Inspiration Hub

In early journalism school, I was taught the importance of a good headline. Hopefully this was a good headline to get you interested. What back up or spares do you think of when you read the headline?

Video has already replaced the radio star. In the era of YouTube, Udemy courses, and live streaming, it may seem it’s set out to do the same with live presenting. But there’s one thing video can never beat: Personal interaction. Making a connection with your audience is a skill that needs to be honed and perfected to hit the mark with your presentation.

People spend roughly half of their waking hours — 47 percent of the time, to be exact — thinking about something other than the task they are performing, according to a Harvard University study. That means only 53 percent of people are actually paying attention at any given moment, according to Justyn Comer, cofounder of the meditation organization RWM Education, Inc. Skeptical? Comer suggests meditating for a few minutes: breathe in, breathe out, focus on your breath, and consider how frequently your mind roams to other subjects.

One of a busy event professional’s important considerations is selecting speakers that will help drive registration and engage your audiences. Whether those speakers are celebrities, industry experts, thought leaders, or professional speakers for keynotes, breakouts, panels, short-talks, or emcee roles, their responsibility is to get (and keep) your audience’s attention, provide tangible takeaways, and inspire them to share their learnings with others.  

Planning a successful event is hard enough without having to worry about how presenters are going to consistently sustain interest and buzz for large and often diverse audiences over extended timeframes. Thankfully, you don’t have to schedule 87 networking breaks, provide each registered guest a custom coffee IV drip, or hire fire-eaters and dancing horses to keep attention and conversation levels consistently high.

If you’re nervous about your next event presentation proposal or the event planning process, we also have you covered. We not only have professional-level information for you on what makes a winning presentation design, but we’ve also compiled this handy information in examples of slide deck using the best practice tips we have discussed and introducing useful content for eventprofs.

Are you presenting to colleagues, customers, or are you on a stage in front of a large audience? Then you should definitely read this. Why? Because the following 5 mistakes are made by a lot of presenters, even by the most experienced ones. I often see professionals falling into the same traps when it comes to presenting… And although your charisma, your posture and a flawless delivery are the ideal conditions to ensure a successful delivery, if the presentation, which is designed to improve the speech by adding visual impact, is not at all impactful, the audience’s attention will quickly wander around.

We’ve just returned from a jam-packed PCMA Convening Leadersprogram, and presentations by three very different keynoters — each inspiring in their own way — are still playing in my head. Opening General Session speaker Neri Oxman, architect, designer, inventor, and MIT Media Lab associate professor, spoke about “the future of making,” and how we are transcending boundaries with biomaterials. It captured the audience’s imagination, even if some tweeted that it was hard for them to know how to apply what she presented to their work.

Have you ever been to one of those events that bore you out of your mind? The speaker drones on, reading from their notecards or plain white powerpoint slides. It takes ages for the microphone to be passed from audience member to audience member while everyone waits in awkward silence for the next question. The room is cold, the chairs uncomfortable and you start to wish you were somewhere else.

There is a trait that neuroscientist and TED India speaker Vilayanur Ramachandran believes is fundamental to what made human civilization possible by enabling us to learn the complex social behaviors needed to produce civilization, itself. Powerful stuff. These relatively recently discovered neurons are called "mirror neurons" and they are what instill in us the trait of human compassion; the instantaneous ability we have to feel what others are feeling and imagine what they are thinking. Our mirror neurons are activated both when we take an action, and when we see another take that action. If we see someone having a strong emotional reaction, we feel that emotion, too.

While this article is directed at speakers, meeting professionals can sneak a peek to better understand the preparation undertaken by effective speakers. From this, planners can learn to better ascertain the suitability of a specific speaker—and even do some advance prep to ensure things run smoothly.

If you’ve been in the business long enough, you no doubt remember the beginning of Microsoft PowerPoint where speakers tried to dump the entire content of their most recent book or research paper on slides. The slides were text-heavy and barely readable from the third row and beyond. The presenter often narrated the entire slide in a voice tribute to Ben Stein in the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. (“Bueller? Bueller?”)

If you hire speakers for corporate events, you know that choosing the right one for your audience is just the first step. As a 30-year veteran of the podium, working as a corporate put-on comedian, I’ve learned plenty of lessons about the what can go right and wrong on stage. Here is some of my favorite advice for ensuring that speakers have the best chance to succeed.

Speakers are at the heart of business events and fundraisers. A solid lineup can mean the difference between “wow” and “meh” for your attendees. After all, they come for a great experience, quality networking, and actionable advice — all things speakers contribute to.

If you’re planning a corporate meeting or special event for your company, your choice of professional keynote speaker to kick off the itinerary can be every bit as important as the venue, theme and timing for the occasion. While not every conference may call for the services of these individuals, who typically take the form of subject matter experts, thought leaders or bestselling authors, many promise to enhance team-building exercises, training programs and executive summits.

Speakers have an important role at conferences because they not only need to share learning, we need them to connect, interact and engage with attendees to make a strong impact. Traditional presentations and slide decks can cause attendees to switch off and we can do much better. There are many alternatives to speakers and there are also lots of ways to mix up the presentation style. Hack your keynote and support your speaker to enhance audience participation, with some of these ideas.  

“We founded The Op-Ed Project in part out of recognition that good ideas, best ideas, best content is very important and people who are creating things, whether it’s a conference or a media outlet or a company, need that best talent, best idea, best content,”  Orenstein said.  “And at the same time we want to make sure that we’re providing that best content from the full range of human voices.”

Music can have a positive impact on your events, in terms of participation, engagement and making your event memorable. Here are five free and low-cost ideas to incorporate music from Andy Sharpe, CEO of SongDivision.

Although I have good reasons to champion meeting designs where the participants get to choose what they want and need to discuss and learn rather than a program committee, there is invariably a place for some predetermined presentations at conferences. Unfortunately, most program committees use a flawed process to select session content.

Trade shows are significant investments, both in terms of budget and time. While client needs vary, what do you want your visitors to think, feel and – more importantly – do when proposing your booth design? At this stage of the process, it is important to ask the right questions, for putting your exhibit on the right track for success. What are the key characteristics of the product or service you want to showcase? Are you aiming at your attendees to perform a specific action or demonstrate a certain type of behavior after visiting your booth?

If you know anything at all about improvisation, it’s likely to be the phrase “Yes, and….” Those two words — shorthand for acknowledging an idea and then adding to it — are the cornerstone of improvisation, according to Bob Kulhan, founder and CEO of the consulting company Business Improv.

The way we engage and how we qualify event attendees is shifting because potential buyers are savvy and have more control of the buying cycle. They are well on their way through the buying journey before they even get contacted by sales or visit your booth space. A well-organized event can be a great opportunity for attendees to learn and connect while enjoying the process.

There’s no arguing that the adult learning environment has changed dramatically. With the answer to almost any question a quick Google search away, people don’t need to go to a meeting to learn—at least, not the traditional one-way information exchange model of meeting that is still the most-offered option. Today’s professionals need learning more than ever as they compete in an increasingly competency-based marketplace, and they’re learning on their own through gamified, infotainment-based, just-in-time experiences.

The Meetology Lab's Jonathan Bradshaw explores why behavioural science suggests that pausing once in a while can be very powerful when socially interacting.