12:00Chair the whole day
Conference facilitator & chair
Somebody has to make the day add up. I chair conferences, leadership days, town halls and AGMs: hold the agenda, steer every session towards what the day is for, run the interactive parts, and land a close that feels like a conclusion. Twenty years on stage, five businesses built and sold.
5.0 from 29 reviews·800+ events·Hosted a live Q&A with Deborah Meaden
Chairing a staff conferenceRoleFacilitation
What a chair does that a compere does not
Holds the agenda
Briefed speakers, agreed timings, and a chair who keeps them without the room feeling managed. Day two as sharp as day one.
Makes it mean something
Every session gets linked to the one before and the one after, so the conference tells a story instead of listing talks.
Runs the interactive parts
Polls, questions, table exercises and the games that wake a room up, on my own software, so the room takes part rather than watches.
WhatConferences I chair
The visible presenting is a fifth of it
I facilitated a housing association’s full-day conference and the organiser’s words afterwards were about the structure behind it, not the jokes. That is the job: reading the agenda for what the day is meant to achieve, then steering every session towards it.
The other four fifths happen before the day: the briefing call, the speaker conversations, the running order your production team can hold me to, and the plan for the three moments the room will dip.
- Company and leadership conferences
- Town halls and internal comms days
- AGMs and members’ conferences
- Industry summits and trade events
- Multi-day and hybrid conferences
PlusThe difference
A chair who can wake the room up
Most facilitators can hold an agenda. Fewer can do anything about a room that has stopped listening. When the energy dips I do not call a break and hope; I call a round of Higher or Lower, every delegate on their phone, and the next speaker walks into a room that is awake.
That combination, the discipline of a chair and the instincts of an entertainer, is the whole reason to book me rather than a bureau.
ReviewsFacilitation clients
After the day
Kevin has just facilitated our entire conference today and I must say, his energy, the structure behind it, his natural enthusiasm has just kept the whole thing rolling along. I’m really grateful for your input and your efforts.
Kevin hosted our staff conference event this year which was fantastic. He brought an energy and enthusiasm with him and played a really important part in getting people engaged in the day.
Some of the speakers were late, there was a video problem, and we got delayed by an hour and a half. In all those small pauses Kevin had to go on stage and entertain the audience and keep it going.
FAQBefore you book
Facilitator questions
Not answered here? Call me on 07596 851647 or send the agenda and I will come back within one working day.
What is the difference between a conference facilitator and a host?
A host presents the day: opens, closes, introduces, links. A facilitator chairs it: holds the agenda, steers the sessions towards what the conference is for, runs the interactive parts and makes the whole thing add up to a conclusion. The visible presenting is maybe a fifth of the job. I do both, and I will tell you which one your day needs.
Do you facilitate workshops and strategy days?
I chair conferences, leadership days, town halls and AGMs. Where a day includes breakout sessions I set them up, bring the room back and pull the threads together. I do not run training courses; for that you want a trainer, and I can tell you the difference on the phone.
How do you keep an agenda on track?
By agreeing it properly beforehand with you and your production team, briefing every speaker on their time, and then holding it on the day with a smile and a clock. A conference that finishes on time with its energy intact is rarer than it should be.
Can you chair a multi-day conference?
Yes. Two and three-day conferences are where a chair earns their fee: keeping day two as sharp as day one, carrying the story across the days, and making sure the closing session is a conclusion rather than a fade.
Do you facilitate hybrid conferences?
Yes. I chair for the room and the camera at the same time, and RoomReader lets remote delegates ask, vote and play the same rounds as the people in the hall.
17:00Close
Send me your agenda. I’ll show you where the room comes alive.
A fixed price, a free planning call, and a reply within one working day.