Seminars: Things about the presentation

I run seminars both physical and webinars for clients and myself at least three times a month and I can say they are significant business generators for the people I work with.

As for delivering value you need to make sure you are answering the attendee's needs, desires, questions and providing a solution that will help them achieve a certain result.

We usually run continuous surveys and feedback systems to gauge what the seminar attendee expects to get from the presentation prior to the event and then we also gather "Post seminar" feedback to find out what we missed.

The best way to keep people engaged is to NOT be BORING.

Think about a well crafted sales letter, Novel or any movie that is a box office success.

There is a structure...

the key is to create the experience your audience expects.

The format you are asking about is structure related right?

We use a technique of future pacing and creating anticipation and open loops where we provide small insights into what we will reveal later on and what outcome the attendee can expect when they participate....this as a process you need to design and implement right from cold prospect right the way through the process until they either disqualify themselves or commit to you in some way

On slides....

I feel they are vital to success but we do a lot of live seminar work where we don't use any slides but for example we have a large event coming up in May where there will be 200 to 250 prospects....maybe 400 attendees because some will bring partners....

...now that requires large AV investment...not so much financial...but we must engage the large audience and deliver positive ROI for the clients....

...so even from the pre-warming the crowd...right through the presentation the slides are orchestrated to capture those attendees that prefer "Visual" communication as opposed to the "Auditory" types.

We are experimenting with some "auditory" cues to create pattern interrupts like small "bell" like noises at strategically timed positions.

You know the picture of someone with a lightbulb when they have an idea...well we use a range of auditory triggers like a "Ding" which helps people fix the idea into their subconscious...sorry getting techhy...

As for printed material we use "Goodie bags"

In the bags we have a few engagement devices and usually some glossy publications where we have strategically partnered with the publisher.

We also have other printed material but that is related to booking or financing type material and that is only given out to people after the seminar during the closing phases. We usually run teams of a variety of experienced staff to handle the closing part- post seminar.

We generally run intermittent Q & A throughout the presentation as we often have seven presenters and each is a specialist in their area of expertise so our audience wants to ask each person their particular question....we always have all presenters available post presentation for mingling Q&A during the order taking phase.

We have experimented with "compiled testimonials" on video that we run prior to the event whilst people are taking their seats.

There are always three live testimonials that are presented "unscripted" and we select the testimonial givers to match the audience and prospects we have booked.

For example...we presented to a group of truck drivers and miners and so we had a mix of former drivers and miners that we pulled from our past client database and asked them for help.

Another example is the same seminar but to a largely female audience we used two past female clients...one was 28 years old and the other was 49...we coupled that with a 57 year old male who "appealed to the 55 year old divorcee and the odd male prospect who was a partner of the 50 -60 year old females we had as primary targets...we covered all our bases.

Those are the sort of strategies you need to think about if you can.

On a smaller scale you basically present solutions that your audience has expressed to you that they need a solution for or that they need help with and you pre-write and rehearse what you are going to do...that's why slides are good because they keep you on track.

Yes people need the "information" but more importantly for you is that you engage them emotionally and psychologically so you can both provide a good experience but also convert some of those people into consumers of your product.

What do you want to happen at the end of the seminar? Are you selling something then? Are you just looking for leads? (Please don't tell me that), Why is anyone attending? What do they expect to get out of it?

Can you sell? Speaking is selling.