For those who have been in the industry a while, how many times have you nodded off during a keynote? How many lukewarm filter coffees have you downed, in your disproportionately small cups, desperate to get an injection of energy to help you see through the rest of the afternoon?
Numb bums, death by PowerPoint, and a brutal hangover from last night’s drinks reception. Sound familiar?
Well, like with any event, it’s all about the finer details. If you add just one or two little fun elements, then the whole thing can burst into life.
Your head feels like there’s a weight in your chin, slowly pulling you down into the abyss. You’re having visions of sunny beaches and glorious sunsets. You can almost feel the sand between your toes. You give them a wiggle, and a smile appears on your lips as your eyelids flicker. Then you see it. You’re not sure it’s real. Swirling towards your head, like a frisbee thrown out of the sea. Your instinct kicks in, you make a stunning catch that would have the crowd at Edgbaston on its feet, and then you look down. Oh no. It’s a microphone. You look up and give a forced grin. You’re just about to panic when the person next to you leans over and grabs it from your lap. At least you’re awake!
Nestled inside giant foam dice, throwable mics are a great tool for keeping the audience on their toes. If someone puts their hand up, the speaker on stage can launch it halfway across the room. Before you know it, everyone wants to ask a question as the mic is flying through the air, like a giant inflatable football at a rock concert. Just make sure you’re alert enough in case you’re sitting next to someone with hands like a sieve.
Fat penguins…
…just thought I’d say something to break the ice!
Whether it’s your opening gambit on a dating profile or the beginning of your symposium, icebreakers can often earn you an eye roll or two (okay, sometimes with good reason).
Many companies only seem to use them at the beginning of their conference, to start the day with some playtime before the real work begins. But sometimes, you need to re-energise the crowd, especially if you’re speakers are discussing heavy topics. Let people get up, move around, and have some fun.
A Bamboo Railway is a super simple but effective way to achieve this, as it gives people the chance to communicate, work together, and compete. The aim is to get a ball from one side of the space to the other but only using sticks of bamboo and zip ties.
The cheers and laughter will be a welcome distraction before you go back to talking about the rise in energy prices.
This is especially useful if you’re hosting an internal conference with company updates, for instance. Why not bring in an external speaker who can break the day up by talking about something else?
Don’t worry; it doesn’t have to break the bank! You don’t need James Cameron on stage talking about why Avatar 2 was delayed more times than a London tube.
At a recent event, we had Lewis Pugh speaking. He swam a kilometer in every ocean in the world, including becoming the first person in recorded history to swim underneath an ice sheet in Antarctica.
Mixing up your general messaging with inspiring stories can really make a difference, especially at virtual events, where it can be tougher to monitor people’s engagement.
Instead of staying in the same room for the whole conference, you could have another area outside. This gives you a chance to take people to a different location for a change of scenery.
At mid-afternoon, when engagement is low, or after the speakers have finished and you’re about to have the drinks reception, this could be a great chance to wow people.
Maybe you kick open another set of doors, and there’s a whole new space that no one knew was there. The excitement at seeing another bar, some games, or even just different lighting can liven up the audience going into the home stretch.
Instead of having one person deliver a 40-minute presentation to the whole group, why not break it into smaller chunks? Have 15-minute speeches delivered to much smaller groups and then have the groups rotate around the venue.
Instead of people being sat in one spot for hours on end until they’re sliding down their chair, this gets people moving and makes it far easier to track engagement levels.
It creates the vibe of small campfire talks and brings people together.
You could use an interaction app like Slido to allow guests to ask questions, react to speeches, and vote on topics.
You can also create games and competitions. We will often ask the senior leaders to each choose their favourite song. We then have the rest of the company vote on who picked which song and give prizes to the winner/s.
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Whether you’re throwing amplified objects around the room, playing games, or simply changing scenery for a few minutes between speeches, it’s essential to add a little fun to the event.
It may feel like you won’t be able to cram in as much content, but we promise you stand a much better chance that the content you have shared will be processed, understood, and, who knows, maybe even enjoyed!
