MAKE YOUR MEETINGS EFFECTIVE
If you're planning to facilitate or speak at a meeting or conference, here are some of our top tips which will help make it an effective one.
Use interaction with the audience, humour and memorable props (some of which are left with the audience) to ensure a memorable effective session for you and your people. If you want some ideas just contact us.
One of the easiest and best ways to ensure success is through rehearsal. But let us stress what we mean by rehearsal. It is a proper run through, in as close an environment as possible to the actual talk itself, with someone there who will give you or your speakers feedback on how well it went, and what needs explaining/changing.
It doesn't matter whether or not they are connected with the work you are presenting (in fact there are many advantages if they have no connection at all. They may well ask you what all your acronyms, jargon and abbreviation actually mean, or point out your spelling mistakes).
The key benefit of rehearsal is that everyone can see if each presentation is running to the timeframe set. This helps you get the timing right which is very important.
Make sure whoever is assisting you asks some of the questions you are bound to get because as well as practising the presentation content, everyone will need to have a composed answer to likely questions. The other benefits of rehearsal are:
- You can check the clarity and visibility of your slides
- You can check your level of volume so that you can be heard at the back
- You can do it over and over again until you are comfortable
- You can try out different beginnings and endings until you find one that works well
- You can cut out all those things you put in because you felt you had to but aren't really necessary
Finding the time. This all very well, you may be saying, but where can I find the time to rehearse? Well if it is important enough to you, you will find the time. Of course, if you don't - you know what will happen don't you? Do you want to be one of those speakers?