THE HANDBOOK

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Inspire to act!

This handbook has been designed to help you understand the Nordic Talks concept

and how to set one up. On the following pages, you will find valuable and detailed

information, that will help you to plan and execute a best in class event!

Be part of something greater: Join Nordic Talks

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WHAT IS A NORDIC TALK?

HOW TO PLAN YOUR TALK: STEP-BY-STEP

WHY HOST A NORDIC TALK?

THE NORDIC TALKS PODCAST

THE CONCEPT EXPLAINED

DOGMA #1: YOUR TALK RELATES TO THE NORDIC VALUES

DOGMA #2: YOUR TALK ADDRESSES THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS)

DOGMA #3: YOUR TALK MUST INSPIRE LISTENERS TO ACT

DOGMA #4: ATMOSPHERE! GIVE YOUR TALK THE “GLITTER CHECK”

DOGMA #5: YOUR TALK IS PROFESSIONALLY ORGANIZED AND HIGH QUALITY RECORDINGS ARE SECURED

DECIDING ON THE THEMES AND KEY MESSAGES

TALKERS

MODERATOR FOR THE LIVE NORDIC TALK

A FULLY SCALABLE EVENT CONCEPT

TECHNICAL RIDER

IMPORTANT LINKS AND ADDITIONAL INSPIRATION

COMMUNICATION AND PROMOTION

THE CHECKLIST

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CONTENTS

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‘Nordic Talks’ is the Nordic Council of Ministers’ concept for a global series of talks

addressing current affairs that capture the essence of Nordic themes and issues.

A Nordic Talk is a branded concept that can help you strengthen your Nordic event.

It can be held anywhere at anytime. It can also be held in connection to existing

events like festivals, conferences, etc.

A Nordic Talk is an easy-to-replicate live event concept that Nordic diplomatic missi-

ons abroad, NGOs, universities and other partners worldwide are able to host locally

once their application has been approved by the Nordic Council of Ministers. This

handbook contains the guidelines for what makes your event a “Nordic Talk” and the

handbook will be your go-to guide for staying true to concept.

The best live events will be edited into professional podcast episodes by The Nordic

Council of Ministers. The podcast will be shared with you along with material that

makes it easy for you to share it with relevant stakeholders in your network.

Apply here for funding and support to host your own Nordic Talk and become part of

something greater.

WHAT IS A NORDIC TALK?

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These are the steps you need to complete in order to host your own Nordic Talk

HOW TO PLAN YOUR TALK: STEP-BY-STEP

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Get a sense of the Nordic Talks concept by reading this handbook

Apply for approval of your event idea to make sure that it fits into the Nordic Talks framework here

Get approval and funding

Execute your live Nordic Talk and record the sound

Send recorded audio material to us within 48 hours of finalizing your event

The best live Nordic Talks will be made into podcast episodes

We will produce the podcast in our podcast studio in Copenhagen and publish it on www.nordictalks.com and all relevant podcast platforms. We will also share the podcast and relevant material with you so you can share it in your network

Start planning your live Nordic Talk by using the handbook and other relevant documents located in Google Drive (access will be granted once your Nordic Talk event has been approved)

Send the tech rider to a sound technician, who can make sure that you are covered for audio recording

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The aim of Nordic Talks is to draw attention to a unified Nordic region that aspires to

drive positive global change through Nordic solutions. We want to share and host

co-creation across borders by inviting thinkers and doers to participate and give

them ownership for action.

We want to inspire listeners to act by providing them with a room for contemplation.

Not just at the live event, but as a publicly shared podcast for everyone to listen to.

As a host for a Nordic Talk, you are responsible for:

• Creating and executing a great live event that adheres to the Nordic Talks fra-

mework described in this handbook.

• Making sure that the entire live talk is audio recorded and that the recordings are

sent back to info@nordictalks.com along with the filled out playbook. Please

see playbook for further details.

Nordic Council of Ministers is responsible for:

• Listening through the audio recordings and deciding if the recordings have

potential to be formed into a podcast. If so, the secretariat will produce a profes-

sional podcast episode and market it on all available channels ready for you and

your partners to share.

WHY HOST A NORDIC TALK?

The secretariat will edit all eligible* live talk recordings into a finished

podcast in our professional podcast studio in Copenhagen. This is why

you need to record the sound of your entire Nordic Talks event and

send it to info@nordictalks.com within 48 hours of completion of your

Nordic Talk event.

To ensure high quality sound, please send the tech rider to the

company that will you will be renting the sound equipment from.

THE NORDIC TALKS PODCAST

*Disclaimer: The secretariat has the right to decide what content is made into a podcast (depending on the sound quality and content in general). Your talk may be integrated with content from another talk and edited into one podcast. The secretariat decides if and when the podcast will go live.

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AFTON HALLORANHOST OF THE PODCAST

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Nordic Talks are about starting conversations, not monologues.

Nordic Talks are designed to INSPIRE participants and listeners worldwide to how

they can ACT for a more sustainable world.

Nordic Talks bring together thinkers and doers from around the world in curious

conversations on sustainability.

The Nordic Talks podcast, which is produced from live events by the secretariat in

Copenhagen, is broadcasted to a global audience in the form of a high-quality

podcast series available on all preferred platforms.

A Nordic Talk must stay true to concept, always. Therefore we have designed an

easy-to-replicate concept with five simple dogmas, that provide the backbone of

every single Nordic Talk.

See the dogmas on the following pages.

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE CONCEPT? Check out ...

Films – Check out our explainer film to see what a Nordic Talk can look like [link] (coming

soon). The purpose of a Nordic Talk is to inspire to act: Watch the purpose film to get a

sense of the feeling we are looking for: Room for contemplation.

Instagram: @nordic.talks

Facebook: @NordicTraces

Website: www.nordictalks.com

THE CONCEPT EXPLAINED

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DOGMA #1: YOUR TALK RELATES TO THE NORDIC VALUES

The Nordic values, as described in the Nordic Council of Ministers Strategy for Inter-

national Branding, function as our guidelines. The values are:

• Trust – in each other and also – because of proximity to power – trust in leaders

in society

• Equality – compassion, tolerance, and conviction about the equal value of all

people

• Sustainability – sustainable management of the environment and development

of natural resources

• Innovation – new ways of thinking, focusing on creativity and innovation

• Openness – and belief in everyone’s right to express their opinions

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DOGMA #2: YOUR TALK ADDRESSES THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS)

A Nordic Talk is always conceptualized around one or several of the UN Sustainable

Development Goals. Sustainability should be the center of attention in every Nordic

Talk, so please bear this in mind when thinking about not just the talk itself, but also

catering, marketing materials, transportation, etc.

Learn more about the UN Sustainable Development Goals here

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DOGMA #3: YOUR TALK MUST INSPIRE LISTENERS TO ACT

The talk must suggest at least one key action point for the audience and listeners

to take home. What specific actions can participants take with them after having liste-

ned to the talk? How can they change the world?

The action point(s) must be specific and give the listener agency to leave the talk

and start changing the world today.

The action point(s) is a crucial part of the Nordic Talk format. All action points will be

emphasized in the edited podcast episode based on your talk.

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What is the element that sweeps your participants off their feet? Give everyone a

warm welcome and a good reason to remember the talk. Add an extra element

like food, music and/or art to make your event stand out and your action points

become clearer. But don’t forget: It must be in line with your concept. For example,

don’t print t-shirts for everyone when hosting a talk about sustainable textile pro-

duction.

Examples:

• Food talk: Edible insects

• Culture talk: Alternative band or artist with a sustainable agenda

• Ocean talk: An aquarium as your venue

• Peace talk: Bring together disputing parts

• Health talk: Exhibiting new innovations in healthtech

DOGMA #4: ATMOSPHERE! GIVE YOUR TALK THE “GLITTER CHECK”

Ask yourself: Can you defend the extra element in terms of the SDGs?

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DOGMA #5: YOUR TALK IS PROFESSIONALLY ORGANIZED AND HIGH QUALITY RECORDINGS ARE SECURED

A Nordic Talk is always designed to facilitate dialogue and the content must be

suitable for broadcasting and sharing. This format must be adhered to:

• Script: To make it easy for you, here’s a playbook and script template to use.

Please refer to the toolbox

• Venue: When deciding on the venue, please keep in mind that a Nordic Talk is

about dialogue – it is not a lecture to an audience. You can be creative here!

• Dialogue: We want to promote dialogue and ‘active listening’. When using mobile

phones, use them wisely - preferably for conducting live polls or creating an inter-

active dialogue related to the talk

• Audio broadcast: All audio during the talk must be recorded and sent to

info@nordictalks.com. It will be edited to the podcast “Nordic Talks – Inspire to

Act, Act to Inspire”* afterwards (the podcast is edited and produced by the Nor-

dic Council of Minister's secretariat with our host Afton Halloran). The podcast

series will be available on Nordictalks.com and all preferred audio platforms.

IMPORTANT: Please adhere to the technical rider for info on mandatory sound

equipment.

• Communication Plan: You should always consider how to spread the news

about your Nordic Talk live event. The Nordic Council of Ministers will make sure

that the podcast is sent to you after post-production, so you can share it with

your key audiences and stakeholders

• Outcome: The talk - specifically the talkers - must recommend their at least one

key action point for the audience and listeners to act upon. What concrete acti-

ons can participants take with them after having listened to the talk?

*Disclaimer: The secretariat has the right to decide what content is published as a Nordic Talks podcast (depending on the sound quality and content in general). Your talk may be integrated with content from another talk and edited into one podcast. The secretariat decides if and when the podcast will go live.

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Establishing your themes and key messages early in the process will help you set

the direction of the live talk.

Themes: Remember: A Nordic Talk consists of 10% form and 90% brilliant topics

and angles. Think of yourself as a news editor creating the perfect headline and sub

headline: Why should anyone want to listen to your talk and talkers? And keep the

Nordic values and the SDGs close - they are your friends when deciding on a theme

for your Nordic Talk.

Key Messages: When the theme and headline is set, you need to think about what

the key messages or key questions are. What do you want your audience to take

home?

Inspire to act! Give your audience specific key take-aways: We want to inspire our

listeners to ACT on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. So – as specifically as

possible: When your participants leave the talk, what are one or two action points

that they can apply in their daily lives? This is the best way to end a Nordic Talk.

DECIDING ON THE THEMES AND KEY MESSAGES

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The talkers at every Nordic Talk must be:

• Thinkers and doers• Passionate• Curious• Engaged• Diverse

At least one of the talkers must be a local and one must be from the Nordic

region. We need to show the Nordics in the world, not the Nordics to the world.

Please also think of diversity and do not line up all-female or all-male talkers.

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A maximum of three talkers is a must. We don’t want to overcrowd the stage

or the podcast. Having a lot of people on stage tends to take away the dialogue

and replace it with “lectures” and endless comments. We want to foster great

and entertaining dialogue and curious questions, which is why long power point

presentations and other lecture-style talks do not belong in a Nordic Talk setup.

The mix of talkers is important: Please have at least one, but no more than

two, talkers from the Nordic region. The rest should be from outside the Nordic

region. Conflicting points of view are welcome. This enables lively conversation

to occur.

TALKERS

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Picking a moderator is crucial to the talk, so please take our advice.

The moderator should be:

• Curious• Engaged• Professional• Well-prepared• And, if possible: Have a journalistic background or solid experience with moderating live events

MODERATOR FOR THE LIVE NORDIC TALK

Please make sure that your moderator lets the talkers finish their sentences during the live talk. This is im-portant in order to get the best material for the podcast.

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The Nordic Talks concept is scalable, so you almost have endless possibilities in

terms of picking your venue. Don’t forget that you are hosting a

dialogue between the talkers – and audience – not a powerpoint presentation.

A FULLY SCALABLE EVENT CONCEPT

S M L

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Small: This talk size is

fit for talks that don't

necessarily need a big

audience. It could sim-

ply be two talkers and a

moderator in dialogue on

a rooftop bar with an audi-

ence of up to 30 people (if

any). All we ask for is that

the sound from the talk

is recorded and sent to

us – we’ll take care of the

podcast production.

The talk can also be exe-

cuted digitally without an

audience. See instruction

video here.

A nice-to-have add-on:

The opportunity for the

audience to ask questions

directly to the talkers.

We recommend that you

keep questions at the end

of the talk to avoid inter-

ruptions.

Medium: This talk size can

take many shapes, e.g.

an event with two or three

consecutive Nordic Talks

held on the same day or

spread out on more than

one day. This could take

place in a university audi-

torium or the like with an

audience of around 100

people. This size of talk

gives you plenty of op-

portunity to be creative in

terms of venue, audience

size and number of talks.

The talk can also be exe-

cuted as a digital confer-

ence with an audience.

See instruction video

here.

A nice-to-have add-on:

Mood boards (or digital

boards via Sli.do) to en-

gage audience mid-talk

as an active break. Ques-

tions from the audience

can be used actively by

the moderator.

Large: A large talk is really

something special! A spe-

cial venue, a line-up with

a-list speakers or perhaps

an idea for a series of

Nordic Talks over a longer

period of time – with or

without audience. For this

grant size, a rule of thumb

is that you will most likely

need to plan more than

one Nordic Talk.

The talk can also be exe-

cuted as a digital confer-

ence with an audience.

See instruction video

here.

A nice-to-have add-on:

Mood boards (or digi-

tal boards via Sli.do) to

engage audience, either

when signing up to the

talk or mid-talk for inspira-

tion and further engage-

ment of the audience.

Here are some examples of venues that could fit, depending on the size of your

talk and audience:

For the medium and large event sizes there is a great potential to do more than one talk. Feel free to conduct more Nordic Talks consecutively on the same day.

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Recording your Nordic Talk is mandatory, and it is crucial that you record the best

audio possible, so that we are able to edit the live talk into a podcast to be shared

and listened to globally.

Download tech rider here.

Please send the tech rider to a sound technician, who can make sure that you are

covered for audio recording.

TECHNICAL RIDER

Please take a close look at the tech rider and share it with your local sound techni-cian.

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The playbook is crucial for every Nordic Talk:

It’s the backbone of your talk and the filled-out version of the playbook and script is what you use when briefing your moderator and the tal-kers.

When in doubt, do not hesitate to ask the Nordic Talks team at info@nordictalks.com.

Please download the playbook template and fill it out. See toolbox

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Visual identity – Nordic Talks has its own visual identity that should be followed

whenever possible. Find it in the toolbox.

Toolbox – Here you can find everything you need to plan and execute your Nordic Talk.

Here you will find:

• The Nordic Talks logos

• The Nordic Talks font for download

• Link to the Nordic Talks films (coming soon)

• Template for the participation agreement

• The playbook template to be filled out by you

• Technical rider for correct audio recording

• Contact information and relevant links and hashtags

If you have questions, feel free to e-mail us at info@nordictalks.com

IMPORTANT LINKS AND ADDITIONAL INSPIRATION

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Marketing materials for your event. Feel free to contact us at info@nordictalks.com

if you have question about the visual identity.

Please be aware that expenses covering all marketing materials regarding the live talk

are your responsibility as host of a Nordic Talk.

Visuals during your live Nordic Talk: Please remember that a Nordic Talk is about

dialogue between the talkers and the moderator. It is not a presentation or a lecture, so

you should stay away from showing slides during the actual talk. Visuals don't work in

a podcast, so please keep these at a minimum. If you need to make a lecture or classic

presentation, this should not be included in the actual Nordic Talks event, but can of

course be held before or after your actual Nordic Talk.

If you are planning on showing visuals, please use the Nordic Talks Power Point template

whenever possible. Please refer to the toolbox.

Keep in mind that all printing and shipping should be done as sustainably as

possible.

COMMUNICATION AND PROMOTION

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Attention all project managers: This checklist is the tool you need to take your

event from paper to stage.

CHECK LIST

Start planning as soon as possible.

2-3 months before

• Decide theme(s) and key messages: What’s the talk about?

• Articulate the desired outcome and think about at least one possible action

point. These should also be agreed upon with the talkers and host

• Set objectives and specific KPI’s for the talk

• Select host, talkers and participants (and plan B’s!) and begin reaching out

• Decide on format and find venue

• Decide and plan the extra touch/glitter check

Tip: It's a good idea to plan a workshop with some of your relevant colleagues or

other stakeholders to discuss the points above and plan for your Nordic Talk.

1 month before

• Book equipment for the technical setup – please follow the tech rider closely

• Acquire flipboard, post-its and pens for mood board (if included in event)

• Decide on marketing materials (if any) and feel free to e-mail us at

info@nordictalks.com, if you have questions regarding the use of the Nordic

Talks visual identity

THE CHECKLIST

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• Decide on and order catering (be creative and sustainable, catering can also be

your extra touch (dogma 4))

• Write invitation and gather contacts to invite to your talk

- Decide if the talk is accessible by invitation only or open to the public.

If you need a digital invitation for your event, please adhere to the visual

identity in the Google Drive

2-4 weeks before

• Write the playbook and script and share it with talkers and moderator. If possible,

arrange briefing meeting(s) to make sure everyone is ready for the Nordic Talk

• Download the font and fill out the Powerpoint template if you are planning on

visuals during your Nordic Talk (see toolbox)

The day of the event

• Make sure everyone knows where to go and what to do. Put up marketing materi-

als (if any) and check sound

After the event

• Send audio from the live talk and the filled out playbook to info@nordictalks.com

• Develop questionnaire in order to evaluate on the event

• When* you receive the edited podcast version of your talk, make sure to share it

within and outside of your organization

*Disclaimer: The secretariat has the right to decide what content is made into a podcast (depending on the sound quality and content in general). Your talk may be integrated with content from another talk and edited into one podcast. The secretariat decides if and when the podcast will go live.