In this short talk, Tom Krieglstein recounts a spontaneous encounter on International Batman Day where two strangers wearing Batman apparel were introduced by him. The shared enthusiasm for Batman sparked an immediate, deep conversation about the franchise, illustrating how a common interest can quickly forge a bond. From this anecdote, Tom extracts two facilitation lessons: first, identify and connect people around shared passions to jump‑start meaningful dialogue; second, after making the introduction, step back and let the participants develop their own connection, shifting the facilitator’s role from gatekeeper to enabler. He encourages listeners to apply this approach in community building and looks forward to the next International Batman Day.
Chapters
Foreign. Kick to talk with you about International Batman Day. Yes, it is a real thing that happens mid September every year. I didn't even know it existed until I was doing a training and someone walked into the room and they had a Batman hat on. And I said, oh, that's a really cool hat you have. He said, oh, I'm a huge fan. Did you know today is International Batman Day? And he explained to me that it's a day when anyone who's a fan of Batman wears some sort of Batman symbol to let the world know that they also love Batman. I gave him two thumbs up. I said, that's super cool. And he went on his way. Three minutes later, a woman walked in with a Batman shirt on. I said, oh, that's a really cool Batman shirt. And I said, did you know that today? And just as I was about to tell her, she interrupted me and said, international Batman Day. And I said, exactly. I have to introduce you to someone. So I brought her over to that guy. They started talking. Of course, the first thing they started talking about was Batman. And they went deep quickly. They were ranking the order of the Batman actors based on favorite to least favorite. That day, I learned two things about building connections within our community. The first one is when we can connect people around shared interest, it helps to create a stronger conversation and bonding right off the bat instead of them trying to fumble around to see what they have in common. So use your facilitator skills to learn what this person likes, learn what this person likes, and connect them together. The second thing I learned is that after. After I make that connection, get out of the way, because I don't know much about Batman. Instead, I want to connect them together and then leave that group and go find another person who's by themselves. Connect that person with someone else. Let them build the connection and keep doing that. Stop being the gatekeepers of engagement and start being the facilitators. Here's to the upcoming International Batman Day in your life.
