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, is shifting to a second career play. This is good news for planners. More quality options result in a buyer’s market...now and in the years ahead. What to Look For Keynote … [Read more...]
Lose the PPT Template
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 idea and will fight it tooth and nail. Use these talking points to win that discussion and implement the … [Read more...]
Speakers: Covering Content Actually Obscures Understanding
Education is one way to improve ourselves personally and professionally. Whenever we find ourselves lacking knowledge, understanding or skills for a specific job task, we take a class. Or attend a conference. Or participate in a webinar. Or read a book. Sounds really simple. Right? Well, it’s not. The challenge with most education is our belief that learning something we don’t know requires an expert (the speaker) or another means (books, online, computers). The Watch Analogy Note: I … [Read more...]
Time To Face This Ironic Truth: We Do Not Learn From Experience
There, I said it. People do not learn from experience. You may think you learn from experience but… People only learn from reflecting on their experience. That’s the point author, facilitator and educator Sivasailam “Thiagi” Thiagarajan drives home in his writings and workshops. The Key To Learning From An Experience If people learn from experience, Thiagi stresses, would they make the same mistake over and over again in their life? The key to learning from an experience is thinking … [Read more...]
Conference Improvement Means People Improvement
The quality of a conference’s education program cannot exceed the quality of its speakers. The message is simple. What speakers do during keynotes, breakouts, concurrents, symposiums and workshops, matters. The greatest variance in our conferences relates to our presenters. In short, a conference education program cannot give what it does not have. If it doesn’t have presenters that facilitate attendee learning, it cannot provide quality learning opportunities. Conferences Exist For … [Read more...]
These Conference Presentation Myths Cramp The Attendee Experience
Most conference organizers see attendees as consumers of the conference’s information. Little thought is given to seeing attendees as active participants in their own learning and experience. 8 Myths That Restrict The Attendee Experience Here are eight conference presentation myths that you should avoid. Myth 1: The lecture or panel best serves all conference attendees. Reality: The lecture and panel are homogenized conference presentations that cause our brains to check out. The … [Read more...]
Your Conference Speakers’ Skills Gap Is Causing You To Lose Money
The majority of your conference speakers have a major skills gap! They are relying on pedagogical mimicry--presenting the same way that their teachers taught them. That causes you and your conference to rely solely on a foundation of mimicry for education success. And this foundation is the exact the opposite of what your speakers should be doing if the goal is learning! Your dependence on this approach is ultimately causing you to lose money as it does not meet your attendees' needs and it … [Read more...]
Seeing The Conference Keynote As A Voyage To Human Transformation
As a conference organizer, what's your goal when you secure a speaker for a keynote presentation? Motivation? Humor? Inspiration? Education? To provoke? Entertainment? Complete a schedule? Kickoff an event? Benefiting The Attendees If you are really dedicated to helping your conference attendees benefit from a keynote presentation, doesn't it make sense to know as much as possible about what serves them the best? Most of the writings about education and training focus on the speaker and … [Read more...]
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