# Town hall (community or civic)

Civic gatherings carry the highest stakes and often the most broadcast-heavy formats. This template turns a town hall from officials-talk-residents-listen into a working session where the community produces input officials can actually use, and everyone can see what happens next.

Who: Community meetings, civic convenings, and public forums, 25 to 500 people.
Duration: 2 hours

## Agenda

- 0:00 | Welcome and the question on the table, stated plainly with what is decidable: Honest scope prevents the trust-destroying gap between input and authority.
- 0:10 | The facts briefing: what is known, what is not, ten minutes with handouts: A shared factbase makes the rest of the night productive.
- 0:20 | Table rounds: mixed-neighborhood small groups work the question with a facilitator: Everyone speaks in a small group; only the confident speak at a microphone.
- 1:00 | Harvest: each table posts its top concern and top idea; themes mapped live: The room watches its input become a visible, structured record.
- 1:20 | Officials respond: what they heard, what they can act on, what they cannot and why: Real-time acknowledgment is the trust mechanism.
- 1:40 | Open microphone, timeboxed, for what the structure missed: Keeps the safety valve without letting it consume the night.
- 1:55 | Close: where the record will be published, the decision timeline, and the report-back date: Continuation is announced with dates, in public.

## Design notes

- State up front what is actually decidable; false openness destroys trust faster than hard limits.
- Do the real work at tables, not microphones; harvest visibly.
- Publish the record and name the report-back date before closing.

These are design recommendations informed by published agenda evidence, not measured outcome claims.

Source: https://unitedwetransform.com/town-hall-agenda-template/