# Shift and Share Four station hosts give timed presentations to rotating small groups at stations around the room. Participants hear every presentation and ask questions in an intimate setting rather than a long plenary session. **Time:** 45 minutes. Supplied source suggests 90 minutes for up to 100 people; UWT specifies 45 minutes scaled for 8 to 24 participants across 4 stations. **People:** 8 to 24. 4 fixed presentation stations with 4 rotating audience groups of 2 to 6 people each ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Share multiple innovations, ideas, or practices across a room without using sequential whole-room slide presentations. **Use it when:** Use when four individuals or project pairs need to showcase distinct practices or findings to a group of 8 to 24 colleagues in limited time. **Skip it when:** Skip when the whole room needs to make a single collective decision together, or when all attendees must hear identical spontaneous questions and debate at the same moment. ## Materials and tools - 1 chime, bell, or audio timer for the facilitator - 4 numbered station signs or tabletop tent cards (numbered 1 to 4) - Sticky notes (1 pad per participant) and pens for optional participant notes or feedback - 1 flipchart easel, poster board, or tabletop space at each of the 4 stations for presenter visuals ## Before participants arrive 1. Identify 4 station hosts prior to the session and confirm their topics. 2. Space 4 station tables far apart to minimize cross-room noise. 3. Number each station clearly from 1 to 4 with tent cards. 4. Place pads of blank sticky notes and pens at each station for audience feedback. ## Say this to open Welcome. Instead of sitting through four sequential presentations from the front of the room, we are using Shift and Share. Four presenters are at stations around the room. You will divide into four small groups, visit each station for an eight-minute presentation and conversation, and rotate on my chime until you have visited every station. ## How to run it ### 1. Set groups and explain rotations (4 minutes) Deliver the opening script. Count audience members off from 1 to 4 to form 4 roughly equal groups (2 to 6 people per group). Send group 1 to station 1, group 2 to station 2, group 3 to station 3, and group 4 to station 4. Explain that each round lasts 8 minutes: up to 5 minutes of presentation, then 3 minutes of conversation. Note that participants may optionally leave written feedback or contact requests on sticky notes at the station table before moving. ### 2. Run station round 1 (8 minutes) Start the timer. Presenters speak for up to 5 minutes. Ring the chime once at the 5-minute mark to signal hosts to transition to questions and conversation. Ring the chime twice at 7 minutes as a one-minute wrap-up notice. Ring a final chime at 8 minutes to end the round. Remind participants they may drop a sticky-note note on the table if desired. ### 3. Rotate and run station round 2 (9 minutes) Direct groups to rotate to the next numerical station (1 to 2, 2 to 3, 3 to 4, 4 to 1). Allow 1 minute for movement. Run the 8-minute presentation cycle: ring once at 5 minutes for questions, twice at 7 minutes for wrap-up, and three times at 8 minutes to stop. ### 4. Rotate and run station round 3 (9 minutes) Direct groups to rotate to their third station. Allow 1 minute for movement. Presenters share their material with the new group. Ring once at 5 minutes for questions, twice at 7 minutes for wrap-up, and three times at 8 minutes to stop. ### 5. Rotate and run station round 4 (9 minutes) Direct groups to rotate to their final station. Allow 1 minute for movement. Presenters repeat their presentation and take questions for 8 minutes. Sound the 5-minute question chime, the 7-minute warning chime, and the final stop chime at 8 minutes. ### 6. Debrief whole room (6 minutes) Gather all participants back to a central seating arrangement. Presenters rejoin the room as participants. Pose the debrief questions. Invite 3 or 4 brief reflections from the room, ensuring presenters and rotating participants both have an opportunity to speak. ## Debrief questions - What common themes or contrasting approaches did you notice across the four stations? - What was one practical technique or idea you heard today that you can apply immediately? - For the station hosts: how did your answers or framing adapt as different groups visited? **Finished output:** Every attendee visits and interrogates all 4 presentations, with the option to leave written feedback notes or contact info at each station. ## Remote Set up 4 designated breakout rooms named by station topic. Presenters stay in their assigned breakout rooms. Divide attendees into 4 equal groups. Manually assign or guide each group to rotate through the breakout rooms in order (1-2-3-4). The facilitator broadcasts chat announcements at 5 minutes (switch to questions), 7 minutes (one-minute warning), and 8 minutes (rotate to next room). ## Hybrid Station presenters can be in-person or remote. If a presenter is remote, set up an isolated tablet or laptop station with headphones or an external microphone where visiting in-person groups stop to converse on screen. If participants are remote, assign them together into one virtual group that rotates through dedicated online video breakout feeds hosted by each presenter's secondary device. ## Access and participation choices - Provide chairs at all stations so participants who prefer or need to sit can do so comfortably. - Audience members may listen without speaking or asking questions during any station visit. - Presenters may offer a one-page printed visual or summary handout at their station for attendees who prefer reading over listening. ## If the session gets stuck **A station presenter continues talking past 5 minutes without opening the floor for questions.** Remind presenters at the initial briefing of the 5-minute single chime, and use that audible chime consistently in every round to signal the question phase. **Room noise makes it difficult to hear presenters at neighboring stations.** Move stations to opposite corners of the room or into adjacent breakout corridors. Remind presenters to speak at conversational volume rather than projecting. ## Terms used here - Station host: A participant who stays at a fixed physical or virtual station to present the same project to each rotating audience group. - Plenary talk: A traditional presentation delivered to the entire assembly seated together at the same time. ## Sources and adaptation Observed on WorkshopBank, which tags the activity as a Liberating Structure and credits former KPMG and McKinsey consultants with the workshop compilation. Retained the core mechanic of simultaneous stations with timed small-group rotations from WorkshopBank. UWT standardized the session to a 45-minute format with exactly 4 stations and 8 to 24 participants (yielding 2 to 6 people per rotating group). UWT also incorporated consistent 5-minute, 7-minute, and 8-minute chimes to protect Q&A time, and formalized instructions for optional sticky-note feedback. [WorkshopBank](https://workshopbank.com/workshops/shift-share) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/shift-share-workshop-workshopbank/