Creating an effective, engaging Natter Event comes down to thoughtful planning. These recommendations focus on the decisions you make while setting up your event: designing your topics, choosing durations, structuring the session, and inviting the right people.
Designing Great Conversation Topics
Your conversation topics shape the entire participant experience, so they're worth getting right.
Use simple language. Avoid jargon, acronyms, and complex vocabulary unless every participant will understand them - especially where the audience is cross-functional. For example, instead of "How can our AT, SDC and FLTC teams capitalise on FMCG market growth given the new SMG regulation?" - keep it plain and universally understood.
Be specific. Too broad a question leaves participants struggling to focus within the time available. For example, tighten "How can we foster collaboration?" to "How can we build greater cross-functional understanding of roles and responsibilities?"
Avoid double-barrelled topics. If a topic contains two question marks, it's probably two questions - split it. For example, break "What are the benefits of rolling out AI in the workplace? What challenges might we face?" into two separate topics.
Understanding Event Time vs Natter Conversations
It's worth being clear on the difference between two separate things:
Your event is the overall session - the block of time you schedule (for example, 60 minutes).
A Natter is a single 1:1 conversation that takes place within your event. Each event contains several of these back-to-back, with participants paired up for one topic at a time before rotating to their next conversation.
So a 60-minute event isn't one 60-minute conversation - it's a series of short 1-1 Natters that together fill the session, with time for introductions and wrap-up around them.
Choosing the Right Duration
When setting up your event, you set the duration of each individual Natter conversation - not the event as a whole. Conversations can be 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20, or 30 minutes. For most events, a 10-minute conversation is recommended (and is the default), striking the balance between depth and efficiency.
As a guide to how many 1:1 conversations fit within an event:
Short event (45 minutes): 2 × 10-minute conversations
Standard event (60 minutes): 3 × 10-minute conversations
Extended event (90 minutes): 4 × 10-minute conversations
For example, a 60-minute event typically runs as three 10-minute 1:1 conversations, with the remaining time used for introductions, transitions between partners, and a closing wrap-up.
Structuring Your Event
Define a clear purpose. Communicate the goal of the event up front - whether it's brainstorming, gathering feedback, or identifying challenges; so participants know what's expected.
Tie topics to strategic goals. Aligning your conversation topics with broader business priorities makes the resulting insights more actionable.
Use an event series for wider reach. For participants across time zones or with clashing schedules, run the same event more than once over a day, week, or month. A series boosts attendance without changing the event itself.
Optimising Event Timing
Consider time zones. For global teams, pick a time that suits as many participants as possible and where that isn't feasible, run a series to keep things inclusive.
Avoid peak work hours. Scheduling away from high-demand periods and deadlines reduces distractions and improves engagement.
Creating a Balanced Participant Mix
Invite diverse representation. Bringing together different roles, teams, and levels - for instance both frontline staff and leadership - captures a fuller spectrum of perspectives.
Help participants prepare. Sharing the event's purpose and objectives beforehand helps people arrive ready with relevant ideas and examples.
Using Media to Add Context
Upload relevant media, charts, infographics, or videos in the Event Media section during setup to give participants context and inspire richer conversations.
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