It happens all the time. The lights go down and the speaker steps out onto the stage. And within minutes (sometimes even seconds) of beginning their presentation, the audience is gone. Daydreaming, napping, checking their phones… you name it, we’ve seen it. The biggest challenge that companies face when hosting a business meeting is engaging with their audience. Because if you can’t connect the content of your message to your listeners, no amount of caffeine will get them to wake up and listen to what you have to say.

Whether you’re getting a hundred people together or a couple thousand, you have to treat it like a professional production. Gone are the days of winging it with notes on flashcards. Today’s business meetings and presentations are more akin to a show. If you have something to say, you have to show it. And with any show, you have to be prepared. Here are a few ways how an expert meeting agency can add the boost you need to make your next meeting a showstopper.

Communicating a Strategy, Not Just Words

To put it bluntly, audiences can see through BS. If you have the fundamental mission of getting people together for a meeting, convocation, or gathering, it’s because you have something to communicate. And you better make sure it’s not just a series of empty promises and motivational phrases. A meeting agency helps you nail down the precise message or idea you want to communicate and then develop a winning strategy for that message backed by an overall vision. The audience is expecting the speaker to have thought out a whole strategy so that at the end everyone can say, “Oh, I get it.” However, in order to do that, you need to have a plan that connects each point starting with your opening message, leading all the way to the final sendoff.

Relaying a Message With the Right Tools

Would you rather watch the Super Bowl on a flip-phone from the early 2000s or on the biggest screen possible with a state-of-the-art sound system? Of course, it’s the latter – this is a no-brainer. This same logic needs to be applied to your business meetings. A meeting agency thinks about every aspect of the audience experience. Artful room design, the proper use of LED screens, intelligent lighting, and the right music to complement it all, are some of the details we take into consideration to bring a strategy to life. A flawlessly crafted, scripted and executed meeting will not only deliver your message, but create a truly memorable experience that leaves your attendees inspired, motivated and ready to champion your brand.  Aligning the right tools with the mental takeaways are key to making an impression that will stick with audiences long after the meeting is over.

Motivate and Inspire With More Than Just Data

Throwing a bunch of data and stats on the screen isn’t going to necessarily light a fire under your audience. People don’t want to be inundated with data – they want to be inspired. There are a million ways to position your message, but it has to speak to your specific audience. Engaging the audience means delivering a message built around appreciation, respect, and motivation from a presenter that speaks on their level. An expert meeting agency knows how to help you craft your message to resonate with your audience and help you identify the best person for the job. Because in the end, you want to win over the audience. And take it from an agency that has been doing this for decades, it’s going to take more than projecting pie charts and annual reports to inspire the audience.

Not All Meetings and Agencies Are the Same

Are you effectively communicating business goals and success stories through a message-driven strategy that gets people excited? If that’s not the case, then why bother?! The goal of the best meeting agencies should always be to present something that’s thought-provoking, inspiring, motivational, and that communicates your strategy. Because, in the end, a meeting isn’t just a meeting.

Learn more about planning a successful meeting by contacting Chris Jobst at 314.206.7804 or ChrisJ@switch.us