Moments that Matter
Earlier this month I co-presented a workshop that I developed for the annual AIA Conference on Architecture and Design.
Called Moments that Matter: Designing the Client Experience, the session explored how our own beliefs and habits of thought inform the ways we navigate personal interactions with clients, and how we can disrupt ineffective behaviors in favor of a more collaborative and trust-based approach to serving them.
Over the course of two and a half hours, we facilitated a conversation with 130 people and kept them engaged with a topic that can be frustrating and difficult, and one that is not often shared in a roomful of strangers.
This essay is a reflection on how that was possible, and why Moments that Matter contained moments that mattered* to the participants.
Engagement: Think of the last meeting, webinar, or live presentation you attended – what do you remember about the first 5-10 minutes? Anything? An audience is still processing whatever or wherever they just came from so it’s the facilitator’s job to get (and keep) them focused on a new topic. Our MTM session began with an over-the-top service story that captured our audience’s imagination and transported them to a place that seemingly had little to do with their own world. Their brains were immediately engaged by trying to figure out where the narrative was going.
Relevance: Think of the last meeting, webinar, or live presentation you attended – were you able to make a connection to something you know or believe to be true? The brain is a connection machine, constantly attempting to layer new information onto an existing mental model. The opening story in our MTM session was followed by a quick thought exercise to help participants connect it with their own lived experience. From that point forward we continued to make space for them to process new concepts through the lens of their own experience – and then expand it by sharing with their peers.
Safety: Think of the last meeting, webinar, or live presentation you attended – were you compelled to share your thoughts or keep them to yourself? Note, this has little to do with being an introvert or an extrovert and almost everything to do with how well the facilitator(s) create a sense of safety. During the debrief portions of our MTM session we offset the subconscious feelings of embarrassment or incompetence that many participants may harbor by being encouraging, playful, and personal in our interactions with those who volunteered to share. Enabling everyone to contribute their best thinking is critical to harnessing the depth and breadth of the wisdom in the room, and is the very definition of facilitation.
These design principles (and there are many more) are important for creating moments that matter in many kinds of structured conversations, from small weekly meetings to large-scale workshops. What would be possible if the conversations you’re having with colleagues, clients, or collaborators were designed and facilitated to produce a high level of engagement, relevance, and safety?
*With gratitude for the kind remarks that were shared on LinkedIn, including:
“An amazing session ... encouraging client engagement, identifying their mentality, and creating an atmosphere of collaboration. This human connection is, I think, going to be in high demand in a world that is more and more digitally based.”
“A powerful session on designing client experience that goes beyond surface-level touchpoints. It’s not just about what you deliver — it’s how it feels. Big thanks to the speakers for this insightful reminder that empathy and mindset shape everything.”