Structure
Give the conversation a spine without making the guest feel managed. Different occasions ask for different spines; six are catalogued here.
Choosing a spine
Choose by occasion, before anyone arrives. You may revisit a phase, but must earn it first — and a spine, once chosen, is meant to be hidden, not announced.
| Spine | Built for | The through-line |
|---|
The Profile
The Debate
The Symposium
The Inquiry
The Testimony
The Craft Session
Spines by table size
Where each spine works. “Best” is the size the spine was built for; a dash means the shape does not survive at that size.
| Spine | Two | Three–four | Five–eight | Nine+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Profile | best | works | strained | — |
| The Debate | — | best | works | works, with a hall format |
| The Symposium | — | works | best | strained — unity breaks |
| The Inquiry | works | best | works | strained |
| The Testimony | best | works | works | works — one teller scales |
| The Craft Session | best | works | strained | — |
Segment transitions
Ten transitions between parts. They work inside any spine.
| Transition | Line | Function |
|---|
Mastering a spine
One spine at a time, in five steps. Absorb — read its table until you can say the phase names in order. Walk — run Spine Walk, which deals a scenario and takes you through the phases out loud. Plan — sketch a real upcoming conversation on that spine in the Conversation Planner. Carry — reduce the plan to two-to-three-word Cue Cards, so the spine is in the room but off the table. Review — in the Debrief, name the phase where the conversation left your spine, and whether following it was the right call. Then start the next spine.
Drill transitions with Bridge Builder; walk a spine with Spine Walk; plan with the Conversation Planner. Where spines meet the older art: Classical Rhetoric.
On film: Susskind pulls six people back to the thread (3:37); Parkinson declares a transition: “one last point, and then we’ll move on” (6:18).
Try it now
Four rounds of Spine Walk, right here. Out loud.