Conference Lectures Are A Lazy Format For Lazy Learners February 2, 2011 by Jeff Hurt This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs. This is your brain during a lecture. (See image.) Our Addiction To Lectures We are addicted to lectures. Why? They are easy to plan and schedule for a conference. Release a call for presentation proposals. Select speakers from submitted proposals. Ask speakers to give monologues … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , active learning, adult learning, conferences, Education & Adult Learning, engagement, lecture, short term memory, work
Creating Zombie Conferences That Consume Attendee Brains January 18, 2011 by Jeff Hurt Most conference marketing should say: Come to our Zombie Conference! We want to consume your brain! At least that statement would be more authentic to many conference experiences. Many conference schedules are packed full of education sessions and informative presentations. Organizers rapidly shovel and push information at attendees. It often feels like a medieval joust … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , conferences, content, delivery, Education & Adult Learning, Information Indigestion, short term memory, working memory
Five Important Psychological Advantages Of Stories For Your Conferences And Events December 16, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Stories have important psychological advantages that help keep people engaged. Good conferences provide many opportunities to hear and share stories thus increasing engagement. Facts Coupled With Stories Connect Your conference can be full of factual information presented logically and sequentially. But facts alone fall short. They usually don’t persuade someone to change. Information is static. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , adult learning, conferences, Education & Adult Learning, engagement, stories, storytelling
Information Dump Or Learning Facilitator? December 13, 2010 by Jeff Hurt It’s time to decide which one your conference is: information dump or learning facilitator. Is there a difference between information and education? Education and learning? A quick review of the definitions for each within the context of meetings helps provide clarity. Information Information is concepts, data, facts and research. Communicating information is normally show-n-tell lectures … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , active learning, active participation, adult learning, conferences, content, delivery, Education & Adult Learning, engagement
Obituary For A Conference Education Session December 7, 2010 by Jeff Hurt It was a wasted ninety minutes of life. 5,400 seconds of possibility that are now gone forever without a shred of hope, learning or motivation. It had such potential. It died so quick and so young. No one understood a single thing that was said. The barrage of PowerPoint slides with small fonts, too many … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , active learning, adult learning, conferences, content, delivery, Education & Adult Learning, engagement, meeting planner
The Benefit Of Shifting From Presenting To Participating December 3, 2010 by Jeff Hurt “Not a presentation, a participation,” says Scott Gould. The Typical Presentation Like Minds Conference founder Scott Gould raised an interesting question on his blog this week. He was talking to his compadre Robin Dickinson about an upcoming presentation he was delivering. The presentation was on participation. Robin challenged Scott to move from presenting information about participation … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , active learning, active participation, association, brain-friendly conferences, conferences, Education & Adult Learning, engagement
Conference Trend: Taste On A Toothpick December 2, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Like moth to the flame, mosquitoes to blood or honey bees to pollen, the mall crowd surrounded the young man. Piranhas Devouring Their Prey They looked like a frenzied group of piranhas, devouring their prey. They were driven by the opportunity for a taste on a toothpick. The chance to sample food. To digest and … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , adult learning, brain-friendly conferences, conferences, content, Education & Adult Learning, professional development
Two Conference Education Extremes: Reports And Stories November 30, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Most conference education sessions are broken. Creating The Walking Dead Attendee They are full of the requisite PowerPoint bullet presentations that promote status quo thinking. They lull attendees into a coma-like state of disinterest and boredom so that they become the walking dead. Admit it. You’ve been trapped in those dead presentations before. Even remembering … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , active participation, adult learning, brain-friendly conferences, conferences, Education & Adult Learning, engagement, stories, storytelling
Shifting From Serving Attendees To Involving Participants November 18, 2010 by Jeff Hurt If you haven’t made the shift from ‘serving attendees’ to ‘involving participants,’ consider this your wake-up call — and your roadmap. The Participatory Class Sociologists identify today’s networked individuals as the participatory class. As part of a participatory culture, we expect to create, collaborate, connect, share, and learn interactively. We feel that our contributions matter. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Experience Design Tagged With: , active learning, active participation, community development, conferences, Education & Adult Learning, engagement, participatory class, push and pull
Stuff Your Conference Speakers Need To Know: The TED Speaker Commandments November 16, 2010 by Jeff Hurt I love these ten TED speaker commandments. If you’ve not seen them before, make them part of your conference speaker packet! The TED Speaker Commandments Thou shalt not simply trot out thy usual shtick. Thou shalt dream a great dream, or show forth a wondrous new thing, or share something thou hast never shared … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , adult learning, conferences, delivery, Education & Adult Learning, engagement, presentation best practices, presentation strategies, speaker
