Wow, have I been to some yawn-inducing seminars in my time, but there have been some genuine gems that have grabbed my attention due to their simplicity, length and nailed execution.
So what is it that makes corporate events like these worthwhile attending? I love a good top tip, and some of the following pointers may even be glaringly obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many organisers forget the basics. So here goes:
Ruthless organisation – right down to practising speeches and sound equipment, to drawing up a daily schedule of activities to keep everything in check.
Day-time seminars – so as many people as possible can attend – social and family commitments will always take priority in an evening, so just keep it to an hour or so over lunch.
Adequate parking and directions – a client of mine couldn’t attend a roundtable discussion because of poor navigation from the organiser, so make it easy for people to get in and out as quickly as they can.
Feeding time – the best events are those where the host is generous – people always wonder why there’s nothing to eat if you haven’t made the effort other than dismal coffee and an array of pathetic rich tea biscuits that have seen better days. It doesn’t have to be a full-blown buffet spread or anything costly – just be a bit different compared to the seminars you’ve attended yourself.
Content – business owners, entrepreneurs and corporate bods are far from stupid, so don’t harp on about a subject and its finer details that are obvious to your audience – they want to learn something new, not necessarily to reinvent the wheel, but if you give people information that will make them truly believe you’re an expert in your field, the potential for doing business with them afterwards and well into the future is far more realistic.
Jargon – likewise, don’t speak in complicated gobble-de-gook or give off some marketing or sales BS just because you want to boast about your company to ultimately shift products or services to the masses – seminars are not about the hard sell – you need to give to get.
Experience – you need to give examples of personal lessons learnt so that people can relate to the subject matter easily.
Reading material – do not, and I repeat do not, let the speaker’s eyes be glued to their notes, as the speech will become sterile, and more importantly, people will think the speaker in question is overly nervous and not particularly confident or passionate about their subject. Just make sure there are simple bullet point reminders to glance at if needed. If the speaker needs a confidence boost, give them some training, hold a practise run or simply find someone else!
Hydration – make sure there’s a drink on the speaker’s stand or nearby – I’ve led a presentation where I’ve talked for at least half an hour without having enough water, and as a result, I had a mortifying coughing fit, complete with red face, as I was shaking hands to say thank you and goodbye after what was a fantastic pitch.
Testing, testing – test the AV equipment, USB stick, PowerPoint software, cabling connections, Broadband speed, video content and sound. There’s nothing worse than a royal ‘kefuffle’ at the beginning or right in the middle of the seminar – people can take a joke whilst you bumble around, but most get rather impatient if the technical issue isn’t quickly resolved, so rehearsals are all important.
Slides – if you’re using these, don’t make the content so tiny that your audience needs superhero laser vision to read it – I don’t want to look at the speaker no matter how attractive or ugly they are – I want to view the on-screen presentation in full, so make it big and clear.
Multimedia – do incorporate video and imagery throughout, as it breaks up the speech and allows the speaker a quick breather.
Forced fun – you can interact with your audience, hold a Q&A session and ask for a show of hands, but don’t force people into role play – not everyone likes to be put on the spot unawares, so don’t take the unnecessary risk.
Communication after the event – send the presentation in an email-able format or provide a small hard copy hand-out at the end of the session so that people can remember you and your company – you can also pass it onto businesses that weren’t able to attend as a nice gesture.
Venue – it’s always better to fill a small room so it looks like there are plenty of people in attendance – and it’s better to have a venue without any hard floors, as the click-clacking of high heels for latecomers prove irritating for the audience and speaker, and embarrassing for the prime offender.
Webinars – you could even consider these as alternatives as you can invite plenty of people from across the globe, as well as easily collate sets of questions before the event, so that there isn’t a lull when no one wants to stick their hand up and ask something interesting and note-worthy.
Above all, keep it short and sweet. Concise information; a personable attitude; no pre-panicking or post-rambling; and no lame jokes about the speaker being tired because of a heavy weekend – you get the idea.
So, good luck with your future events, whatever the occasion!
