Books are great, but have you tried Talk Club?

First rule of Talk Club… You talk about Talk Club

It started with books

Personally, I have to read a book cover to cover. I can’t pick up another book until one is finished. Being dyslexic, it takes a lot of energy and concentration for me to get through an entire book. So, when I do, it feels like an accomplishment. Each book in my library feels like a trophy, something I can look at and be proud of.

Pre-Covid, we started up an ELSE book club. Before book club, I probably read one or two books a year. Book Club changed that.

Our aim was to explore a topic each month — everything from leadership to listening, distraction to influence. We’d each read a book of our own related to that topic and then got together in the pub for a debrief.

Key for this session was to draw out and share what we learned. However, digesting whole books in time for the session was daunting, and it proved too challenging, not just for me but for all of us at times. We all enjoyed the experience of learning this way, but because of the pressures on all our time in the studio together, we had to make it more manageable.

And so, we shifted the focus from books to other mediums: podcasts, videos, articles, quotes, statements, reports, short books etc.

Enter: Talk Club

By opening up the medium, our club became more inclusive and more people got involved.

Now, we decide on the length of time required to digest our chosen source of inspiration, based on the general mood of the group. If we know everyone is busy, sometimes a simple ‘quote of the day’ is enough to trigger a really decent discussion. If we know it’s a bit quieter in the studio and people have more time, we can dive into a longer video or podcast episode.

To get the ball rolling, I’ve been selecting one piece of content for the sessions myself. So far we have explored:

• Celebrating failure
• Gauging the feedback you’re giving and getting
• Auditing design systems for accessibility

Then I have been creating a discussion guide to prompt people to think about and get the conversation moving. It then all flows really nicely from there.

Why Talk Club is so valuable

It’s an opportunity for reflection. During the sessions, we find it helpful to think about how it applies to our work at ELSE. For example, during our ‘Giving feedback’ session, we discussed whether we ourselves give enough feedback, and what type of feedback we do give.

As we reflect on discussion points during the session, we might decide something needs to change here at ELSE. And so our discussion then turns into actions. We assign actions to people keen to investigate further, and in doing so elevate the outcome of Talk Club.

We also capture the key takeaways in a simple Google form. Something we can revisit and use to write an article we’ll share with the rest of the world.

Just as important, is the opportunity to step outside everyday project work and to let our minds wander into something different. A moment of escapism is sometimes exactly what we need to inspire us at work.

It’s exciting to see how people’s opinions develop and evolve and to see the team so passionate around a topic — developing our communication skills even as things get heated.

Okay, so you want to set up a club yourself?

Here’s a few things to note:

Not everyone will sign up straight away, but that’s okay.

Not everyone will attend every session, also okay.

Find others who will champion the Talk Club, people who will start talking about it positively, making others won’t want to miss out. Create a sense of FOMO.

The discussion guide is imperative. Without it, it can be hard to find structure for the conversation. It also acts a great tool to move on to the next question if the discussion comes to its natural end.

The discussion guide questions can be used to get quieter members of the group talking. By asking them a question, it gives them a chance to be heard.

And make sure to get everyone talking, some more vocal members might steal the show, but it’s important to conduct an inclusive session, giving everyone a voice.

What’s next?

Once Talk Club becomes more autonomous, others in the group can take responsibility for selecting content for the sessions too. This helps to start a more diverse conversation and makes space for different perspectives.

We’ll be writing up our key insights from some of our talk clubs (so look out for these below). Perhaps soon, we’ll turn one into a podcast.

But I want to hear from you — have you done something similar? Have you found the same struggles? Did you enjoy it? Was it easy to organise? Let us know in the Medium comments, LinkedIn, or Tweet me.

Credits

The regular Talk Clubbers, thanks for rocking up and having some good conversations.

Linsay Duncan & Olly Veysey for encouraging me to get the Talk Club story out there.

Stewart Greenway for starting our book club originally.

References

Auditing design systems for accessibility — Anna Cook

Radical Candor Podcast — Kim Scott, Jason Rosoff, Amy Sandler

The unexpected benefit of celebrating failure — Astro Teller