Category: Audience Engagement

Three Best Practices For Engaging Audiences

2/13/2019

I'm often asked, how do you engage your audience? It starts with a passion for your topic. But even if you have that nailed, a PowerPoint with a bullets isn't going to cut it.

When you speak to an audience you are part domain expert and part entertainer. You have to be, especially if you want your message to be remembered.

At many of the events I speak at there are all types of speakers. From professional keynotes who can guarantee a fun learning experience to association members who volunteered to run a breakout for the first time. And do you know what they all have in common? Hint - it's in the first paragraph of this post. It's passion - speakers are there because they deeply believe in what they want to share with the audience. They have something to say and they want to say it.

Passion is essential. It's the fuel for a speaker. And believe it or not, it's what the audience is longing for too. One of the best secrets in public speaking is to realize that your audience is wanting to get inspired, to learn, to be moved. That's why they are there.

Audiences want to embrace your passion completely. Remember that if you're planning to speak at an event. It will make it easier for you when you take the stage. It's a simple formula, speakers want to share their passion and audiences want to embrace it.

But passion alone isn't always enough to engage audiences. Passion sets the stage for a speaker and allows him or her to get in the proper head space to take the stage. But it takes more than that to really engage audiences. Here are three best practices I follow to deliver my passion in a way that engages audiences.

[Watch the video: How Chance Favors The Prepared In Sales]

Three best practices for engaging audiences:

Create a connection with the audience through a shared experience. [In the video, I connect with audience by telling a memorable story about being a parent and making a seemingly ridiculous promise to my son. All within the recognizable setting of a baseball stadium.]
Associate learnings with physical objects or tangible props. [In the video, I achieve this by showing the audience the actual baseball that was caught at the baseball game.]
Make your lesson memorable through story and a clear takeaway. [In the video, this was the lesson that chance favors the prepared – I take the audience through my journey of how I increased my chances of catching a baseball for my son.]

In closing, there is a tremendous amount of satisfaction for both the speaker and the audience when passion is shared and engagement is created.

Easy Steps To Create Super Engaging Content For Your Association Members

1/24/2019

Domain experts work together to create great content.

There’s an easy way to produce engaging content for your association – ask domain experts to create it for you. [Hint – There are individuals out there that are passionate about what they do and would love to write about it and share it with your membership, and for free!]

If you love this idea, there are a few things to consider to really make this a successful strategy.

Remember that you know your association the best. You know what makes it tick. You know exactly what your members want, and what type of content will engage them. They tell you through a variety of avenues.
As an association, you are a conduit to your members. The truth is that you don't need to be the domain expert in the content your membership is craving. You just need to be the communication vehicle to find engaging content. You are the eyes and ears of your membership, and you are also their voice.
Associations are made up of people, and people like to work with other people. They like to form relationships, help one another, and be of service to a common cause. There are individuals out there that would love to support your association and share what they know with your members. If you tell them exactly what you are looking for, they will rise to the occasion. Trust me, they really will.

Below are the steps we recommend to create a win-win partnership with a domain expert.

Do your research and find a partner that is both a domain expert in their field and a cultural fit with your association. You want to find an organization or an individual that shares your values, produces relevant content and approaches the world with an abundance mindset. As part of your diligence, you may find a resource that has already worked with your members. Alternatively, you can experience the resource firsthand by reading their content, or attend one of their webinars.
Simply ask. Reach out via LinkedIn, through an email, or even through a website form and just ask. You'll be surprised how honored this will make the domain expert feel. Keep it short, and invite a conversation. For example: "I really enjoy your content. Would you be open to writing an article or post for our association membership?"
Be clear on the content that your membership really wants. The more details, the better. Get specific and share the concepts with the domain expert. Give them the parameters of what you are looking for. For example, is this a blog or an article? Is there a word count or a format you need followed? Let them come back to you with a recommended solution. Let them take their experience and align it to your membership.
Create win-win opportunities where you exchange value. Your membership will get access to thought-leadership content, and your partner gets a new channel to communicate the value of their services. Be supportive, collaborative and appreciative.
Keep it rolling. If your first experience was a success, repeat. There are many individuals that would be thrilled to provide a quarterly post or article using engaging content they already have created as the foundation.

As a real-world example, let me share with you how this works with our company.

Our goal is to educate, enable, inspire and support you in developing and operating a high-performing sales & marketing organization based on intentionality, systems, process, and ongoing learning and development. We want to support associations in helping their members improve their lives and their businesses by understanding the foundations of The Revenue Equation Framework.
Our expertise is focused on developing high performing sales and marketing organizations through: foundations (value proposition, key differentiators, customer experience promise, offerings, messaging and marketing assets), strategies and tactics (target audience, buyers journey, sellers journey, sales forecasting and campaigns), and infrastructure (collateral, sales team roles and responsibilities, sales process, sales and marketing technologies, team training and coaching, individual sales plans and KPIs, reports, and performance management).
Our Revenue Equation Framework ties this together, and the framework is relevant to almost any B2B business. We can take any of these core concepts and evolve it to create content for almost any association that has businesses for their membership.
If there are sales and marketing topics of interest to your association members, please contact us with a call, email or complete our contact form. We'd be happy to discuss how we could partner together to help you create engaging content.

The Importance of Engaging Audiences with Different Learning Styles -And How To Do It

12/19/2018

An engaged audience participating in a group discussion.

Audience engagement is an illusive goal for many public speakers. My grandfather once told me that he started every presentation with a joke, to warm up his audience and break the ice. So here we go...

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Four different types of learners.
Four different types of learners who?
Are in your audience who came to be engaged, to learn and be inspired.

Ok, so you're not rolling on the floor laughing, probably because it's not really funny. But, it is true. Your audience will be filled with all different types of people, and they will all be there for the same reason - to have an experience and to learn.

We all learn differently, so it's critical to develop presentations that engage audiences in the various ways humans learn and interact with information. After all, we want our audiences to be engaged and to feel connected. And every human wants to feel understood - especially the presenters!

There are four primary learning styles and being aware of each one gives us insight into how to develop presentations that resonate and connect with audiences.

Visual Learners
Auditory Learners
Kinesthetic Learners
Reading/writing Learners

How to Engage Audiences with Different Learning Styles
In my presentations, audiences become active participants in learning experiences that create genuine understanding. I combine presentations, worksheets, team interaction and physical props to create unique, memorable and high-impact learning experiences.

Let me break this down for you, so that you can use this same framework in your next presentation.

First, I believe that most people learn through a combination of learning styles, not solely from one style alone. This is important because I not only want to address each of the four styles to connect with each audience member, but also to reinforce the subject matter by accessing each individual's multi-modal preferences. This gives every audience member a different way to learn and remember each topic.

Second, I craft every presentation to have subject matter that can be experienced in each of the four different learning styles. Initially this might sound challenging, but this is how to do it.

Visuals - Use photos, imagery and diagrams to explain your concept. Include these visuals in both your on-screen presentation and in your handouts. Make sure you have a whiteboard or a flip chart to visually express your concepts in real time. (Hint - This helps other learning styles too.)
Audience Participation - The verbal portion of your presentation will engage the auditory learners, but what will help them even more is audience participation. Ask the audience questions. Have them repeat concepts back to you. Create micro-workshop elements to your presentation to evoke team interaction. The more your concepts can be individually explored and discussed, the more different learning styles will be engaged.
Physical Props and Kinesthetic Engagement - In addition to workbooks or worksheets, I like having physical props that relate to my topics. I want the audience to do something physical in every presentation, whenever possible. This can be standing up and looking under their chair for a physical surprise, taking out a marker and writing on a physical item, or folding a piece of paper in half to make a flashcard. The takeaway is that I want them to do something physically associated with the topic. And, I want to make it fun.
Encourage the Audience to Write Something Down - Throughout the presentation, when there is an especially salient point, pause and tell the audience to write down the information. The pause is powerful. It allows the audience to catch up on whatever they may be processing, and it engages kinesthetic, reading, and writing learning styles.

Third, enjoy yourself as a presenter. Whenever I am presenting, I want to reach my own personal mindset of where I am having fun sharing my content and interacting with my audience. I want to be fully present with myself, my audience and my content. When I can achieve this state, then I am naturally engaging my audience and achieving my goal of being understood by and connecting with those around me.

Three Best Practices For Engaging Audiences

Easy Steps To Create Super Engaging Content For Your Association Members

The Importance of Engaging Audiences with Different Learning Styles -And How To Do It

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