“Nobody can’t teach nobody nothing,” says O. P. Kolstoe, author of College Professoring. We need better presenters, as our conference attendees often suggest. Or we need better attendees as our speakers often state. I think Kolstoe hit the bull’s-eye. As a presenter, so also a learner--the conference attendee. (paraphrased Joseph Lowman, 1995). If there is not instruction and learning happening on both sides of the presenter-learner situation, then what we call education is insignificant … [Read more...]
Your Presentation Needs To Start With A Presenter Attendee Agreement
I start the majority of my presentations by making an agreement with my audience. I call it my presenter-attendee agreement. Why use valuable presentation time for the presenter-attendee agreement? Most people come to conferences and presentations with an implied agreement that the presentation is about and for the speaker, not the audience. In reality, the focus should be on the audience, the learners. Audience Presentation Expectations Some come to my presentations with an unspoken … [Read more...]
Things I Despise About Speaker Marketing Videos
You've probably heard the saying, "If you've seen one, you've seen them all." In the case of the majority of speaker marketing videos, it's true! According to research by VCC and Tagoras, meeting professionals consider the speaker marketing video the most important sales tool available. More than a book, social media presence, blog or one sheet. Note: this post is about meeting professionals using speaker marketing videos to hire that speaker. Not videos used to market the conference or … [Read more...]
Expert Presenters Make A Difference In Conference Education
Your conference presenters have tremendous power. They probably have more power than the venue, the logistics, other registrants, the host organization, the schedule or the content on your attendee's experience. So shouldn't conference organizers focus their energies on enhancing the aspects that truly make a difference in an attendees' experience? How many of your past conference attendees return because the logistics were so smooth? Or registration ran perfectly? None of them! They return … [Read more...]
Fore! Some Master It. Others Teach It. A Speaker Selection Golf Lesson For Meeting Professionals
In early history, golf was reserved for the royals, played with sticks and pebbles over natural landscapes. During the Industrial Revolution, golf clubs and balls became mass produced and inexpensive enough for more of us to chase the little white ball around a fairway, rough and other hazards. Today, there are millions of golfers in the world and thousands of professionals. So what does this have to do conferences and events? Everything. And I'm not referring to conference golf tournaments … [Read more...]
