A hotel town hall cue sheet

A town hall in a hotel ballroom looks calm from the seats. Backstage, it runs on a cue sheet: who walks on when, which slide deck is loaded, when the microphones go out to the floor and who has the authority to cut a segment that overruns.

Build the running order around the questions

The question block is the part employees judge the meeting by, and it is the part most often squeezed. Put it in the cue sheet as a fixed block, then build the other segments around it:

1. Welcome and framing from the host.
2. The core message from the senior leader.
3. A small number of short supporting updates.
4. Questions from the room and from remote staff.
5. A summary of what happens next.

Give the moderator clear permission to trim earlier segments so questions keep their time.

Rehearse in the room, on the morning

A run-through in the actual ballroom with the actual equipment catches the things that embarrass leaders: a clicker that does not reach, a video with no sound, a walk-on route blocked by a camera riser. Keep it short and specific, and walk each speaker through their entrance and exit.

Get Out! Events' guide to leadership delivery and honest questions at a Shangri-La town hall covers the moderator briefing and slide discipline in more depth.

Cues the stage manager needs

• A discreet time signal agreed with every speaker.
• All presentation files collected in one format before rehearsal.
• Roaming microphones placed so staff never have to walk to the front.
• One person watching remote questions and passing them to the moderator.
• A spare copy of every deck on a second laptop, ready to switch.

After the close

Keep leaders in the room for refreshments, where the informal questions come out. Then send a written follow-up answering the questions that ran out of time. Check room options and current details with the hotel before you confirm anything.