Before the chief executive takes questions at a town hall after a board decision, war-game the session. Keep prepared remarks short, sort the questions you expect into those you will answer now, those you will answer by a set date, and those you cannot answer and why, then rehearse the hardest ones with your executive team playing the room. Make sure every leader tells the same story, and decide what the board hears afterward. Paste the board decision summary, your draft remarks, pre-submitted questions, and notes on what is still undecided into one request. Instruct Pingpong to flag remarks that promise more than the board has decided, questions with no prepared answer, and places where leaders' messages conflict. Review your written answers in a second round.
This page is for chief executives and executive teams preparing a live employee session after a freeze, reforecast, reorganization, or change in strategy. Executive starting points live under Pingpong for executives.
Sort the questions into three piles
- Answer now: what the decision is, why it was made, and what changes for people this month.
- Answer by a date: questions with real answers still being worked out. Name the date and keep it.
- Cannot answer: individual cases, legal matters, or forecasts you do not have. Say why, plainly.
Employees can tell a parked question from a dodged one. A date and a reason make the difference.
Before you walk in
- Remarks: under ten minutes, so most of the time goes to questions.
- Who answers what: the finance leader takes numbers, product leaders take product questions, the chief executive takes the why.
- Anonymous questions: a channel open before and during the session, read aloud without softening.
- One story: every executive has said the same thing to their own teams, with the same dates.
- Follow-up: a written note within two days, including every parked question and its date.
A worked example
This example is illustrative and does not describe a customer. The board of a 500-person software company has approved a reforecast, merged two product groups, and paused one product line. The chief executive holds a 45-minute town hall in two days. Within a day, employees submit 120 anonymous questions.
The chief executive pastes the board summary, the draft remarks, the submitted questions, the reorganization plan, and a note that the board is modeling further cost scenarios.
A useful pass finds that the remarks run 25 minutes, leaving 20 for 120 questions. Prepared answers cover five of them. The most common themes are whether more layoffs are coming, what happens to the people on the paused product, whether equity is worth less after the reforecast, and why leadership missed the plan. The remarks say "no further changes are planned," which conflicts with the board's ongoing scenario work. People on the paused product have not yet heard from their managers. One product leader has told their team the merger takes effect next quarter, while the plan says next month.
The revised plan cuts the remarks to eight minutes and opens with what was decided and what was not. The executive team rehearses the ten hardest questions, with two leaders playing skeptical employees. On further cuts, the chief executive says there is no plan today and that employees will hear first if that changes. People on the paused product meet their managers before the town hall, and their placements are confirmed by Friday. The finance leader explains what changed in the forecast and declines to estimate equity value, in wording counsel has approved. The chief executive answers the question about missing the plan directly. Every executive confirms the merger date with their teams beforehand. A written follow-up goes out within two days. The board receives a short summary: the top themes, questions parked and their dates, attendance, and a pulse survey result.
If the same decision also needs a letter people will keep, see war-game a founder letter before investors and employees read it.
A request you can copy
Below are the board decision summary, my draft town hall remarks, pre-submitted employee questions, and notes on what is still undecided. Sort the questions into answer now, answer by a date, and cannot answer. Flag remarks that promise more than the board has decided. List the hardest questions with no prepared answer. Check for conflicts between what different leaders have told their teams. Suggest what the board should hear afterward. Stop there so we can answer in writing, then review our answers.
How Pingpong runs the review
The web review app sends your request through several models in order. Each later model receives the original request and every earlier answer, with instructions to assess the work so far. For the steps inside the app, see running your first review.
What a model can't review
A model cannot read the room, hear tone, or know how much trust the leadership team has built. It can prepare you for the questions. How you answer them in person is yours.
When the decision goes to the board, see war-game a decision before the board meeting. More guides live under work decisions before you commit.