Are You Corrupting Your Education Sessions? May 19, 2011 by Jeff Hurt Less is more. Too much, too fast, it won’t last. That’s a favorite adage used by some educators. The underlying concept is that you can present more and faster. But your listeners will simply forget more and faster! Overloading The Mind Organizations and conference planners are often pressured to offer more presentations and content. More, … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , brain science education, conference education, conferences, content, delivery, meeting planning best practices, presentation best practices
The Engagement You Need Most At Your Meeting May 12, 2011 by Jeff Hurt Engagement is an overused two-dollar word that has been tossed around like cascarons (Mexican confetti filled Easter eggs). Everyone uses that word. Yet rarely is their consensus on what it is and how we get it. Is The Presentation Engaging? In the conference and meetings world, we struggle with defining and observing engagement during our … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , conferences, engagement, meeting planning best practices, presentation best practices, presentation strategies
Facilitating Effective Audience Interaction With Questions May 5, 2011 by Jeff Hurt “We’re going to hold all questions until the end of the presentation. If we have time, we’ll answer them then.” It’s the generic statement many presenters make that audiences hate. Why Presenters Use This Statement Typically, the presenter’s goal is to cover as much content as possible. They have an agenda to cover. They fear … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , attendee engagement, engagement, presentation best practices, presentation strategies
Storytelling Isn’t Just For Campfires Infographic May 3, 2011 by Jeff Hurt A brilliant campfire story inspires action in its listeners. Like whittling branches into swords to fight forest ghosts, brands can draw similar emotion from their audience. Every organization has stories to tell. In fact, information can be dramatized to turn boring data slogs into exciting journeys that yield personal connections and changes in behavior. Energy and … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , presentation best practices, presentation strategies, stories, storytelling
Content Reduction: Making Your Presentation Thick To Stick February 23, 2011 by Jeff Hurt Do you want to have a rich finish to your presentation that fills the participants’ mind with an intense flavor that lingers? Like a fine wine reduction, you need to find a way to reduce excess information while intensifying and thickening the flavor of critical content. You need a content reduction. What Is Reduction? Reduction … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , presentation best practices, presentation strategies
Your Memory: The Engine And Bottleneck Of Learning February 8, 2011 by Jeff Hurt Myth: The more we sit and listen to conference lectures, the more we learn. Fact: Our memory is both the engine and the bottleneck of learning. The more information we receive without thinking about it, the more we corrupt our learning. Three Critical Factors Of Working Memory Working memory is the part of your mind … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , active learning, active participation, adult learning, conferences, engagement, lecture, meeting planning basics, presentation best practices, presentation strategies
The Brain As A Gambler And Conference Camouflaged Listeners February 7, 2011 by Jeff Hurt If we wanted to create an education environment that is directly opposed to what the brain is good at doing, we would design something like today’s conference lectures. Listening to a 45-, 60- or 90-minute lecture floods the working memory with information. We can’t store everything we hear in our memory. The Brain As A … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , active learning, active participation, adult learning, conferences, engagement, lecture, meeting planning basics, presentation best practices, presentation strategies
Myths, Facts, Challenges And Tips With Learning From Lectures February 3, 2011 by Jeff Hurt Myth: Our minds are like sponges that just soak up information which creates learning. Many of us grew up believing that myth. We believed that we could sit in a lecture and the speaker’s information would magically transfer to our brains. We thought we could automatically recall everything the teacher said. Without studying, our test … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , active learning, active participation, adult learning, conferences, Education & Adult Learning, engagement, lecture, presentation best practices, presentation myths, presentation strategies
Tuning Into Your Conference Participants So They Do Not Tune Out January 26, 2011 by Jeff Hurt In the right hands and delivered on key, the spoken word can be a powerful force. It can move mental mountains. Part emotional Red Seas. Awaken sleepy souls. Change stubborn minds. Persuasion: A Powerful Tool To Create Change Conferences are ultimately about persuading audiences to change. It’s about transforming conference attendees into powerful participants that … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conferences, meeting planner, presentation best practices, presentation strategies
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
