Our Ability To Learn Has Deep Roots In Our Ability To Talk To Others July 16, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Listening is often the only thing attendees do in formal learning environments. Speakers talk. Audiences listen. They listen to keynote speakers at conferences. They listen to presenters in workshops. They listen to industry speakers in education sessions. They listen to staff in HR trainings. The truth is that all that listening amounts to very little … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , adult learning, adult learning principles, adult learning strategies, conference best practices, conference education, conferences, lecture, presentation best practices, presenter, speaker, speaker tips
From Boring To Beneficial Conference Education June 29, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Let’s face it. Most conference education is yawn-stirring, sleepy-eyed, ho-hum, day-old soggy Melba-toast tasting boring. It makes root-canals seem fun! Regardless, the human brain loves to learn. In spite of our age, culture, gender and race, our brains are designed to always be on the prowl for new things to discover and experience. The brain … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Experience Design Tagged With: , adult education, adult learning, adult learning principles, conference best practices, conference education, conferences, meeting professionals, presentation best practices, presentation strategies, speaker tips
Conference Presenters Can Literally Change Attendees’ Minds June 28, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Conference attendees generally want to learn. Presenters generally want attendees to learn. Conference organizers and hosts generally want attendees to learn as well. So why does so little learning actually occur at a conference? Good Intentions Pave The Way To Learning Fail The conference organizers’ and presenters’ intentions are good. Unfortunately, their intentions go awry … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , adult education, adult learning, adult learning principles, conference best practices, conference education, conferences, presentation best practices, presentation strategies, speaker tips
Seeing The Conference Keynote As A Voyage To Human Transformation April 24, 2012 by Jeff Hurt 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 … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design, Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference education, keynote, presentation best practices, Speaker Emerging Practices, speaker tips
Maximizing Your Conference Professional Speaker Investment April 9, 2012 by Jeff Hurt You’ve spent hours surfing websites, reading bios, evaluating presentation descriptions and viewing speaker online videos. You’ve finally reached a decision and secured a professional speaker to keynote your opening general session. You feel relief, accomplishment and maybe even exhaustion. Then you wonder, “Did I ask the speaker to do everything possible? Are there other things … [Read more…] Filed Under: Business Model Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, meeting best practices, meeting planner, meeting professional, professional speakers, speaker tips
Do Not Start With The Roof: A How To Blueprint For Your Presentation Content March 2, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Imagine you’re going to build a house. You don’t just start building and add more wood as you proceed. Nor do you start with the roof and build from the top down. You start with a blueprint. You create a detailed and precise plan of what you want your house to be. The blueprint serves … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , industry speaker, presentation best practices, presentation strategies, speaker, speaker tips
From Panic To Calm: Strategies To Help Presenters Leverage Adult Learning Principles February 27, 2012 by Jeff Hurt You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain! ~ Jerry Lee Lewis This is how many speakers feel when they are asked to adopt good adult learning principles in their presentations. Their heart beat races as their fear increases. Making Presentations Stick Applying good adult learning principles is actually easier than you think. The … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , adult learning, adult learning principles, adult learning strategies, conference education, presentation best practices, speaker tips
Things I Despise About Speaker Marketing Videos February 17, 2012 by Jeff Hurt 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 … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , master presenters, presenter, professional speakers, Speaker Emerging Practices, speaker tips
Four Ways To Get Your Conference Education Out Of A Rut February 6, 2012 by Dave Lutz Ruts. We all have them. A rut is a settled or established habit or course of action, especially a boring one. It is usually a boring, predictable, stale routine. So, is your conference education stuck in a rut? Have you created predictable tracks and paths? If you’re like most meeting professionals, you start planning for … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , adult learning, adult learning principles, adult learning strategies, conference best practices, conference education, meeting planning best practices, presentation best practices, speaker tips
Preventing Death By Lecture Through Audience Discussion by Jeff Hurt Many people believe that PowerPoint (PPT) presentations are a leading killer of learning. We even call it “Death by PPT.” Actually, the typical 45-, 60- or 90-minute speech has a higher mortality rate than PPT. And that speech may actually be a fugitive living under an assumed name like keynote, lecture, breakout, plenary, concurrent or … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , adult learning, adult learning principles, adult learning strategies, andragogy, brain science education, brain-friendly conferences, conference education, keynote, presentation best practices, presentation strategies, speaker tips