The Common Session Format
Each group is independent and free to choose its own conversation topics. What unites this project - the magic, the special sauce - is what happens when we use the same session format.
The Decentralized Community Project is an effort to create meaningful connections and conversations at scale, with no hierarchy, control, or cost. Instead, we offer a vision of self-organizing groups, a “springboard” approach to conversation design, and a common session format.
The heart and power of the Decentralized Community Project lies in its common session format. Using the same format lets us crowdsource writing sessions on topics that each of us cares about. By sharing sessions and self-organizing in groups without control or hierarchy, we create a nimble, decentralized process that promotes connection, meaning, and engagement with the issues of our time.
Using the common format transforms friend groups, family conversations, long-term groups, pop-up groups, group-based events, and any other group gatherings into a larger system.
Common Session Format in brief:
Opening
Check-in
Core Topic with reflection questions
Initial sharing round
Open discussion
Wrap-up
Check-out
Closing
🧬 Think of the common session format as the DNA of the Decentralized Community Project.
By using this common session format, we can crowdsource the development of fun, exciting, important, meaningful, timeless and timely topics that we can all use.
Below is a more detailed guide to the format with some example text. The key is that by using a common format:
We have a shared understanding of what Decentralized Community Project group experiences are like. The topic and focus is 100% flexible, but there’s consistency in the approach. It is a springboard for meaningful connection and conversation.
We can all make Decentralized Community Project sessions for others to use. It means we can more easily crowdsource the effort to develop great group session plans.
As we all share sessions, over time, we’ll be able to search for “Decentralized Community Project” and the topic to find related sessions.
With the common session format as the unifying element, everything else is self-organizing, emergent, and determined by how individuals, groups, community organizations and others participate.
Guide to the Common Session Format
The following is a step-by-step guide to the Decentralized Community Project common session format and how to write a session using a structured but open conversation “springboard” approach.
Session Title
Choose a title that succinctly describes the topic or theme of your session. This is often easier to finalize after the core session content is complete, so feel free to revisit this step later.
Session Prepared By
Include your name or the name of the group responsible for preparing the session. In the spirit of crowdsourcing great sessions, we encourage making sessions freely available and welcome others to modify them. You might add this text: “If you edit this session, please add “Adapted by and Your Name.”
Opening
Begin your session with an opening or centering statement (ready to use examples) that sets the tone for the discussion. Something simple like this:
Example: “Welcome everyone. Through this group, we are making time for meaningful connection and conversation. We are participating in the Decentralized Community Project. Groups around the world are invited to self-organize, use a common session format, and crowd source writing sessions on the topics that interest them. The shared format means groups can exchange sessions and help others engage with the issues we are passionate about. There is no hierarchy. No control. Just a shared model that’s been released. Thank you for being here.”
Check-In
Give each participant an opportunity (a minute or two) to share how they are or anything else they’d like the group to know. This can build community, help someone let go of a distraction, or share a brief update related to something from a previous group.
Zoom /Video Conference: Go Alphabetical by name, rainbow order of clothing, have facilitator pick and go by video grid. Use a system.
Introductions: If the group is new or includes new members, invite people to share a brief introductions. This helps create a welcoming atmosphere and sets the stage for open sharing.
Check In Example: “Before we dive into our core topic, let’s check in. How are you? In addition to meaningful conversation we are building community. We’ll go around in the circle, briefly, without diving into conversation. You might share how you are doing, share a personal update or introduce yourself if new to the group. I’ll start…”
Session Topic
The Decentralized Community Project model uses sessions that are springboards for meaningful conversation. A great session topic gives people enough information to move into a shared conversation but without requiring any advance preparation.
Through our common session format we are trying to make it easy for any group to use any session and dive into a topic.
When writing a session, consider the following four paragraph approach ready for the group’s facilitator to read aloud like a script.
1. Set the Context (First Paragraph)
Introduce the theme clearly and directly. Hook attention and interest immediately by highlighting problem, challenge, or issue we or many face.
Keep it conversational, like talking to friends.Focus on creating a sense of curiosity and reflection rather than a need to come to consensus. We’re making space for listening, sharing, learning, and deepening understanding.
Plan to connect to a specific content anchor (quote, teaching, book, article, video, podcast, or other content online). It helps referencing a specific author, expert, or thought leader and their ideas. Using a content anchor it is easier to keep sessions focused, specific, and meaningful. Instead of talking about a general issue, raise the issue in the context of how a specific person thinks about the issue in a work they’ve shared.
Example:
In recent years, leading technology companies have been racing to create what they call “artificial general intelligence”—or AGI for short. The idea is to build an AI system as capable as a human in any intellectual task. Many leaders, like OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman, suggest that AGI is not a distant sci-fi dream but an imminent reality. In a recent essay titled “The Gentle Singularity,” Altman wrote that “we are now heading toward the AGI takeoff,” urging that the stakes are extraordinarily high. This brings us to a critical question: why are we building AGI—and whose vision of the future will it serve?
2. Identify the Core Issue (Second Paragraph)
Explain the core issue you are exploring as it is raised by the author of the content anchor. What does this person say? What ideas are they advancing or questions they are asking?
Example:
“AGI promises transformative breakthroughs—from cures for disease and the end of global poverty to limitless innovation. Yet alongside these possibilities lie massive risks: centralization of power, loss of agency, and systems that may prioritize their own objectives over ours. History shows us that technological revolutions rarely go exactly as planned, and often amplify existing inequalities rather than erase them. If these advanced AI technologies are coming soon—as many suggest—then we have a narrowing window to shape how it unfolds.”
3. Spring Board (Third Paragraph)
When we share a person’s ideas or questions, we’re sharing them to serve as a springboard for conversation. Move beyond what the content author specifically said and share what issues, challenges, opportunities, or questions this raises more broadly.
Example: “What kind of future do we actually want? What would a utopia look like if it wasn’t built by corporations or labs, but by communities like ours? Instead of accepting someone else’s vision, we are called to co-imagine alternatives: futures that reflect our own values, fears, and hopes. Because if we don’t ask “at what cost and under whose terms?” we risk waking up in someone else’s dream.”
4. Transition to Reflection Questions (Fourth Paragraph)
Lead-in to the reflection questions, inviting participants to connect the session’s ideas to their own experiences.
Use language that invites participants to explore their thoughts and ideas.
Example:
We don’t need to be experts in AI to wrestle with these questions. Each of us carries wisdom, imagination, and lived experience that can help shape how we think about the future. Let’s take time to reflect—not just on what’s possible with AI, but on what’s worth striving for. The questions ahead aren’t about reaching consensus. They’re about listening, sharing, and daring to imagine a future worth living in—together.
Reflection Questions
Great sessions require great questions. Keep them open-ended and inviting, using words like "might" to allow room for exploration rather than definitive answers.
Aim for 3-5 questions that touch on personal experience, broader societal issues, and future thinking.
Example:
When you think of a Utopia, what comes to mind?
What images or feelings come to mind when you hear people talk about a “utopia” powered by advanced AI?
What values or life experiences shape the kind of future you would want AI to support or avoid?
Where do you see signs of hope or concern around the direction AI is heading today?
What might it look like for communities, not just corporations, to take part in imagining and guiding the future?
Initial Sharing
After reflection questions are shared, with optional time to write down thoughts, give participants a chance to share their initial thoughts. Go around the group in a circle, giving each participant approximately 2 minutes to share their initial responses. Encourage active listening without commenting on each other's responses.
Some groups like using a second round of responses to encourage further reflection and sharing. This round can help participants build on the discussion and explore additional insights.
Transition to open discussion.
Reflection Tip: Before people respond to questions, give them time to write down their thoughts. If you don’t often people will be thinking about what they say while also listening to others speak. Taking 2 minutes to write down thoughts after reviewing the session topic and first reflection questions pays off!
Open Discussion
After the response rounds, open the floor for a free-flowing discussion. Allow participants to explore different angles, explore ideas respectfully, and share unique perspectives.
Facilitation Example: “Now that we’ve all had a chance to share our initial thoughts, let’s shift to open discussion.”
Wrap-Up
About 20 minutes before the session ends, prompt participants to share any final thoughts or reflections. Often people have ideas they’ve been reflecting on. Some people are quietly reflecting. This is a signal its time to share before time us up.
Facilitation Example: “We have around 20 minutes left in our open discussion. Anyone we haven’t heard from, additional thoughts, or things you want to circle back to?”
Check-Out
After wrapping up the conversation, take time to check-out. Invite brief sharing with a focus on the group. You might invite people to share one thing they appreciated from your time together, a thought or question they are taking with them, or an idea for something you might explore in the future.
Going in a circle or using a clear system if on video conference saves time.
Closing Words
Conclude the session either with closing words (examples) or by reading a relevant quote or reflection that ties to the session topic.
That’s the end of the common session format. Below are some other ideas and considerations.
Session References
Include any references / sources used in the session. Some participants will appreciate having a copy of the session. Having references supports authors of content you are referencing and is appreciated by group participants and others using your sessions.
Help Spread the Word
If you are publishing a session, consider including a note about the Decentralized Community Project or linking to the project launch site on substack.
Example: “This session is based on the Decentralized Community Project common session format. Learn more at www.decentralizedcommunityproject.org. Thank you helping to promote meaningful connection and conversation!
No Permission Required
You don’t need permission to write sessions, share sessions, or meet using the Decentralized Community Project Model. This is a decentralized effort. We are releasing the model, sharing sessions, and related group resources, but we are not controlling what happens next. That’s a collective decentralized effort.
Session Topic Areas
When writing sessions, consider the interests of your group and context. The Decentralized Community Project is a model that can be used with any content. It is content agnostic in that sense. What do you want to discuss with others?
Career and Professional Development
Personal Growth and Development
Relationships
Health and Wellness
Arts and Culture
Technology and Innovation
Artificial Intelligence, AGI, Super Intelligence
Environment and Sustainability
Social Justice and Activism
Education and Lifelong Learning
Travel and Exploration
Spirituality and Religion
Movies, Entertainment and Pop Culture
Family and Parenting
Mindfulness and Well-being
Hobbies and Interests
Politics and Governance
Community Building
History and Heritage
Science and Exploration
Future and Futurism