Every Forum meeting typically has one Presentation and one Deep Dive. A Presentation is meant for one person to share their challenge and get support from the group. A Deep Dive is meant to be a topic that the whole group learns together. Here are some examples of Deep Dive topics:
- Hiring Practices
- Communication Skills
- Social Media Strategies
- End of Life Papers
- Parenting Teenagers
- Thought Leadership
- Financial Investing
- Writing a Book
- Linkedin Profile
- Workout Strategies
As you can see, the amount of potential topics is endless and can span all areas of a person’s life, such as career, personal, family, and community.
Some Forums bring in an expert to learn from, while others have each person bring in what they know about the subject to collectively learn. Either way, the end result is that everyone gains about the same amount of value, whereas a Presentation tends to give more value to one person over everyone else.
Here’s a structure for a Deep Dive with a consultant:
- Topic Intro (2 minutes)
- Consultant speaks/workshops (20 mins)
- Q&A with Consultant (10 mins)
- Action steps defined (4 mins)
- Sharing action steps (2 mins each person)
- Final thoughts (15 seconds each person)
Here’s a structure for a Deep Dive without a consultant:
- Topic Intro (2 minutes)
- Each person shares on the topic (4 mins each person))
- Q&A after each share (2 mins total per person)
- Action steps defined (4 mins)
- Sharing action steps (2 mins each person)
- Final thoughts (15 seconds each person)
Keep in mind that to run a Deep Dive requires about 50-60 minutes. For Forums that do Monthly Updates, Goals, one Presentation, and one Deep Dive, the group should expect the meeting to run almost four hours. Some Forums take out the Deep Dive and reduce their meeting time to three hours. Deep Dives, however, are a great way to add additional value to the Forum meeting for everyone.