Successful Meetings: How to Create Engaging, Entertaining and Effective Messages
Most of us dread going to meetings and use our mental remote control to tune out information that doesn’t interest us.
That’s a harsh reality for business leaders since any time you assemble team members for a meeting you are losing billable hours.
Meetings have to be relevant and answer the question: “What’s in it for me?” Today’s workforce expects (and demands) engaging information, delivered in a fast-paced, entertaining way. That’s how we get our information from television, radio, the Internet, and even cell phones. Why should meetings be any different?
“Our generation is used to a constant deluge of information. Messages at meetings need to break through the clutter and be creative in order to be heard, understood and retained,” said JPL Productions Executive Chairman and Meeting & Events Producer, Michael Horgan.
Having an engaging, successful meeting doesn’t mean you have to hire jugglers and fire-eaters to communicate your message. By taking some simple steps, you can get your audience involved in the message and they will retain it long after the meeting is over.
“Little things you do can have a huge impact. Adding music to a presentation, for example, to transition between presenters, helps the meeting attendees stay engaged,” said Horgan.
“You wouldn’t think much of a birthday party without decorations or a cake. Similarly, people don’t get excited about a meeting without some bells and whistles,” Horgan added.
“We help businesses incorporate the magic of a huge live event into every meeting they conduct no matter what the size of the audience,” said Jason Menicheschi, director of Meetings & Events at JPL.
“Whether you want to communicate a business message, recognize employees or launch a product, you need to create an effective and memorable corporate event. By ‘edu-taining’ your audience, you will capture their attention and ensure they retain the message at hand,” said Menicheschi.
“JPL producers meet with business leaders to assess their goals and to develop a theme for a presentation. Then we work within their budget to create the meeting – many times incorporating live actors, scriptwriting, video, lights and music into the presentation,” added Menicheschi.
And the Answer is…
Businesses also make the meetings more interactive and engaging by using a hand-held Audience Response system where people can respond live to questions up on screen.
“You can create a game, take a survey or check to see if people understand the points you made in the presentation - all with these response devices,” said Horgan.
The response system was an excellent way to solicit opinions from dealers at Harman Stove Company’s annual meeting. JPL helped produce and write the entire annual meeting. They designed a special set to tie into Harman’s construction of a new plant, animations and music to enhance and streamline the awards presentation and videos showcasing the top three vendors.
“JPL played a pivotal role in making our Dealer Meeting the most successful one we’ve ever had. The graphics were awesome and the stage was a perfect fit for our theme. The audience response really kept people’s attention and I could tell they were all impressed by the technology of it,” said Karen McSherry, Director of Advertising for Harman Stove Company.
Virtually There
Meetings can also be shared people who can’t attend the meeting in person by webcasting. This puts your audience virtually at the meeting. You also can videotape the meeting and “re-broadcast” it with on-demand webcasting. That way, they can view the meeting from the convenience of their computers – just by visiting your Intranet or website.
JPL put webcasting technology in motion for Emerald Management at its annual Groundhog Day Event in Philadelphia. By simultaneously webcasting presentations from companies in which Emerald invests, financial professionals could choose which presentations to visit “live” from their office. The presentations were also archived and available to view “on-demand” after the event.
In addition to webcasting, JPL acts as overall producer for the annual event and creates a highlight video that is shot and edited the same day. Participants enjoy the video at the event. Those who didn’t attend can see what they missed by watching the streaming video on Emerald’s website.
Another service JPL offers to Emerald and other businesses is to create follow-up emails, websites or surveys to ensure their messages are retained after the event is over.
Keep Raising the Bar
Horgan adds that the process of creating a successful meeting, presentation or event is an on-going one. “You can improve upon your meetings to make them more engaging and effective, but at some point, people will become used to a certain style of presentation and you’ll have to change things up to keep your audience wanting more.”
The biggest rule-of-thumb when conducting a meeting of any size is to engage the people attending. They learn better and retain messages longer when you’ve given them a reason to pay attention. “Don’t just talk to people. Make them a part of it,” said Horgan. “You’ll be amazed at the results you get.”
10 TIPS FOR MAKING MEETINGS ENGAGING
Make it interactive. Let the audience participate and have an impact on the discussion.
Make it entertaining. Use staff members to do a quick skit, use music or lights to add to your message.
Make it engaging. Give the audience a reason to stay with you.
Make it motivational. If you are passionate about the topic, everyone else will be too.
Make it visually stimulating. It takes more than PowerPoint to engage an audience. Try showing a short video or use a simple prop to get your point across.
Focus on a few objectives. Keep your message to three or four key points so the audience knows what they’re supposed to remember.
Tell a story. Your ability to weave an interesting or personal story into your point will make your message more memorable.
Change the meeting style. Just when you’ve made the meeting interesting, look for new ways to make it engaging in the future. Doing the same thing over and over again will ultimately be boring.
Speak from the heart. An audience wants to hear what you feel, not what you’ve written down on paper. If you read from notes or are tied to the copy in a PowerPoint, you can’t show your personality.
Get feedback. Ask your co-workers what they thought of the meeting. It’s the best way to know if your message got through to them (and you were a hit).