Sessions & Labs
Sessions & Labs
The Public Image & Rotaract Summit is designed as a working Summit. Its sessions combine dialogue, practical learning and hands-on work, with a clear focus on what participants can take home and use after Samsun.
Some sessions are designed to open important conversations. Others ask participants to create something concrete: a message, a story, a belonging action or a 90-day commitment.
Practical Workshops
Friday morning is dedicated to three parallel practical workshops. Each workshop has a defined focus and a tangible output.
Rotary Voice and Public SpeakingRotary Voice and Public Speaking
Public Image is shaped every time we speak about Rotary. This workshop focuses on communicating clearly, confidently and in a human way to people inside and outside our organisation.
Participants will explore how to speak about Rotary without relying on internal language or administrative reports, how to present project impact rather than activity, and how voice, pace, pauses, eye contact, body language and clarity influence the way a message is received.
Participants will work towards:
- a 60-second Rotary message;
- a 90-second project story;
- a three-minute impact presentation;
- a practical Public Speaking Checklist.
Inclusive Club ExperienceInclusive Club Experience
Attraction may bring people to Rotary. Belonging influences whether they stay, participate, lead and speak positively about their experience.
This workshop explores the behaviours and expectations that shape club experience across generations: what makes people feel welcomed, heard and valued; what makes them feel invisible or disconnected; and how clubs can become more flexible and inclusive without losing their identity.
Practical output:
Participants will develop a local Belonging Action Card with practical ideas that can be applied in a club or district after the Summit.
Project Storytelling and People of ActionProject Storytelling and People of Action
Strong Rotary stories begin with what changed — not with what was organised. This workshop focuses on turning project information into positive, ethical and credible stories of human impact.
Participants will work with the framework Human Change + Proof + Invitation: showing the real difference a project made, supporting the story with credible evidence, and giving the audience a meaningful reason to engage or act.
Ethical storytelling is part of the work. Stories should respect consent, dignity, truth and context, and should never use suffering simply as a way to attract attention.
Practical output:
Each group will develop a People of Action story package including a headline, human impact, evidence and an audience-specific call to action.
Inspirational External Perspective
From Good Intentions to Public Trust
How Values Become Visible Through Behaviour
This external perspective explores how trust is earned, why people choose to support organisations and causes, and why stated values become credible only when they are visible through behaviour, relationships and tangible impact.
The session is designed as a bridge between the official opening and the Summit’s first major dialogue, Public Image as Public Trust. It brings an outside perspective into the conversation rather than presenting a promotional view of Rotary.
Dialogue Sessions
The Summit’s main dialogue sessions examine three connected questions: how trust is built, how generations experience Rotary, and how lasting impact becomes part of everyday behaviour.
Public Image as Public Trust
A plenary dialogue on credibility, behaviour and the lived Rotary experience.
The session explores the connection between what society sees from outside and what members experience inside Rotary. It asks how truthful communication, real impact, welcoming culture and consistent behaviour build — or weaken — public trust.
One Rotary, Many Generations
A cross-generational dialogue on belonging, leadership and shared responsibility.
The purpose is not to reduce the conversation to “young versus older”. Different generations may have different expectations around leadership, communication, time, authority, service, technology and change. The session explores how those differences can become a source of strength rather than division.
Create Lasting Impact as Behaviour
Lasting impact is more than the successful completion of a project.
This session explores what happens when impact becomes part of everyday behaviour: how we welcome people, listen, lead, communicate, build partnerships, use resources and follow through on commitments.
The conversation moves from individual project activity towards habits, culture and measurable change.
Action Lab
From Local Challenge to Transferable Idea
This highly interactive session will help participants connect the Summit’s ideas with the realities of their own clubs and districts.
Working individually, in pairs and in small groups, participants will identify a specific Rotary or Rotaract challenge related to engaging people, strengthening belonging, building public trust, developing partnerships or communicating impact.
They will then move from a recognised challenge towards one realistic next step using the knowledge, influence, contacts and resources already available to them.
Each participant will also develop a personal “listening lens” to identify ideas, practices, partnerships and lessons from the Zone 21B Success Stories that could be adapted to their own context.
Zone 21B Success Stories
From Action to Impact
Across Zone 21B, Rotary and Rotaract clubs are turning ideas into meaningful action.
In this fast-paced session, representatives from eight districts will share selected success stories demonstrating practical solutions, strong partnerships and measurable community impact.
Each story will show what was achieved, what made it work, what others can learn from it and how the approach could be adapted in another club or district.
Follow-up Initiatives
Continuing Beyond Samsun
The Summit’s working programme will conclude by introducing two international Peace and Forgiveness initiatives: the Essay Challenge and the Reading List.
Participants will also learn about the Roots & Wings Webinar Programme, which will continue selected programme themes after Samsun and create further opportunities for clubs and districts to become involved.
From Learning to Action
The different formats are deliberately connected. Practical workshops build skills. Dialogue sessions deepen understanding. The Action Lab turns that understanding into a realistic next step, while the Zone 21B Success Stories show how ideas become meaningful and measurable impact.
The aim is for participants to leave Samsun with something they can use: a stronger Rotary voice, a better story, a practical belonging action, a transferable idea, a new connection or partnership, and a clear next step.