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Fully Engaged: Five Ways to Make Your Events Sizzle Instead of Fizzle
How can you fully engage your participants so that they highly value their experience, make deeper connections, and can't wait to come back for more...bringing their friends.
Written Mar 10, 2010, read 3294 times since then.
How many times have you participated in a group event only to find yourself bored, struggling to find relevance, or all too quickly forgetting what you’ve just ‘learned’?
The fact is that we all crave a deeper experience when participating in a group event, whether a presentation, workshop, meeting, class or other experience. It’s obvious that we’d want our time to be valuable and meaningful, and yet why do we so often feel the opposite? Read on to find out what you can do to bust the ‘event boredom blues.’
Why is it so hard to sustain engagement?
You love feeling you’ve made an impact and hearing people express that their time with you was highly valuable. Sometimes people connect, feel inspired and are even transformed by your work and that feels great. Other times, it’s hard to simply gain and keep their attention: instead it’s vacant stares, ‘butts in seats’, or worse, empty seats. Perhaps you manage to engage them initially, but eventually find that deeper engagement with your material, or with each other, is mostly resisted. These lost opportunities lead to results coming slowly, superficially or not at all. And then, even if real change does begin, how is it sustained? Sadly, all too often, the fire you started fizzles.
There’s more than one way to ‘wow‘
Being a motivated professional with a vision, you’ve no doubt tried or experienced various ways to keep a group engaged, to ‘wow’ them. Some methods worked, others…well, not so much. Along the way you’ve learned a few helpful skills and tricks -capturing eyeballs with technology’s special effects, entertaining crowds with dancing bears, channeling Tony Robbins’ presence, dazzling your audience with a high profile venue, impressing folks with “Expert Big Words”, visualizing success while squeezing a blue crystal under your armpit or simply hoping that “It’ll all just work out” -but none of these methods seem to get to the essential dynamics of sustained, authentic engagement.
Not all that glitters is gold
‘Techniques’ like the above are “top-down” solutions that tend to address people as merely information-consuming & processing machines. They gain eyeballs & left-brains, but don’t win trusting hearts. Technology can do some things well –like capturing initial attention or conveying complex ideas more simply –but its impersonal & digital nature fails at engaging the whole person, connecting people to each other meaningfully and enabling participants to fully digest & interact with the material. Adding entertainment can be good and fun, but usually keeps the energy & action “up front” and the learning superficial. As for trying to be ‘The Expert’ or imitating someone else (like Tony Robbins), that’s never a good idea because it hinders the authentic, amazing YOU from shining out and connecting with your group. And besides, most people are excellent at detecting ‘imitators’. In the end, approaches like these don’t foster authentic connection & trust -and trust is the foundation of all lasting engagement.
Fully Engaged
There’s a genuine, deeper ‘WOW!’ that everybody craves, an experience that goes beyond words & ideas, and that leads to authentic engagement & trust. In order to foster that kind of sustained engagement, you’re going to need to learn at least five essential skills:
- Prime the pump in order to spark curiosity & give your group opportunities to connect before your experience.
- Come into full integrity with yourself so that your group senses you’re serving confidently out of sincere care & purposeful passion.
- Create enough safety for your participants to stretch their trust muscles by engaging you, your material & each other.
- Prepare adaptive content & interactivities that engage the *whole* person and connect them to each other.
- Offer follow-up opportunities & social technologies for staying connected to you and your material after your experience together.
To the degree that you gain proficiency in these skills, your participants will enjoy, benefit from & remember their experiences with you, and will stay connected in a way that sustains & spreads the fire.
In order to keep this article length short, I won't expand the above five points here. However, look for future articles in which we'll explore each of the above topics in more depth.
Thanks for giving me and this article your time and trust, and I look forward to seeing you at a future event...hopefully one in which we feel fully engaged!
Over the past two decades Leif has engaged thousands of people through many diverse group events. His workshops have captured the attention of media sources like NBC's Today Show, PBS Online & the LA Times. More info at www.SparkInteraction.com
Learn more about the author, Leif Hansen.
Comment on this article
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Posted by Stephen Percival, Federal Way, Washington |Mar 10, 2010 Great article, Leif! Very helpful points that you demonstrate in your workshops.
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Posted by Leif Hansen, Seattle, Washington |Mar 10, 2010 Thanks Stephen & Nadir, glad you liked the article & delighted that you find the points modeled in my events :)
I'm happy to see that Biznik is hosting an innovator series with Eric Liu titled "Applying Imagination, Creativity & Innovation to Your Business: Eric Liu Tells you How"
Imagination is a HUGE part of what is missing from our group interactions, and is a big part of my personal favorite of the points above -#4.
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Posted by Nadir Zulqernain, Ph.D., Kirkland, Washington |Mar 10, 2010 Advances in technology have made is very easy for a lot of people to connect, however, only at a superfluous level, which in fact creates an internal 'state of diss-association', making one less connected. Amongst other things, it also has an adverse effect on one's ability to absorb new information and learn. Imaginative & creative ways to fully engage your audience is the best solution to this challenge. I have conducted workshops and seminars for years and have always, amongst other things, used the set up of the room; no desks or tables, just chairs in a semi-circle to connect people with each other and with me - after the initial awkwardness, it is great fun, very comfortable and conducive to meaningful interaction and learning.
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Posted by Tommy Jaye, Ocala, Florida |Mar 10, 2010 Hey Leif,
Excellent article!
Group events, workshops in particular, have always been one of my most productive strategies for business development.
No doubt, there can be a euphoric experience to teaching or presenting to others when one's message is delivered in an inspiring, exciting, engaging and most of all, authentic way.
When doing the presenting, my approach has never been to "prevent" boredom or disinterest but to create a thirst for personal growth and a pathway to achieve it.
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Posted by Nadir Zulqernain, Ph.D., Kirkland, Washington |
Mar 11, 2010 -
Posted by Joe Shirley, Seattle, Washington |Mar 11, 2010 OK Leif,
You've got our attention! Now, I'm hoping (asking? begging?) that you'll give us a whole series of five more articles, one for each of your Five Essential Skills. Please?
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Posted by Jack Fecker, Seattle, Washington |Mar 11, 2010 Leif, I love your stuff and just last weekend at a mens retreat experienced your exercises as Howard L. put 22 men through some WOW processes. It's being passed on thanks to you. When you write an article it gives it more interest when you give a personal story to make your point. It can be something that didn't work or something that happened to you when you were growing up. Good article though.
100 Ideas an Hour -
Posted by Ruth Hartmann, Seattle, Washington |Mar 11, 2010 Leif, I've attended several of your events and really appreciate the summary of the five essential skills I need to learn.
I taught a 2-hr English (to Spanish speakers) class this week and had the opportunity to practice skill #4, thanks to the coaching you gave me. There were five students ages 8-12 and at one point in time it was obvious the energy started dipping. So I changed the activity to one of the Energizer Flavors, and had them play a game that enabled them to both practice the names of colors in English, physically move around and observe the surroundings.
The results: lots and lots of laughter, they discovered they knew a lot of colors and the energy went up and it was easy to transition to the next subject.
It was a most satisfying experience. Thank you!
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Posted by Kate Phillips, Seattle, Washington |Mar 11, 2010 Leif, thanks for sharing some of your vast expertise. Though I'm with both Joe and Jack... I want more than 5 bullet points of "information" with no stories or examples to flesh them out and make them come alive.
Looking forward to more...
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Posted by Nicholas Nawroth, Kettering, Ohio |Mar 11, 2010 This post was a disappointment, it sounds like a commercial for a book. You didn't offer 5 tips to help us engage folks, you offered us 5 things we needed to learn "how to". Here's an example of an article on biznik that does this: http://bit.ly/cdhE1O (and no I'm not related to the poster, I just found this article more useful because it offered actual tips.)
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Posted by Leif Hansen, Seattle, Washington |
Mar 11, 2010 @Nadir & Tommy -Thanks for the stories, and I agree that technology can often be a substitute for real connection. Thanks for the tweet Nadir
@Ruth & Jack, thanks for the living examples -makes me happy to know people are really using the principles & activities!
@Joe, Kate & Nicholas ( a little Jack) First of all, let me say I'm really thankful for your honesty, I hope you still got some good info out of the article.
I'm torn between totally agreeing with you --yes, I should have put more specific details & stories fleshing out those 5 points, and a concern to keep the article not too long and to not give away the goose for free. The next freebie is coming to a live free Biznik workshop where you get to experience and see most of these principles in action and/or coming to one of the all day "Fully Engaged" workshops.
However, as this is my first Biznik article written, I am very open to being corrected on this and perhaps I should have given some more specific examples....and if I can edit the article, maybe I still will if I'm convinced so.
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Posted by Leif Hansen, Seattle, Washington |
Mar 11, 2010 Also, while (like I said) I could be persuaded, I like Joe's idea of expanding on each item in a future article. To that endeavor, I've added the last paragraph "In order to keep this article length short, I won't expand the above five points here. However, look for future articles in which we'll explore each of the above topics in more depth.
Thanks for giving me and this article your time and trust, and I look forward to seeing you at a future event...hopefully one in which we feel fully engaged!"
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Posted by Molly Gordon, Suquamish, Washington |Mar 11, 2010 Good work, Leif. I look forward to more articles from you with specifics. As to giving away the goose, I wouldn't worry about it. Reading what to do is not the same as learning how to do it in a face-to-face or voice-to-voice encounter. The more you give, the more you will get in attendance at your events.
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Posted by Betsy Gutting, Seattle, Washington |Mar 11, 2010 Great wisdom here, Leif, thank you! I have found the same thing -- connecting people to each other is key. As one of my wise teachers once said, "all each of us really wants is to be heard."
With appreciation for your work, Betsy
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Posted by Tad Dobbs, Trophy Club, Texas |Mar 11, 2010 Leif, Thanks for the teaser article. I do have to agree with Joe, Kate & Nicholas though. I did find the article to be enticing, but about halfway through "There's more than one way to 'wow'", I began to lose interest and question the point. I'm glad that you included the closing paragraphs with the mention of upcoming articles on the specific points you touched on in this article. I look forward to reading your future posts to learn more about the specific techniques. I see how these techniques can specifically for the graphic design industry in regards to client presentations.
Also, I completely agree with Molly that you aren't giving away the expertise you have, so much as instilling the idea that you know what you're doing.
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Posted by Ruth Hartmann, Seattle, Washington |
Mar 11, 2010 Leif, I also agree with Molly and Tad that you can share a lot more info (and stories) and it won't be "giving away the goose" rather it will just whet our appetite.
The more specific examples you give us, the easier it is to relate and to understand the different ways in which we can benefit from building this skill set and applying it to our own workshops, etc.
And of course, there is nothing like going to one of your events to make the information come alive and integrate it into our being.
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Posted by Howard Howell, Seattle, Washington |Mar 11, 2010 Leif... Great article. I enjoy so much the fact that you have shared with us the Whats and the Whys for presenters and teachers to become more effective and highlight ways we can more fully engage our audience.
The thing I like most about your approach is that you have always been generous to the Biznik community and offered plenty of free opportunities to learn the Hows for those that want to take advantage of your expertise and skill.
And, I especially like that you offer a higher level of engagement (paid services) to those that want to learn and master the secrets you can share. This will insure that you will be available to share more in the future.
Keep the series of articles coming with examples stories of more results that can be obtained from your niche training. Save the precise techniques for your live presentations which definitely cannot be duplicated in an article.
For anyone that has not attended one of Leif's events, I must say that he does a fantastic job on #3. You must experience it in person to understand it.
Thanks, Leif. I look forward to your future articles. ...Howard
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Posted by Nadir Zulqernain, Ph.D., Kirkland, Washington |
Mar 11, 2010 Leif,
My compliments once again, this time on continuing to demonstrate on how to engage people commenting on your article about 'how to engage people' - very skillful. An article is an article - its neither a book, nor a training program, not a seminar. It is an article. It does, as it is supposed to, engage the reader and prompt her to take action. We we are all pretty engaged. Five more articles, a book or a seminar - or all of those - you have got it!
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Posted by Nancy Hogan, Edmonds, Washington |Mar 11, 2010 Leif, thanks for posting your article! It's timely for me since my first event is Friday, March 19: "Spell it to Sell it!" I have spoken publicly before but it's been a long time.
You've helped me remember a few good ideas for keeping my attendees engaged, and I look forward to your next articles.
Thanks again!
Nancy Hogan of NancyEdits
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Posted by Leif Hansen, Seattle, Washington |
Mar 11, 2010 Excellent feedback folks, thanks, keep it coming :)
I think my conclusion so far is this:
I would like to have added (and may still add) a few more concrete examples/details for each of the 5 points above. Your right, it rarely hurts to give away more :)
I'm still glad I didn't add too much more, for the new opportunity is to write 5 new articles expanding on each of the above points. And for any of you who haven't been to my events to come and actually experience the above 5 points.
Ironically, one of my main sayings is that "Information is Dead", meaning, words & ideas can only go so far. We need to shift our group experiences from left-brain-centric to the whole mind/imagination, from disembodied to embodied, from emotionless to creating space/safety for feelings, etc. Molly & others of you pointed out --these 'real time' experiences will always be richer than words. And yet so many of us produce events that are simply info-dumps. What a sad waste.
A great question to ask oneself when planning an event (or after the event) is "Could someone have simply downloaded (a PDF or audio) of this and had the same experience? If so, it's time for change. Not that you don't want a 'slice' of the experience to be 'downloadable', just stay true to the fullness and richness of live, real, full human encounter.
Warmly,
Leif
206-428-7626 | Spark Interaction -
Posted by Rick Itzkowich, La Jolla, California |Mar 11, 2010 Leif,
You make some very good points. Since I present in front of a lot of audiences, I have learned that the more interactive you make your presentation, the more engaged you will have the audience.
The best suggestion you give is to be YOU. Genuineness is the most engaging trait of them all.
I also find that being able to laugh at myself and not take myself too seriously is very effective.
Thank you for sharing this article.
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Posted by Judy Cullins, La Mesa, California |Mar 11, 2010 Lief, When I read the article I had an agenda. Since I do a lot of teleseminars and they are not interactive so much anymore because of sound quality, although I do ask for Q and A near the end of them, I'm curious if you have ideas on engaging the listeners. I use a Question format I got from surveys, then answer it. For my upcoming 90 minute Optimizing Linkedin teleseminar, I'd like some fresh advice.
More on my blog at /wp/book-marketing-with-twitter/
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Posted by Maureen Mc Bride, Conneautville, Pennsylvania |Mar 11, 2010 Hey Leif! Good to see you on this site. Been a real "Fan" for four years. I urge people to connect with some of the people on the applied improv net working ning to interact with people who can show you how to engage on a different level.
Improv gives people a different level of confidence. Heartily recommend people look into a good strong improv group to gain exposure to how that experience frees one.
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Posted by Joe Shirley, Seattle, Washington |
Mar 11, 2010 This is great, Leif. I love how you're engaging in a real relationship with us, listening and allowing yourself to be influenced as you influence us.
You've got me thinking. It's clear in your passion that you want me to learn the skills you have, to engage my audiences and make group experience more WOW for everyone. There's one key step that has to happen first: I have to be able to envision myself doing that.
That's where your articles fit, taking your readers on a journey of imagination, seeing themselves leading groups differently and having the profound joy and satisfaction that follows a great experience.
If I can see myself doing it, then I'm REALLY motivated to make it happen. But until I actually have some experience doing it, I'm going to hesitate.
That's where your workshops come in. They should be opportunities for us to both experience your techniques as group participants AND engage as leaders, initiating and facilitating those experiences for others.
I'm imagining this: you design a series of workshops with two groups of participants. Some are there for the first time to just experience a WOW group. Others are paying you for the opportunity to practice these skills by leading various exercises in the workshop.
You spend time before and after the workshop coaching these facilitators. They get amazing value, learn a ton, and finish with the confidence to apply your treasures at the first opportunity.
Whaddya think?
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Posted by KC Dochtermann, Bellevue, Washington |Mar 11, 2010 Great article - and some great points. One suggestion - provide examples of the five points you made.
Great work!
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Posted by Ernie Wockenstock, Raymond, Nebraska |Mar 12, 2010 I want to learn how to SIZZLE Leif! But I am all the way in Raymond Nebraska. Shoot!
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Posted by Kate Phillips, Seattle, Washington |
Mar 12, 2010 Joe's got a good idea with the events...
And Leif, I think using the bold points makes the article more readable, but I would still recommend (since you asked!) one of a couple directions.
Either expand a bit more on each point so that it doesn't occur like a teaser advertisement (like it did to Nicholas), (and visually, I'd end the bold sentences and start new sentences to expand on the next line...)
or... (same as above but a different direction)...
with the great examples you gave up front of "what not to do," you could just as well expand on the common mistakes make. I.e.; here's what's needed (five points), but beneath each, list the common mistakes... i.e., WHY are these five points important, and what happens when they aren't in play? As your title suggests, the event fizzles. (And stories or examples are even better than generalizations.)
It also may be that you're trying too hard to write an article like "copy" for a workshop, and they are different animals. While you know that you've got to deliver an "experience" when you put on a live event (no problem for you), and as you know, copy for an event really is a teasing advertisement, when you write an article, you actually need to deliver helpful "content." Yup, good ole' information!
You know your stuff and the more you show it, the more readers will be interested to hear/learn/explore of the depth of experience you can offer.
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Posted by Kate Phillips, Seattle, Washington |
Mar 12, 2010 ps... there are also probably opportunities to take some stories above and integrate under the five points, like how the Robbins imitator relates to your point of authenticity.
Backseat editor,
Kate -
Posted by Leif Hansen, Seattle, Washington |
Mar 12, 2010 @Rick Genuineness...being yourself, yes, the most important thing. 'How' to feel safe & centered enough to get there is another thing. :)
@Judy One suggestion is to use Maestroconference for your teleseminars. They allow you to have breakout rooms -random, by topic, etc. -so you can really get your groups engaged & interacting that way. I've got some other ideas as well, but let me know if you want to talk and we can brainstorm :)
@Maureen -Yes, and yay applied improv! :)
@Joe Our minds are in sync, my "Fully Engaged" overview workshop does cover the basic principles in a hands on way and, starting in April or May, I will be doing more of a practicum session to help coach people through actually facilitating various interactivities.
@KC Yup, that's what our previous discussion was about. Thanks
@Ernie Well, move on down ;) Would be happy to come on over to NB if you can help get me a group of 20+ folks together for a workshop :)
@Kate Thanks for the article writing feedback, I am new to it, so I'll be sure to incorporate those next time.
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Posted by Kate Phillips, Seattle, Washington |
Mar 13, 2010 (I'm such a dork! Just because you asked for feedback didn't mean I should have left it in the comments! Tacky.) Now back to the topic...
Leif, what do you think is at the CORE of our inability to engage audiences? Is it this idea that the participants are "information processing and consuming machines?" (And if that's not our experience as participants, why do we make that mistake as facilitators?) I know I struggle with this... often putting too much "valuable content" into an event...
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Posted by Leif Hansen, Seattle, Washington |
Mar 17, 2010 No worries Kate...
At the CORE of our inability to engage audiences?
Yes, we need to shift beyond the dominant paradigm of humanity as machine and thus learning as merely information-processing. The roots of this issue are complicated, and go back as far as the 'enlightenment', but the solution maybe be as simple as starting to notice in our own lives when we feel most alive and engaged. It's very unlikely that at the end of our lives, when we reflect on what had the most impact & what we valued most, we'll say "Oh, if only I had read, heard, spoken & written more words". :)
Rather, we'll remember and treasure:
- The time we were given to interact with each other
- The times our whole self -mind (L/R), body, spirit, emotions, imagination, etc. were involved
- The times there was genuine care/love
- The times we felt safe/supported enough to be our authentic selves
- The times we followed our passion, and connected with the passions of others.
- The times we took meaningful risks
So, let's start facilitating those kinds of opportunities for each other!
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Posted by Joseph Merlo, Hendersonville, Tennessee |
Mar 22, 2010 "Prime the pump in order to spark curiosity & give your group opportunities to connect before your experience."
Couldn't agree more ...
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Posted by Kymberly Dakin-Neal, Yarmouth, Maine |Mar 29, 2010 Hey Leif; At the very least - this article did make me curious as to how you will develop #4. I've found deeper connection to material though storytelling and metaphor than through a number of other methodologies that provide the fun factor - but in the end do not address transfer. By contrast - a story with an emotional connection provides a context that helps us answer the "why's" around the info. Metaphor engages the emotions and the imagination and, I think, takes learning into a deeper - more resonant connection. I know you've encountered this one from Maya Angelou - it's one of my favorites - "People won't remember what you said, they won't remember what you did, but they WILL remember how you made them FEEL"!
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Posted by Leif Hansen, Seattle, Washington |
Mar 29, 2010 THanks Kymberly, yes, that's a great quote. I hear you that the 'fun factor' doesn't always do it. However, I will say that while story/metaphor is a wonderful way to help people feel...they will feel even more if they have a chance to engage personally with the story/content. It's not so much about 'fun', as it is about interaction....a chance to then discuss the content with a small group; to answer some questions; to role play/simulate into the future; to practice the skill/knowledge being taught/etc. Then the impact/learning is even more deeply embedded.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and the great quote! -Leif
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Posted by Mary Ellen Halloran, Willimantic, Connecticut |
Apr 06, 2010 Great article, Leif! I agree, interaction, interaction, and more interaction make for an interesting presentation, and one that sizzles. No one likes to be "talked at" for two hours, and most people learn by doing.
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