One of the most important goals of a meeting or conference is for everyone to know that they just gained valuable information and more insight than when they came in. Engagement is a key factor in a successful event and is a determining factor in if those same people will return the following year.
While most are still using the traditional bulleted PowerPoint presentations which aren’t all bad, consider some of the following ways to get your audience involved.
Get Conversations Going Early
Before the event is here, engage your audience using social media to strike up conversations around the topics of the event. This is a great way to build trust between the attendees and will help direct other topics for the event. Try using witty memes, hashtags, videos and GIFs.
Unconventional Seating
Based on the layout of the room, think of unconventional ways to arrange the seating that would work for the number of attendees. Instead of rows of seats, consider set-up styles such as banquet, orchestra; curved around the mainstage or boardroom with one large table and chairs around the outside.
Audience Participation
Many times the audience loses interest quickly with topics that aren’t thought-provoking or never-ending PowerPoint presentations. Just think how engaging it would be to have the audience included in the presentation, like having interactive Q&A’s, demonstrations and live-polls. Getting audience participation helps the presentation flow better and getting people physically involved grabs their attention from the beginning.
Reuse Successful Content
Did you have a successful meeting or event in the past? Don’t be afraid to reuse the content but change it up to be more relational and relevant to the current year. Instead of deleting those old PowerPoint decks, use them to your benefit and think of creative ways to have a more conversational meeting or conference.
Having relevant content is still very important, but changing your mindset to try and engage the audience as much as possible will drive results and create a more natural and interactive space.
To find out more about how to engage your audience, visit https://www.northstarmeetingsgroup.com/Planning-Tips-and-Trends/Event-Planning/Attendee-Engagement/More-Engaging-Meeting-Event-Presentations.
