Making Any Meeting Memorable: TIP #9: Look who's talking.

An ongoing series of 25 Tips for Making any Meeting Memorable by Christine Corelli, Author, Speaker, Consultant, and Competitive Edge Expert

What makes the difference between a good meeting and a great meeting? The

speakers! Since the speaker or presenter can make or break your meeting, make

sure you choose wisely.

Ask the boss

Here's your first good rule of thumb and a smart choice: Always ask your boss to speak! I don't have to explain why.

Appoint a dynamic Master of Ceremonies
Far too many meetings do not have an MC who can introduce speakers and keep the group engaged throughout. If your boss is a boring public speaker, that's all the more reason you need a great MC. Sales managers are usually outgoing and do a good job. (If you are a sales manager, by all means, you should be the M.C.!)

Feature one of your employees
Pick out a bright junior staff person who to invite to the meeting and give a five-minute opportunity to speak at the lectern. This boosts morale throughout the company.

Give a spot to a CSR

Invite your customer service manager and, budget-permitting, ask them to select a CSR to come also. Their job will be to give a five minute presentation on:

- What the CSR team is doing right

- How the CSR team can assist the sales team in their efforts to win more business and establish higher levels of customer loyalty

Invite up to three sales reps to share a successful war story

War stories must be a part of your meeting. It is a great technique for showing a strong problem-solution situation in a positive corporate light. Again, involve individual team members. Ask them to relate the following.

• How the initial contact was made
• Who was the competitor
• What they specifically did to win the business
• What lessons they learned.

Sales success stories are inspiring to listen to, keep people's attention, and emphasize your common goals.

Encourage team involvement

Get the sales team directly involved by having team members present product demonstrations or sales tips at each meeting. Presenters should be given plenty of time in advance to prepare. Have them share information and ideas that will help the team make more money.

Give a spot to your IT specialist
In the past, technology was viewed as a useful tool to help people to communicate and perform their job more effectively. Today, technology is viewed as a critical strategic investment for overall business success.

Invite your IT specialist to speak for five minutes on technology updates. Ask them to make themselves available before, during and after your meeting to answer any questions your group may have, or identify any challenges they are facing.

Book a professional

If you are considering the services of a professional speaker, remember that while people love motivational speakers, what they really want and need is information and ideas. Engage the services of a professional speaker who will learn as much about your company prior to their program so your people know they've done their homework and have come prepared. Your people will get turned off immediately if they feel they are receiving a "canned" presentation.

Seek an experienced professional who can deliver a dynamic business presentation or training seminar with the right blend of valuable information, ideas, skills, audience participation, humor and inspiration. Most importantly, select one who is a master at audience participation and obtaining audience participation.

That's a tall order, but the best speakers can deliver all of these and more. When you hire your speaker tell them the results you want from the overall meeting and from their presentation.

If you are considering a speaker for an after-dinner presentation, book a humorist or stand-up comic for that slot. No one wants to listen to a business presentation after dinner.

Don't save the best for the last

Often companies take their people to a fancy resort for a several day meeting. They have booked a great motivational business speaker to end the meeting and send their people back to work pumped up and creatively charged.

You will get more value for your money if you schedule the speaker the first day or second day instead of the last. At the end of the conference, your people will be tired, anxious to get home and worried about making the plane. Their attention will not be focused on the program.

Open up your circle

Bring in people from the real world. Have a customer attend your meeting and explain why he or she buys from you and, most important, what they want, need and expect by doing business with you. This is a highly effective method of helping your people to truly understand customer needs and listen to "The Voice of the Customer."

Another idea would be to videotape a few of your customers prior to your program. Let them know you want to tape them for use at a meeting to learn how you can better serve them. Ask them to answer this question. –

“What do you need, want, and expect from your provider?"

After you play the tape, facilitate a discussion on how well you deliver what your customers want, need, and expect and what you can do to exceed their expectations.

Present more ideas

Do more than just show new product promos. Show your sales reps what it took to create them:

• Schedule a presentation by your ad agency
• Review outtakes from your commercials
• Show planning for print or point-of-purchase promotions.

If your meeting is at headquarters and you are a manufacturer, take them in the back room to show them what R&D is doing. This is especially important, as whatever you are doing, their sales are paying for it. Unless it's top secret, your sales people can start talking it up immediately after the meeting.