Reynolds believes that simplicity itself is not sufficient in your effort to improve communication. He says “it is a consequence of our ‘letting go’ of bad habits and much of what we have learned about multimedia presentations in the era of PowerPoint.”

And when it comes to presentations, Reynolds says it should be all about the audience and presentations should cater to the way that they absorb and process information. Reynolds points out that there are three components to any presentation: the presenter, the audience, and the medium. These three things must work in harmony in order for the presentation to be successful and the beneficiary of this success will be your audience.

In his book as well as through other sources such as his website and speaking engagements, Reynolds shares some tips for achieving Presentation Zen. One vitally important tip is that your slides should have a minimal amount of text. Use images, videos, and even audio clips to enhance what you are saying. A deck of PowerPoint slides done right and sent to someone who could not attend your presentation would never be a suitable substitute for being there. If people need and want more information, compose a handout with detailed information as something conference attendees can take with them to help remember parts of the spoken presentation.

Reynolds believes that you should never use your slides to serve as a script for your presentation. There is no faster way to lose your audience than to regurgitate what is being projected onto a giant screen in front of them. Not only is it boring to your audience, but it reveals that the presenter is not engaged with the material or the audience. If the presenter is not engaged, why would the audience be?

Get out from behind the podium and walk around the stage. Turn off the slide presentation all together when you need to make an important point.  Tell stories, be engaged, and make eye contact with your audience. You have all the facts and figures but connecting with the audience, keeping it simple, and appealing to the right side of their brain is what makes them remember you and what you’re saying. Not just the facts and figures themselves.

After you download the Linkedin Event application, you add your event, making it as keyword rich as possible with all the buzzwords from your industry. Linkedin Events search tool makes it easy for users to search for relevant events, whether by geographic locations or specific industries. You can even search for past events.

When you add your event, it will automatically be promoted your network’s first level connections. When your connections RSVP to your event (and many most likely will, if they are your co-workers or in your industry), the tool will promote your event to their network. With each RSVP, information about your event gets spread further. More people can become aware of the events you host because of the viral nature of Linkedin and you’re more likely to see an audience that’s even more relevant to the subject matter.

For event planners, getting a sense of who is attending in advance, can help you sculpt your program to suit the audience better. By using Linkedin, event planners can get a more in-depth sense of who is attending, what they do, and what they want in a conference. That’s much more information than you can cull from a registration form or a post-conference survey when it’s too late to affect the planning of your meeting.

Linkedin Events is also a great tool for conference attendees and will make for a better overall experience when they attend your event. One especially great feature of the newly revamped Linkedin Events is “Attendees You May Want to Meet.” Similar to the “People You May Know” feature in Facebook, not only will attendees have a better sense of who will be at your meeting, but they will also end up being better prepared when they have an opportunity to make a new contact. A great customer experience will make your event a more successful one. Enhanced networking opportunities for your conference attendees will help make attendance at your event a successful and positive experience.

Quite often when trying to decide whether or not to clear your schedule to attend a conference, people wonder if it’s going to be worth it. It’s hard to tell just from a brochure or a website. For potential attendees who are trying to get their managers to cover all the associated costs to attend a professional meeting, Linkedin Events helps you make your case! You can show the boss who else is attending the event. Additionally, attendees are able to leave messages or questions in the event tool, which are also visible to all your connections.

Organizing and promoting and event is a time consuming and often laborious effort. Your company wants to make sure that your return on investment is worth it, and Linkedin Events is a great way to help achieve that goal.

Our eNewsletter allows us to dig a little deeper and spend more time discussing what you can do to make your event more memorable. Whether its meeting planning tips, ideas on how to better engage your audience, or information on the latest in presentation technology, our eNewsletter will have timely and insighful articles that help make your next meeting better than your last!

Sign up here and start receiving Production Notes today!

Excel in Excel

Over the years I have created a tech flow document to help in this effort. For me, I use something as simple as an excel spreadsheet to outline the scheduled times when each presentation starts, when videos need to be cued, etc. I can keep track of each discipline of audio (microphones, i-Pod music), screen visuals (video, PowerPoint, internet or I-mag) lighting (stage wash and set looks) and teleprompter for every moment during the production.

Having a tech flow document to work with has been incredibly valuable in many ways. Initially, I review the meeting in my head several times during the weeks preceding the event. This process gives me a good idea of how the information is flowing and if there is enough time to get everything presented. It allows me to put myself in the audience’s shoes, or in this case put myself in their head. By going through everything from the moment the doors open to when the last attendee leaves the ballroom absolutely nothing is left to chance. And it’s also a fabulous tool for our clients as a way for them to be able to envision exactly how their event will flow and what they can expect.

Recently a client received our tech flow for an upcoming meeting in Miami and her email back to me said, “I love tech flow! It makes the monstrosity we’re about to embark on so much more manageable!”

In the coming months, our e-newsletters will feature a playlist from a recent meeting for your use or as a starting point to make your own.

At Esprit Productions, we believe in making the general session room a place where people want to be. Audiences like outstanding production, high definition graphics, beautiful staging and lighting, flawless execution, and great music as they enter and exit the room. This type of environment makes people feel good, and more open to learning and absorbing the message of the meeting. It creates an atmosphere of excitement. This entire package appeals to the right side of our brains, where the emphasis is more on intuition and emotion. The proper music sets the tone for the meeting. It gives the audience a sense of what to expect, in the same way a movie soundtrack adds to the emotion and feel of a scene as much as the actors and script do.

Here are some guidelines that I use when preparing a playlist:

• The walk-in/walk-out music should allow for people to talk. This is key networking time.
• My personal style of music includes a consistent or driving beat that has the feeling of moving forward. (My high school friends used to call these songs “Ronny Music.”)
• Never play a song that could be offensive to anyone in your audience.
• To determine the name of a song that you have heard, use the Shazam app on your smart phone. With only a small sample of music, Shazam can identify the song and provide you with the artist and title.

Here is a sample playlist structure that I have developed.

30:00 Minute Walk-in

• 0:00-20:00 minutes: Light jazz/techno/country
• 20:00-25:00 minutes: Rock/Pop
• 25:00 minutes: VO (Voice Over); 5 minute announcement to program start
• 25:00-30:00 minutes: “Kick-it-up-a-notch” songs such as “Sweet Disposition” by The Tender Trap and “Rolling in The Deep” by Adele.

30:00 Minute Walk-out and Walk Back-in from Break

• 0:00-5:00 minutes: First song after the last speaker should slowly dissolve up to allow the audience to have a few seconds to let what they just heard sink in. Keep it low at first so the audience can also talk or check voicemail. I like Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” for the first break.
• 5:00-15:00 minutes: Light jazz/techno
• 15:00-25:00 minutes: Rock/Country/Pop
• 25:00 minutes: VO; 5 minute warning to program start
• 25:00-30:00 minutes: Second “kick-it-up-a-notch” song. “Good Life” by One Republic and “Hold on Tight” by Electric Light Orchestra

10:00 Minute Walk-Out from General Session

• 0:00-10:00 minutes: Consider using a song that ties in with one of the session’s key messages. Otherwise, this song should not be overly loud, but louder than the break music selections.

See a playlist at this link.

Hope these tips help.

Rock on!

Many companies have created their own YouTube channels, where videos of their events are posted.  Companies have the ability to customize their channel to give it a sleeker, less cluttered look than a typical YouTube page. For example, a 20-year client of ours, Nielsen has their own branded channel on the popular website, with video playlists from their most recent conferences. (Esprit produced the last two meetings featured among the playlists — Consumer 360 2011 and 2010.) You can fine tune the appearance of your YouTube channel so that the colors match those on your event web site.

The benefits of having videos from your meetings on YouTube are numerous. First, attendees can refer to videos of speeches and presentations after the meeting is over. Potential clients can see what happens at your company’s events. Getting a taste of what to expect from a meeting is an excellent way to attract new attendees for next year.  YouTube videos allow everyone see your product demonstration, instead of reading about it in a press release or review.  Also, an appealing YouTube channel for your company demonstrates your professionalism to customers. As I have often said on this blog, the way you present your company, whether at a meeting or on YouTube, can make you look bigger than you are.

Anyone with a YouTube account can create a channel and playlists. Branded channels can be quite expensive but maybe worth it, considering YouTube has 3 billion video views per week.

Naturally, YouTube has plenty of videos  available demonstrating how to create a channel for your business. Here’s one that can help you get started. Also, click here for a video to help you categorize your video into playlists.

As you probably remember, Jessica Lynch was a Private First Class in the United States Army in Iraq at the beginning of the war. On March 23, 2003, the convoy in which PFC Lynch was riding was ambushed. Her Humvee was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. Lynch was badly injured and captured by Iraqi forces. She was held as a POW, but was famously rescued by American forces from an Iraqi hospital in early April 2003.

Upon her return to the United States, Lynch was inundated by requests for interviews and speaking engagements. In January, 2004 Esprit Productions received a call from Harry Rhoads, President of the Washington Speakers Bureau who asked if we could to help her prepare.

Holly Francis, Esprit’s speech coach, and I flew out to Lynch’s hometown of Palestine WV and met her and her family. Lynch told us the real story about what happened to her and her fellow soldiers in the Battle of Nasiriyah. There were a lot of rumors and misinformation about what happened including that she has tried to fight off the Iraqi soldiers. Lynch was eager to set the story straight. In fact, her weapon jammed during the accident and soon after she was knocked unconscious. Testifying before Congress in 2007, she said “There’s soldiers out there every day that are doing heroic things…We don’t need to create them.” We worked with Lynch create a speech that would set the story straight and be source of inspiration to others.

A month later she came to Chicago for a speech coaching session. We invited several of Esprit’s clients to join the session to give their feed back (see photo below).

I came across this interview with Lynch from CNN.com and it’s wonderful to see how her life has moved on. She’s a veteran, a mother, and a college graduate.

Meeting her and helping her tell her story was one of the great thrills of my career. I will always remember how modest she was. As she always said “I am just another soldier.”

A teambuilding organization called Afterburner conducted presentations during the meeting’s first day. Afterburner was founded by a former Air Force fighter pilot who realized that the tools he learned in military aviation were applicable to the business world as well.  The presentations were well received by the audience, and the fighter pilot analogies provided a backdrop that made the learning tactical and communication skills easy and fun.

On the second day, part of the focus was on Siemens Social Responsibility philosophy. An hour was set aside for the attendees to build airplanes and assemble plane launchers to give to over a dozen children of military personnel who were invited to dinner later that evening.

After dinner, the children sat in front of the stage to listen to former jet pilot Patrick “Lips” Houlahan. He was most impressive in his jump suit and all-American style. He reviewed much of the same philosophies from the day before called and a short presentation called “Afterburner for Youth.” He reviewed much of the same philosophies from the day before (remove – called and a short presentation) called “Afterburner for Youth.”

After his presentation, Houlahan opened the floor to questions from the kids. What we heard was like an episode from the classic Art Linkletter show “Kids Say the Darndest Things.”

• “Is your plane really parked outside?”
• “If the raft is in your seat, how are you not already in it?”
• Kid: “What do you do if there are sharks in the water?” Lips: “Get out fast!”
• “What if you paddle with your hand in the water and there are sharks?”
• Kid #1: “Can you drink when you’re flying?” Kid #2: “That’s only when you fly first class.”
• Lips: “My jump suit won’t catch on fire. Response: “That’s awesome!”
• “On Christmas eve, do you fly with Santa?”

Being part of doing something nice for families who do so much for our country felt really good. But when the kids came up with these questions, the place erupted with laughter as the “child in all of us” came out. Bringing out the emotion in meeting attendees is critical to making a successful and memorable event.

The evening ended with plane races in the foyer and everyone seemed to bask in the glow of a wonderful few days.

A while back, Esprit produced a 500 person management meeting for Hewitt and Associates in their corporate office’s lunch room. Our task was to take their cafeteria, where tables are set up so small groups can enjoy a quick meal together, and change it into a meeting space. We set up tables in rows that ran the length of the room, and curved slightly around the stage. Three videos screens were set up, one in the middle and two around the curves toward the ends of the rows, so everyone in the room could see the speaker on the main stage. It was also a great success for Hewitt and Associates. They were fortunate that their offices had a big enough space to accommodate a large meeting, as it allowed their managers from the field the ability see their corporate headquarters and save some money.

Speaking of creativity, check out these pictures! I have worked with this company, SGA Production Services, many times over the years. SGA specializes in risers and platforms for media events. They were assigned a very unusual task: create seating for a basketball arena… on an aircraft carrier. This incredible photo comes from the first ever college basketball game to take place on an aircraft carrier, specifically US Navy Nimitz Class supercarrier, USS Carl Vinson for the 2011 Quicken Loans Carrier Classic.

It is always fun for us to produce an event in an unusual space. Whether it’s a huge general session in a lunchroom or in the case of SGA setting up a Basketball Court on an aircraft carrier, each event allows us to get creative and tap into our years of experience to create an environment that’s perfect for that audience and the setting.

One of the greatest benefits of social media is the ability to get recommendations and ideas from people you know and trust. Whether you’re looking for a new doctor or a handyman, you can get news of your search out in a Facebook status update or tweet your need for help and the opinions come flooding in. Lanyrd is a social media conference directory. The website contains thousands of events ranging from can be huge music festivals to a small community workshops.

Taken from the word lanyard (of course) the ubiquitous neckwear for events across the globe, the website can be best described as a Wikipedia for conferences. Lanyrd is tightly integrated with Twitter with users login using their Twitter handles to login and identify themselves. When you’re new to Lanyrd, the first conferences you will see are the ones that the people you follow on Twitter are attending.

Lanyrd can be used by event planners in a variety of ways. Firstly, it’s a fantastic way to research who is out there speaking at conferences, or for that matter, attends conferences. Event planners can save themselves hours of time spent researching speakers because it’s already compiled for them on Lanyrd.

Meeting planners can also use Lanyrd as library of information for their own conference after it’s over. Speakers presentations (videos, notes, or even the slides themselves) can be archived on the site.

Lanyrd is also a terrific way to see what events your contacts are attending. If you follow co-workers or industry leaders on Twitter, you can consider attending the same events. Naturally, this is a great marketing tool for meeting planners. Through Lanyard, you can introduce your event to professionals who may never have even heard of your company and you can do all this without spending a dime.

See a conference that you want to attend but your company won’t pay for it this year? No problem: Lanyrd let’s your follow the event virtually. Virtual events are  great opportunity to introduce your company to more people. If they like what they see and hear, then you might get yourself a new attendee next year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d3ydYXPoU8