together to share their expertise and engage in discussions in front of an audience. In this new blog post, we will share our main tips to host a successful roundtable.
Whether you are a PR specialist or not, the terms “press conference”, “press luncheon”, or “press trip” should ring a bell. Yet, an often-overlooked format called a “roundtable” may sometimes prove a better option, as its style and scope offer more educational content aimed specifically at journalists.
Ever since the end of the COVID-19 pandemics and the return of physical events, the roundtable has become increasingly popular, mainly because it addresses journalists in a friendly atmosphere while tackling wider topics.
This article lists our main tips and tricks to help you host the best possible roundtable.
What is a Roundtable?
A roundtable can essentially be defined by two key aspects: “discussion” and “expertise”.
It consists in a gathering of experts discussing and sharing knowledge with an audience on a specific topic. As in the Arthurian legend, the “round” element is a commitment to a fair exchange, a balanced speaking time, open dialogue, and the sharing of ideas.
This guide will essentially focus on roundtables in a press relations context, for which journalists are the main target. They mainly attend the event to listen to spokespeople sharing their views on a preselected topic to collect information for future articles and pieces.
First, why is a roundtable so different from other press events?
- Contrary to a press conference, roundtables are not about sharing a “corporate” or technological announcement with the journalists.
- Compared with a press luncheon, which centres on sharing a good meal and having an informal chat– or sometimes discussing a strategic announcement –, the roundtable is entirely dedicated to discussing and sharing ideas. It may sometimes end with a cocktail party or a lunch, but you should bear in mind that this is usually an extra.
- Unlike a webinar, the roundtable does not involve a demonstration of tools or any type of practical phase.
Moreover, the roundtable requires the presence of a host, who acts both as an authority figure and a point of reference for spokespeople and journalists who attend the event.
The host is in charge of:
- Distributing the floor in a fair and relevant way between the participants;
- Facilitating smooth exchanges and ensuring discussions remain on topic;
- Leading the event by highlighting the various phases of the discussion for the audience, from the introduction to the conclusion, as well as the various transitions;
- Moderating discussions and questions asked, while sometimes gently reminding journalists to keep their questions for later to make the exchanges flow more smoothly.
Furthermore, participants – also referred to as “lecturers” or “spokespeople” – are the reason why the roundtable is held. They may come from different backgrounds, as long as they are considered experts on the topic covered during the roundtable and share their expertise.
The following participants can attend the event:
- A specialist (such as a professor, a sociologist or an analyst). this participant provides objective, academic or fact-based information, which helps determine the nature and scope the topic, and cover specific aspects more thoroughly.
- A company sharing its experience, if they are directly concerned by the topic at hand – for example, a public sector stakeholder addressing an issue related to their services. This participant brings a concrete, real-life experience to the table, illustrating a wide range of use cases.
- A corporate partner, whose job is to help address the covered topic. This participant may share their specialised viewpoint to provide insights, as well as real-world examples with which the audience may be less familiar.
- Last but not least, a spokesperson from the hosting company, who shares their opinion and expertise on the subject and justify the relevance of their role. They establish the connection between the roundtable topic and the company and position themselves as a relevant opinion leader.
All set? Not quite yet. Now, let us review the key steps to hosting the best possible roundtable!
Seven Key Steps to Hosting a Successful Roundtable
Great news! A roundtable is the most appropriate type of press event to position your company on a specific topic, and you have the budget to host one. Now, all you need is understand the key steps you should follow to build the most useful and consistent roundtable in the eyes of journalists. Follow the instructions carefully and be sure to use the right ingredients, as if this was a baking recipe 😉.
1. Set your goals
Let us start at the beginning: why choose to host a roundtable rather than a press conference or a press luncheon? If you do not have any major announcement or breaking news to share with journalists, a roundtable can help you position your company on one of your favourite subjects by providing journalists with content, while highlighting your expertise in this specific topic. It also allows you to highlight feedback from your clients or partners. By setting clearly defined goals, you will be able to put together an event that is both consistent and impactful.
2. Select the right topic
The choice of topic is a crucial step and a choice, since it must be aligned with your communication goals, while helping you identify relevant participants who might be willing to attend the roundtable, and still be interesting to journalists, thus maximising the chances that they will attend and gather useful material for their reporting needs.
3. Identify the spokespeople
Given that you already know your employees and their fields of expertise, choosing the spokesperson who will best represent you during the roundtable may be the easiest step. On the other hand, identifying other participants may prove more challenging. Among other obstacles are calendar constraints, a heavy workload, and obtaining authorisation from the company’s communications department to speak publicly on this topic. All in all, securing a client’s consent rarely is a walk in the park! Reach out to prospective participants in advance to obtain as many confirmations as possible and save the date as soon as possible – and remember to send everyone a reminder 😉.
Please note that you should inform participants that journalists attending the roundtable may ask questions and that their answers may be mentioned or quoted in an article. It is strongly advised to involve the Communication & PR department of the participants’ companies as early as possible in the process.
4. Select the appropriate host
Even though participants are the main ingredients of the roundtable, the host is the key element that holds them together.
Once again, this may be an obvious or complex choice. But never fear: your PR agency will help you find a host who is used to the format and who will put their skills to good use at your event. It is preferable to select someone who is used to speaking in public, who can handle transitional moments as well as animated discussions, and who can properly balance speaking time between all participants. Your selected host does not need to be an expert on the topic chosen for the roundtable, but their experience of roundtables will help guide you from the early stages, by structuring the spokespeople’s speeches and validating the relevance of the chosen topic – or developing it further.
5. Find the right date and place
This step is deeply dependent on the selection of participants, as their availability on D-day is obviously a key prerequisite. It is important to bear in mind that there is no ‘ideal’ day or time to hold a round table: it can be set in the morning or in the afternoon – any day of the week. In terms of duration, the discussion should not last more than two hours – which is usually enough to cover a topic – so as not to keep journalists and participants for too long.
Once you the date of the event is set, you should focus on booking a suitable venue, preferably a private lounge to give participants plenty of room to talk and share their thoughts with journalists. Sound and video equipment, such as a television screen or a video projector, may be useful for broadcasting a presentation in the background or simply displaying the names of the participants or the logos of the companies involved. Finally, it is a good idea to include a catering area before, during, or after the roundtable (we recommend selecting establishments who offer catering service themselves), so that discussions – and the event – may take a more informal turn.
6. Send out invitations to journalists
When both the date and venue of the event have been confirmed, the PR agency will send out invitations to journalists. They should be sent out at least one month before the selected date – the earlier, the better – because journalists’ calendars are sometimes filled several months in advance. You should start working on organising your roundtable early, so that you can notify journalists and manage the logistics of the invitations (such as gathering confirmations or sending out a reminder a few days before the event).
7. Set the agenda for the roundtable (and work on it)
This step is the hardest part of the process and requires the PR agency’s full support. The goal is to set the agenda for the roundtable (usually consisting of two or three parts, with an introduction and a conclusion), to determine the order in which participants will take the floor and prepare the sequences accordingly. You also need to anticipate the questions that journalists may ask the spokespeople. You should schedule one or more working meetings prior to the event, in order to clearly define the topic, to gather the spokespeople’s comments individually, and to present the final, complete agenda of the event. This last step may involve e-mail communication, so as not to call on all the participants again for yet another meeting.
To conclude
Now you know organising a roundtable requires a lot more thought and logistics than a press luncheon – or even a press conference – mainly because of two key factors: the selection of participants and topic.
Therefore, relying on PR experts like OneChocolate’s, who know how to manage this type of event from end to end, is highly recommended.
We are looking forward to hearing from you! 😉
By Elodie Buch