Keynotes Are Dead: What Comes Next for Facilitation with Spud Marshall

How do you get people to contribute, feel ownership, and actually shape what happens next?

In this episode of Facilitating Change, I sit down with Spud Marshall, community builder, facilitator, author of Designing Creative Communities, and founder of WiseRooms.ai, KeynotesAreDead.com, and more.

If you facilitate teams, communities, workshops, conferences, or change processes, this conversation will give you practical ideas for creating spaces where people do more than participate. They contribute, build, and take ownership.

We explore:

How to recognize what is keeping people from contributing, including fear, cynicism, and the elephants nobody wants to name.

How to create the conditions for people to feel safe enough to speak honestly.

How to move a group from passive participation toward a real sense of community and shared ownership.

Why small experiments and prototypes can create more momentum than another big strategic plan.

How to listen to the room and know when to move away from your carefully prepared agenda.

Why Spud believes keynotes and traditional conferences need to change.

How AI can help facilitators capture the ideas and insights that normally disappear inside small-group conversations.

What the role of the facilitator might become as technology moves faster and people need human connection more than ever.