Quick Win – Don’t Let Luck Determine Your Success

Have you ever attended an event (virtual or in person) that seemed to go off without an issue? Maybe discussion seemed to flow naturally, or maybe the presentations seemed to really connect with the audience. How does that happen?

It isn’t a secret. Its planning, planning, and more planning.

This week my non-profit ran an online event. Some sessions were more successful than others and made for a more natural Q/A at the end. Other sessions didn’t seem to excite the audience and felt a little flat. By the end of the event, quite a few people had disconnected.

Here are two quick wins I wanted to share to help you make your events more successful.

First, limit the amount of ‘who we are’ explanation a presenter is allowed to provide at the beginning of their presentation. Chances are you included a bio about the presenter and where they work, in the promotion of your event. Your audience will have already read that info and having it repeated at the event means you will run the risk of listeners tuning out before the presentation even gets started.

Tell presenters they can only speak for 30 second about their organization. After that they need to jump right into the meat of the discussion.

Tell presenters they can only speak for 30 second about their organization. After that they need to jump right into the meat of the discussion.

Second, plan questions to jump start the Q/A. Enlist the help of others on your team and put together a list of 10-12 questions to ask each presenter. You can either ask the questions yourself after each presentation, or you can connect with a few selected attendees prior to the event and ask then to ask some of the questions. You can also enlist the help of the presenter, who might be happy to give you’re a few interesting questions the audience could ask.

In today’s virtual meeting world, where people turn off their cameras, it is darn hard to get virtual attendees to participate. The more you can do to stimulate a great Q/A session, the better your event will be.

In today’s virtual meeting world, where people turn off their cameras, it is darn hard to get virtual attendees to participate. The more you can do to stimulate a great Q/A session, the better your event will be.

I hope you’ve found these ideas helpful. If you have a question, please leave a comment, or send me a message. I’d love to help you out. Talk to you soon. 😊

-Christie

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Hi, I'm Christie Saas, former board member, current Executive Director, and non-profit volunteer. I remember well, those early years when I lacked the training, the confidence, and the work-life balance to focus on becoming the best non-profit leader I could be.

Fast-forward past many bumps in the road, lessons learned, and you’ll find me still in the trenches, but a little wiser, a little calmer, and a whole lot happier. I love my work and I want to help you love yours too.

I created ChristieSaas.com to give you tools, tips, and templates to remove the mystery of learning to run a small non-profit. If you’re a brand-new non-profit leader, or a little more seasoned, someone who’s looking to make a meaningful contribution and still have time for a full life away from the job, you’re in the right place.

© Christie Saas 2021 All Rights Reserved

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