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
Exposing Your Mental Model For Conference Education August 14, 2015 by Jeff Hurt Most conference organizers are not even aware of the mental models that drive their decisions—especially when it comes to conference education. Rarely do we openly examine or actively process our mental models. We just act. So those beliefs continue to govern our thoughts and decisions, without our awareness or knowledge. As a conference organizer, your … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , adult learning, cognitive bias, conference best practices, conference education, conference learning model, education best practices, facilitator, mental model, speaker tips, thinking
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
Your Conference Attendees Utterly Deep Driving Need To Share Experiences November 12, 2014 by Jeff Hurt My sister likes to talk! Saying she like to talk is an understatement. I don’t think she ever stops talking except when she sleeps. She is not that much different from my father. He likes to talk and talk and talk. And a couple of my very close friends are like that too. They all … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , adult learning, conference best practices, informal learning, learning design, peer-to-peer, peerology, speaker tips
Conference Education’s Dirty Little Secret October 21, 2014 by Jeff Hurt All conference education has a dirty little secret. And it’s bigger and dirtier than most. The big skeleton in the conference closet is that most attendees will forget the majority of what they hear during the event. The current design of the education session sabotages your learning and retention. Let’s Waste The Company’s Money No … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , adult education, adult learning principles, conference best practices, education best practices, speaker tips
Speakers: Covering Content Actually Obscures Understanding September 26, 2014 by Jeff Hurt 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 … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , active learning, adult education, adult learning principles, adult learning strategies, covering content, education best practices, Speaker Emerging Practices, speaker tips
Confusion And Brain Strain Are Freakish Factors Required To Learn September 2, 2014 by Jeff Hurt Whenever possible the brain operates on autopilot. That’s why for example you can fold laundry while having a conversation. Your brain goes on autopilot to fold clothes so you can focus your thinking on the conversation. When you do something over and over again, your brain picks up the pattern and reverts to autopilot. This … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , adult learning principles, adult learning strategies, collaborative learning, presentation best practices, speaker tips
Are Your Conference Speakers Tickling Ears Or Transforming Lives? July 1, 2014 by Jeff Hurt Several months ago, a well-known established professional speaker chided me publicly in Facebook because of a post I wrote about how our brains thrive on images. This speaker said that he didn’t need to add visuals to his presentations because all of his clients were extremely satisfied with his keynote presentations. And he had been … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , industry speaker, professional speakers, speaker selection, speaker tips
Conferences Are Creating Toxic Events With Visual Logorrhea June 24, 2014 by Jeff Hurt Most conferences spread verbal diarrhea and visual logorrhea like viral diseases. We create toxic airborne events cluttering the conference experience with an overuse of monologues, panel dialogues and slideuments. Author Garr Reynolds coined the word slideument referring to presentations that have enough text that they can “speak for themselves.” While a presentation that speaks for … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , presentation best practices, presentation strategies, slideument, speaker tips, visuals
How To Be A Bodacious, Wicked, Totally Tubular Technical Presenter January 29, 2014 by Jeff Hurt Highly specialized technical complex topics are often associated with boring, butt-numbing, brain-draining, hum-drum, buzzkill presentations. So how do you tackle complicated technical content head on and still deliver an engaging, memorable and bodacious presentation? How do you move your audience from saying, “I thought that presentation would never end,” to “Booyah! That was totally awesomesauce!” … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , industry speaker, presentation best practices, presentation strategies, speaker, speaker tips, STEM, subject matter experts, technical presentation
