A Show of Hands
Speakers provide value when they
can sell beyond their new ideas.
Speakers and meeting planners
cannot simply hope that attendees will act on the information they
absorbed during the meeting. There
must be a plan of action. If you
don’t believe this assertion, incorporate this question into your next five
client conversations:
What impact has the skill training,
change programs, or morale-building
initiatives you’ve introduced at
meetings had in your organization
over time?
Based on your clients’ responses,
you’ll soon discover that achieving a
respectable ROI is difficult.
have for your presentation.
What do you want participants to
feel as a result of this presentation?
The answer will help you focus your
program’s motivational content.
How important is measuring
the ROI of my session to you? The
response will help you focus on how
your program will be evaluated, and
hint at the pressure the planner is
under for meeting performance.
How can I exceed your expectations for my program? This question
will give you clues that indicate your
meeting planner’s expectations about
your delivery.
What follow-up are you and your
organization planning to reinforce
the concept/ideas introduced during
this meeting? This answer will help
you gauge the meeting planner’s
understanding of and interest in
accountability.
How can I help you answer any of
these questions? If you’re looking for
consulting opportunities in addition
to your group presentation, this
question is golden.
bulbs flashing throughout the room,
and the meeting planner smiling.
Participants are congratulating
themselves on behaviors well done,
reminding themselves of previous
good behaviors, and grinning as they
accept the challenge of new behaviors. You’re experiencing a speaker’s
dream come true.
Multiple Choice
In your client conversations, you
can position yourself as an expert by
relating the three ways adults get significant value during meetings. Then,
ask any or all of the following questions to tailor your sales pitch and
increase your chances of working
together. (Caution: If you don’t customize your presentations, you might
want to skip these questions because
they will set client expectations.)
What do you want participants to
be able to do after this presentation?
The client’s response will help you
focus your program’s subject content.
How well do audience members
consistently perform the basics of
<insert your topic>? The response
will help you focus on the levels of
the program’s subject content.
How important is it that participants practice the skills/behaviors
you’re introducing? This question
will help you allocate the time you
Chris Clarke-Epstein, CSP, is a student of words–both spoken and written, a lover of storytelling–both true and slightly stretched, and a
master of changes–both big and small.
Past President of NSA and an award-winning speaker, trainer and author, she has
created and presented programs that
inspire people to look at their world from
a fresh perspective, apply new knowledge,
and make change. Chris can be reached at
Chris@Change101.com.
Go to the Head
of the Class
Here you are again,
about 20 minutes
into a different pre-
sentation. You’re
checking in on the
part of your brain
that monitors the total
participant experience.
Perfect, you think as
you scan the audience
and see heads nodding
in agreement, pens furi-
ously recording your
ideas and concepts, light
