We know from personal experience that attention spans tend to be quite short. Talking at people for long periods of time is not an effective learning method. If you want your conference to be engaging and appreciated, you might want to try something new from the traditional conference format. This is where live interaction comes in, but how to incorporate it into your conference? Here are some ideas you could try:
-
Body Voting
Got a question to ask your attendees? Get them moving by using body voting. One side of the room is 0% for example and the other side 100%. People need to position their bodies in the place where they think the answer lies. Those who place themselves at opposite ends are then asked to explain their reasoning.
-
Fishbowl
If your event space has only chairs, then you can use the fishbowl method. This works best with around 40 people. Place 4 chairs in the centre of the room, 3 of which must be filled, and one always left empty. Choose a relevant topic to debate which only the people sat in 3 of the chairs being able to speak. At any point, someone from the audience can fill the empty chair and contribute but one of the others must leave voluntarily.
-
Debating Contest
Just as happens in the House of Commons, split the room into two sides and choose a topic to debate with one side arguing for or against versus the other side. Anyone can change their mind at any time and switch sides. This offers the perfect opportunity for a skilled speaker to use the powers of persuasion. If you’d like help organising any kind of event, consider an Events Agency Dublin like http://davisevents.ie/
-
The Pitch
Whoever is running the conference creates a problem to discuss such as how do we get more business. Small groups are formed and given a set time in which to discuss and come up with a creative solution. Each group must then pitch this idea to the other groups with a winner being decided by the facilitator or the groups themselves.
-
Super Brainstorm
This is a great way to include and engage as many as up to a thousand attendees. Whoever is leading the conference will ask even numbered and odd numbered rows to turn and face each other. A topic and a timescale is given for them to discuss with the person opposite them. After a fairly short time, the facilitator asks who has been impressed by the person they were speaking to to raise their hands and offer a brief summary about what impressed them and why.
Everyone is then asked to move two chairs to the left and the process is repeated again with a different question or topic. Feedback is sought again as it was the first time. This process is a fantastic ice-breaking exercise and a great way to boost networking connections for those attending.
