YPO Forum Presentation Guidelines

Forum Presentation Guidelines For Creative Solutions and Innovations for Problems/Issues

As used by Chris Crane

All presenters are invited to organize their presentations in advance by following the format below. Upon arrival at the meeting (or emailed a few days ahead of time), the presenter will give each member a written copy of, or verbally present, the answers to the following statements and questions:

1. A concise statement of the problem/issue.

2. What is the goal of the presenter?

3. The background information required to understand the significance of the problem/issue.

4. How does the problem/issue affect the presenter (how does he/she feel)?

5. What has the presenter tried?

6. What were the outcomes as the result of #5?

7. What are the options as the presenter sees them?

8. What does the presenter want and not want from the Forum?

The moderator should appoint a scribe before the presentation starts. The scribe will take notes regarding advice given to the presenter so that he/she can focus on the advice instead of attempting to make notes.

The moderator asks all in attendance to agree to keep entirely confidential everything said by the presenter and all others during the session.

During the first half of the allotted time, the moderator should allow only clarifying questions but no advice. After all clarifying questions have been asked and answered, the moderator gives each person the opportunity to share their advice with the presenter.

At the end of the presentation, the moderator should ask all who took any notes, including the scribe, to give the notes to the presenter at that time, so that the notes are never seen accidentally by someone else.  

The presenter should tell the group what he/she heard, share his/her feelings with the group, tell the group whether they fulfilled the presenter’s needs, and challenge the group if they didn’t fulfill his/her needs. 

When adjourning the meeting, the moderator will again remind everyone that everything said is strictly confidential and should never be discussed by anyone unless the presenter brings up the subject to one or more of the group members. 

© Christopher A. Crane, 2025, all rights reserved.

A PDF of these guidelines can be found here: