Is your town hall meeting in trouble?
Is your town hall meeting in trouble? Why your town hall meeting might be turning people off.
You’ve got everyone in the business together. The slides are ready. The execs are lined up. You’re streaming to hundreds of screens. So why does it still feel like a bit of a flop?
Town halls should be a highlight - a chance to bring people together, share progress, spark ideas and build momentum. But too often, they miss the mark.
Instead of being energising, they’re predictable. Instead of creating a connection, they reinforce a divide. Instead of landing messages, they lose the room.
We’ve all been there. Cameras off, minds wandering. A speaker droning through 30 bullet points while you mentally reorganise your weekend. And if you're the one organising it? It can be disheartening to watch the effort go nowhere.
How to hold a great town hall meeting
In this blog, we’re going to get under the skin of what’s really going wrong with town halls and why they often fail to deliver. We’ll look at the most common pitfalls, from leader-led broadcasts to poor engagement and tired formats. But more importantly, we’ll explore what you can do about it.
With a few smart tweaks, town halls can stop being a tick-box exercise and start becoming something people actually look forward to.
Where town hall meetings go wrong
Let’s be honest, most town halls aren’t exactly unmissable. They’ve got the right intention, sure. But good intentions alone don’t hold people’s attention.
Here’s where it tends to unravel.
Most town hall meetings are too predictable
When every session follows the same script - a leader kicks things off, stats roll in, a few updates, maybe a shout-out or two - people start switching off.
It becomes background noise. If you're online, you might even spot colleagues doing exactly that: camera off, mic muted, probably replying to emails or checking what’s for dinner.
Predictability might feel safe. But it’s the enemy of engagement.
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By Penny Haslam
MD and Founder - Bit Famous
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They’re run by leaders, for leaders
Town halls often reflect what leadership wants to say, not what employees need to hear. That’s a problem. The business might be proud of a new initiative or laser-focused on strategy but if it's not packaged in a way that speaks to your people’s day-to-day, it’s just noise.
When employees feel like passive recipients of top-down comms, they check out. Worse still, they begin to associate town halls with irrelevance.
Town hall meeting can become reputational own goals
When attendance is high but attention is low, the optics get awkward. Leaders who sense disengagement may start avoiding town halls altogether, wary of the silent stares or ghost-town chat boxes.
And that’s a shame because when leadership ducks out, so does visibility, trust and transparency. What was meant to build connection ends up quietly eroding it.
Is your town hall meeting a one-way street?
A town hall with no room for questions, comments or even a nod to audience sentiment? That’s not a conversation - it’s a broadcast. And people can spot that a mile off.
Without interaction, you lose the chance to understand what’s landing, what’s unclear and what’s actually on people’s minds. You’re not just missing a trick, you’re missing feedback gold dust.
Is your town hall format stale?
Same presenters. Same tone. Same clunky slides. And don’t get us started on the 50-slide monologues. When delivery is dull and everything looks the same, even strong messages get lost.
In some organisations, speakers are handed decks they didn’t create, filled with content they didn’t shape and asked to talk through it as best they can. That’s not just ineffective - it’s unfair. It sets people up to fail, and it’s uncomfortable to watch.
How to make your town hall worth showing up for
The good news? It doesn’t take a full-scale overhaul to fix a broken town hall. With a few smart changes and a focus on your audience, you can turn it into something people actually look forward to.Here’s how.
To fix your town hall meeting, start with strategy and planning
1. Appoint someone with an editorial flair
Don’t leave town halls to whoever’s free. You need someone who can shape the story, challenge dull content and curate something with purpose.
They’re not just managing logistics, they’re acting like a showrunner. Someone who’ll say, “That’s not interesting enough,” or “That update needs tightening,” and shape the session with the audience front of mind.
2. Give each session a theme
Themes give your town hall focus. Whether it’s performance, culture, innovation or a response to survey feedback it signals intent and structure.
No obvious theme? Create one. Add regular segments like “spotlight on”, “ask me anything” or “show and tell” to build a recognisable rhythm.
3. Structure it like a show
Think of it like a good TV magazine programme short, interesting pieces that flow well together. Include interviews, panels, updates, and even the occasional surprise.
This keeps attention levels high and lets different voices shine. Importantly, it stops your session turning into one long download.
4. Share the creative load
Avoid falling into a formula. Build a team of rotating curators, guest editors who bring their own energy and point of view.
This not only adds variety, it creates a healthy sense of anticipation: “Ooh, Sam’s hosting this time - she's great!” That curiosity alone can lift engagement.
Rethink the speakers and delivery
5. Use a rotating host or moderator
Every session needs glue, someone to hold it together and guide the audience through. That doesn’t mean the same senior leader every time.
Try rotating the role. It builds confidence in others and keeps the dynamic fresh. Having a strong moderator also helps link segments and reinforce the theme.
6. Set your speakers up for success
Don’t throw them a bloated deck the day before and expect brilliance. Help them shape their messages. Offer coaching. Encourage storytelling.
And ditch the 30-slide marathons, a couple of clear visuals and a confident message always land better.
7. Let presenters be themselves
Your speakers aren’t robots. Let them show personality. That doesn’t mean chaos, it means authenticity.
If every slide looks the same and every voice sounds the same, the whole thing becomes forgettable. Give people permission to make it their own.
Make it inclusive and relevant
8. Prioritise inclusion and diversity
If your speaker line-up looks the same every time, something’s off. Showcase different genders, ethnicities, neurodiverse voices and levels of seniority.
When people see someone like them on screen or on stage, it builds a connection. If they don’t, they feel left out, like it’s not for them.
9. Involve people beyond leadership
Town halls aren’t just for senior voices. Get team members from across the organisation involved. Give junior staff a role. Invite departments to co-present.
It shows this isn’t just “top-down talk” — it’s a business that listens, includes and reflects its people.
10. Bring in outside voices
Clients, customers, suppliers or industry experts can all elevate the experience. Even friendly competitors can bring fresh insights.
It reminds people there’s a world beyond the internal lens. It also shows you’re curious, connected and outward-looking, not just focused on your own echo chamber.
Keep it interactive and dynamic
11. Build interaction into the format
Even in-person town halls can be interactive and online, there are no excuses. Use live chat, Q&A, polls or quick word clouds to give people a voice.
Tools like Slido or Mentimeter make it easy. Feedback can be anonymous, low-effort and still give you valuable insight, while pulling people back into the moment.
12. Mix up the format
Add variety with segments like:
- Fireside interviews
- “Show and tell” updates
- Department spotlights
- Lightning talks
- Quick wins or lessons learned
- Short audience polls
Think of it like a playlist, keep it flowing, surprising and well-paced. You’re not trying to cram everything in. You’re curating an experience.
Time to freshen things up
Town halls don’t have to be a drag. With a bit of creativity, the right people behind the scenes and a shift in mindset, they can actually become the best hour of someone’s week.
Think less "monthly update", more "must-watch moment." Mix it up. Bring in new voices. Treat your people like an audience worth impressing - because they are.
And if you’re already putting in the effort? Make it count. A few smart changes could turn your next town hall from background noise into something people talk about - in a good way.
Go on. Make it unmissable.
