With the exception of the keynote, event planners increasingly want speakers whose presentation involves some audience interaction. So says Traci Browne, president of trade show marketing firm Red Cedar Publicity and Marketing. Browne books speakers for a number of organizations, including the Business Marketing Association Philadelphia.
She sees three trends:
- Increased Q&A time: Rather than lecture for 45 minutes and devoting only 10 minutes to questions, speakers are talking for 20-25 minutes and leaving the rest of the time open for Q&A.
- Speaker as a moderator: In this session type, the speaker might talk about a point for five minutes then moderate 10 minutes of idea exchange between audience members. Sessions might be set up as a “town meeting” or “in the round” rather than in theater style.
- On-the-spot consultations: Some experts (marketing, design, web, etc.) invite people to submit their materials to be publicly critiqued. Some speakers go as far as asking participants to submit materials ahead of time so they can make slides to show what does and does not work.
Note: The success of all three formats hinges on the speaker’s ability to not only present effectively, but also to facilitate conversation while making the information seem relevant to the audience … on the fly.
For tips on what you need to do if you want to get in on the action, check out Get a Speaking Gig: How Event Producers Decide Who Gets Onstage. Also check out this super secret speaking tip.
Helena Bouchez is principal and owner of Helena B Communications (www.helenabcommunications.com). Reach her via helena@helenabcommunications.com or follow her on Twitter (@HelenaBouchez).
Helena, good post. I spent 25 years in the event production business and as much as we tried to get presenters to be interactive it was a very difficult task. The best seminars and presentations were always ones where the audience was engaged in some manner.
Sometimes engagement is the use of physical props, such as President Regan did when talking about the budget. His team had 24 hours to read and approve the U.S. budget and it was three very large books of information. He pulled the books out and dropped them on his desk with a loud crash. That made the point. Other times engagement is having the audience participate.
I don’t see this changing all that much, because presentations such as this are harder to pull together than a simple boring PowerPoint show. Speakers tend to wait until the last minute to pull their presentation together and that does not leave time for innovation. Also most speakers are not professionals and are just very happy to get through the presentation using the PowerPoint images as a crutch.
Just my opinion.
Harry, glad you liked the post. You’re absolutely right that an interactive presentation is harder to pull together. But competition for the good speaking gigs is increasingly fierce (and audiences are increasingly ADD) so event producers are stepping up the entertainment quotient. If speaker want the platform, they will need to step it up as well. -HB
I totally agree with your point on interaction, Helena. As a professional speaker and member of the National Speakers Association (NSA), I would say that many of my NSA colleagues practice this approach, maybe with the exception of the traditional keynote address.
Many meeting planners, who book high-profile or seasoned speakers (i.e. more expensive), expect a “show” of sorts. This revs people up, inspires and entertains them, and sets the stage for the rest of the conference or meeting.
I have one keynote that includes singing and playing a game. I thought it may be over the top for more conservative audiences. Even when someone warned me in advance that a particular audience would never sing with me, they surprised everyone and did just that. I’d be curious to learn what your thoughts are, Helena, on the keynote as an interactive opportunity.
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