Panel Sessions 3.0 for 2023 December 7, 2022 by Dave Lutz For years I’ve been a fan of bringing in more outside voices to make mainstage sessions more valuable and deliver more impact. While keynote speakers can still be a significant attendance driver, I think 2023 is the year to resurrect the industry panel. What you don’t want to do is go back to the same … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Experience Design, Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , new panel formats, panel formats, panels 3.0, panels for 2023, trending panel formats
Elevate Your Conference Education November 11, 2021 by Sarah Michel There’s never been a better time than right now to reimagine your education programming for your first in-person conference in some time, for many—in over two years. All those changes you’ve dreamed of trying can now become a reality. Conference education sessions have long been considered the main course of the event, yet typically they … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Speaker Coaching
I Think We Cracked the Code on Digital Networking! June 1, 2021 by Sarah Michel If you missed our recent webinar on Cracking the Code on Digital Networking, you can watch it on-demand. It is well worth your time to learn from two masters: Amanda Kaiser (pictured, top right) and Arianna Rehak (pictured, bottom), co-founders of the 2021 Virtual Networking Incubator. We had a lot of ground to cover and … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Networking, Hybrid & Virtual, Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , conference networking, connections, digital networking, hybrid conferences, hybrid networking, innovations in networking, virtual networking
Invest in Your Speakers to Grow Your Value Proposition January 16, 2020 by Sarah Michel The bread and butter of conferences is concurrent education sessions. Keynote speakers and main-room experiences are pivotal for bringing the community together and sharing key messaging, but attendees expect—and deserve—transformational learning (change in ideas, attitudes and behaviors) from curated, relevant and problem-centric educational sessions. Why do we often leave this most critical and valuable aspect … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , facilitator of learning, presenter continuous impromvent, speaker coaching, speaker continuous improvement, speaker prep, subject matter experts
Top Tips for Preparing Your Presenters January 14, 2020 by Dave Lutz Imagine how you might do your job differently if your performance and compensation were evaluated based on overall session attendance and industry presenter ratings at your annual conference. While this notion may seem a bit extreme, conference education systems need increased accountability, which in turn leads to a competitive advantage. We all need improved systems … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , presenter prep, speaker coaching, speaker preparation, speaker training, spearker prep
My Presentation Is Fine—It’s The Audience That Doesn’t Get It! June 6, 2017 by Jeff Hurt “My presentation is fine. It’s the audience’s fault if they don’t get it?” “Why do I need to change the way I present? My lecture has worked for years. I get great scores and reviews.” I’m sure you’ve heard statements like this. Maybe you’ve even said something similar yourself. So, why should speakers change how … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , andragogy, conference lecture, lecture, passive listening, pedagogy, presentation best practices
Getting More Value from Conference Keynote Speakers June 29, 2016 by Dave Lutz Not long ago, becoming a professional speaker was a third step in a thought leaders career path. Many built their expertise in an industry or function, shifted to consulting and then wrote a book to launch their speaking career. In today’s digital age, the path to creating a thought leader platform, leading to speaking gigs, … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design, Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , engagement, keynote, meeting planning best practices, professional speakers, Speaker Emerging Practices, speaker selection
Lose the PPT Template May 20, 2016 by Dave Lutz Many conference organizers are actively seeking and experimenting new learning formats and innovative room sets. Both are worthwhile quests to improve conference learning and participant value. If this describes your organization, strike while the iron is hot and discontinue mandating usage of your conference’s PowerPoint template. The brand police at your company won’t like this … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , adult learning, industry speaker, PowerPoint, Speaker Emerging Practices, speaker tips, visuals
Creating Powerful Panels That Engage Your Audience April 8, 2016 by Sarah Michel Panel discussions are still a commonly used format for conference organizers. They’re easy to program and put the kids in the show, but rarely add learning value to the paying participants. Some of the reasons panels fail to connect include: Lack of preparation and take-charge leadership in the learning design. Watered down content due to … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , panel discussion
Too Many Technical Presentations Suffer From POOH! April 23, 2015 by Jeff Hurt Sutro Baths: Vertical Poop by Andy Morris Your conference’s technical presentations suffer from POOH*! “Huh?” you ask. “What are you talking about?” Too often, and I mean way too often, our conferences are full of technical presentations that offer nothing more than POOH! For some reason, we falsely believe that technical presentations don’t have to … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , industry speaker, SMEs, speaker tips, STEM, subject matter experts, technical presentation
