Polle de Maagt 
Polle de Maagt
Story.
A normal presentation controls the sequence, speed and focus. Everyone sees the same slide at the same time. Questions wait until the end, if there is time.
A gallery walk changes who controls the room.
Print the slides and hang them in sequence. People walk past them as they would in a museum. They can see the full storyline, return to an earlier slide and spend more time on the parts they do not understand.
I use it both to review work in progress and to present a finished story. It is especially useful in organisations that are used to PowerPoint. The deck stays. The behaviour around it changes.
The main facilitation challenge is time. People need enough space to explore without letting the session lose energy.
How to run it.
Invitation.
Tell people whether they are reviewing work in progress or learning from a finished presentation. Explain why you are using a gallery walk instead of showing the slides on a screen.
How space is arranged and materials needed.
A large wall, with the slides printed and hung in sequence before the meeting. A3 is easier to read than A4. If you lack wall space, use two or more rows. Tape, post-its and pens.
How participation is distributed.
Everyone walks the story at their own pace and can attach questions and comments to any slide with post-its.
How groups are configured.
Alone along the wall first, then the whole group together. Use 1-2-4-All to turn individual observations into shared questions.
Sequence of steps and time allocation.
- Give the context. Share the goal, the audience and the main storyline. For a review, explain what kind of feedback will help. For a finished deck, ask people to notice what is unclear (5 minutes).
- Browse. Let people walk the wall and leave post-its (15 to 20 minutes).
- Discuss. Bring the group together. Start where the post-its cluster, and cluster the comments per slide (20 to 25 minutes).
- Synthesise. Summarise what needs to change, what still needs an answer and what happens next (5 to 10 minutes).
Variations.
- If wall space is unavailable, lay the slides on the floor. Ask people to stand next to the slide they find most interesting, most confusing or most likely to raise a difficult question. Discuss each prompt briefly.
- For a longer session, follow the gallery walk with 1-2-4-All to generate questions and 15% Solutions to turn the discussion into practical next steps.
- Online, put the slides on one large collaborative board and let participants move through them independently before discussing.
Tips.
- Avoid windows when possible. The outside view distracts and backlight makes slides harder to read.
- Hang everything before the session starts.
- Leave enough room for several people to stand around one slide.
- Make sure everyone can still see the relevant slide during the discussion.
- Tell people exactly what to look for. “Give feedback” is too broad.
Before your next internal presentation, print the slides and put them on a wall. Give people ten silent minutes with the deck before you explain anything. Then ask: where did the story become unclear?
Based on the Gallery Walk pattern and structured with the five structural elements from Liberating Structures by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless. The floor variation combines Gallery Walk, 1-2-4-All and 15% Solutions, as described by Barry Overeem.
