Soapbox — for facilitators

Samvinas

• Add the tool and frame the ask in the Prompt ("Two minutes, no slides — what should the group hear about?").
• Participants add themselves (name plus an optional topic) and the queue builds in the order people sign up.
• When a slot opens, take speakers from the top — around three fits most breaks. Mark each one Done as they finish; their entry drops below the queue, crossed out, so everyone can see who has spoken.
• The rest of the list carries over to the next slot.
• Put the display view on the big screen — the "Up next" card does the introductions for you.

To manage the queue, open the tool's gear menu and use the Data tab: Reorder with the arrows when someone can't go next; Done when a talk finishes (Restore if you tap it by mistake); Remove someone who asks to come off the list — they can withdraw themselves only from the device they signed up on, and removing takes two taps: the ✕ asks "Remove?" first.

Paper and pen

You need: a flip chart by the door, a marker on a string, and a visible timer (a phone propped on the lectern will do).

• Head the sheet with the ask — "Soapbox: two minutes, no slides. Name + topic" — and rule a dozen numbered lines.
• People add themselves during breaks; the numbered lines are the queue.
• Work from the top when a slot opens; cross each name out as they finish, so the room can see who has spoken and who's next.
• Carry the uncrossed names to the next slot — no need to re-copy, just bring the sheet.
• The failure mode is the unenforced clock: one five-minute talk and the queue dies with the break. Start the timer where the speaker can see it, and call time cheerfully but firmly.

When & why

Reach for Soapbox when the room is full of things worth hearing that don't belong on the agenda — it organises that energy into slots instead of letting it leak into interruptions. Run soapboxes just before or just after breaks.

• Hold the no-interruptions rule for the speaker: questions can go to a brainstorm or the break.
• The Timer utility makes the two-minute limit visible to the room.
• There's no guarantee of reaching everyone — say so up front.
• What usually follows: the agenda, refreshed — Soapbox stands outside the piped flow. If a talk sparks something, catch it in a Brainstorm rather than a debate.