Organizing events is a great way to showcase your brand in good light. It is also a chance for you to market your products and services to new and potential customers. However, just organizing an event is not enough! If you want to generate more leads at your event, you should have a proper plan. After you rent training room or rent classroom for your event, you should take the following steps.

Create registration and feedback forms

If you think you do not need to print registration forms for your visitors, think again. Some event organizers argue that they already have the names and contact details of the invitees in their database. But, remember not all invitees will attend your event. Also, there could be some visitors who will attend your event knowing from any other source.

The registration form should include specific fields or questions. Don’t make it too long. Also, create a feedback form and ask your employees to have the forms filled by as many attendees as possible. What questions you should include in your registration form depends on your purpose or how you want to use the date. For instance, if you want to find out whether teenagers are interested in your products, your registration form should have a column for age.

Prepare the venue before visitors start coming

You should make sure that all works are finished before the visitors arrive. You should have some of your staffs ready to escort the visitors to the coffee and snack zones and provide them the press release or event information compulsorily. It is also important to start the event on time. Delay for any excuse may harm your reputation. And if you invite media, you should prepare to welcome them as well.

Talk to strangers randomly

Your utmost responsibility is to finish all the arrangement and keep yourself free during the lunch period so that you can interact with more visitors personally. Always exchange visiting cards and try to get feedback and personal opinion from them. This will help you in generating more leads from the event.

Meet as many prospects as possible

If you want to generate more leads at your event, you need to meet as many attendees as possible. Also, make sure you spend your time with prospects who are more likely to become your customers. If necessary, attend training sessions to know how to identify genuine prospects.

Follow-up

It is always a good idea to send a thank-you note to all attendees after the event. That way, you also get a chance to keep in touch with them and initiate a conversation all over again after the event. Following up with your prospective customers is an effective way to turn more leads into customers. You can also engage your prospects on social networking platforms. Your social networking pages should be filled with event updates and be tagged with the participators. These are some important steps you should take to generate more leads at your event.

According to a recent survey, many companies waste massive amounts of money on ineffective training. The major roadblocks to employee training include not conducting proper needs analysis, monotonous content and delivery, wrong training managers and classroom rentals. For a training program to be effective, it should be engaging for both fresh recruits and old employees. Trainers should know their audience and communicate with them well. Here are some ways to make training more fun and interactive.

Use Different Training Styles

Organizations cannot expect every employee to learn in the same way. While fresh recruits prefer to learn by visual aids, employees with some experience will be comfortable with the traditional classroom teaching method. Some trainees respond easily to music, reasoning challenges, or presentations. Incorporate linguistics, distribute handouts and hold short quizzes to keep the training program inclusive and interactive. You can also use props and ambient music to make it more fun.

Fun doesn’t Necessarily Mean Funny

While a little fun goes a long way in ensuring knowledge retention, it is not advisable to try to make trainees laugh. Trainers often make the mistake of confusing ‘fun’ with ‘funny’. First, it looks staged and can fall flat when it doesn’t come off. Second, it dilutes the subject being discussed and lead to participants feeling uninspired.

Involve Gamification

This is a hugely popular corporate training method these days, as it helps trainees participate fully in the session. Professional services and IT giants have taken to gamified training in a big way. The progressive rewards system and the spirit of competition implicit in gamification make training more engaging and fun. Managers can keep track of everyone’s progress and address the problems of those lagging behind.

Experiment with Room Layouts

When one thinks corporate training, they’re most likely to imagine rows of chairs and tables in a drab training hall. The general perception about it is that it is not fun or engaging enough. Cast away the worries of your trainees by asking your training room rental company for unconventional room layouts. Collaborative settings help foster an environment that encourages interaction and participation. You can also replace the monotonous row system with a fun banquet layout.

Use Illustrations and Narratives

Training that is fun is usually relatable, so use examples from real life and case studies relevant to what is being discussed. Bringing creative metaphors and parables to the training room is becoming a trend now. Compelling stories and illustrations can embed the complex of information into learners’ minds. Narratives also help to evoke the employees’ empathy for the business and its social purpose.

Provide Facilities and Conveniences

A lot depends on your choice of training room rental and the facilities the company provides. Distraction and inconvenience are major reasons why most training programs fail. It is also important to check whether the training venue has restrooms, water coolers, and even coffee dispensers within easy reach of the trainees. Also, make sure that the venue is easily reachable. Training programs should be events that employees look forward to.

Over the last few years, one thing that successful organizations have been consistently doing is focusing on training knowledge retention. Research has proved that over 80% of what has been learned in a training program might get forgotten in 10-15 days. Often, companies invest in training room rental, experienced trainers, and effective material, but underestimate designing them for knowledge retention. Here are a few techniques, implementing which can help you make your program enjoyable, engaging, and memorable.

Construct training material using narratives

Humans are genetically compelled to pay attention to and retain stories. All the information available for common consumption is stored in people’s minds in the form of narratives. That is why it is such a good idea to pass on corporate training by designing material using narratives. This can be done by having the coaches narrate personal anecdotes and industry-specific precedents. You can also consider playing short clips of the same and hanging posters on walls.

Help them focus by hiring the right facility

Training can very quickly become monotonous and breed boredom in the training hall. This needn’t necessarily be the fault of your course material or the trainer. Training venues that are comfortable can help employees focus and thereby retain what has been learnt. Make sure that you have easy access to washrooms and water coolers so that attendees aren’t distracted. If you are conducting the training for long hours, it is important to have air conditioning and food stalls. When you rent a classroom, provide commute or ensure easy accessibility.

Train them by intervals and repetition

Traditional employee training expects employees to retain huge amounts of information. This is unfair, since the mind needs repetition over a period of time to remember things. Instead, use spaced repetition to exploit the brain’s capacity for remembering things that have been told multiple times. This helps in retaining information over longer periods of time and helps every learner stay on track. Trainers can set up modules for spaced repetition manually or use software for the same. This technique scientifically trains the brain to memorize information quickly.

Provide opportunities for application

Ask your training room rental company to provide 24/7 internet connectivity and sufficient electrical outlets. Platforms for virtual simulation offer challenges that are similar to real-life situations and help trainees apply their training to them. Simulations work because they are stress-free and trainees can apply training takeaways without worrying about criticism. Knowledge retention can also be brought about having trainees that have undergone the program once, pass on their learning outcomes to fresh trainee batches.

Leverage technology and online resources

Before you rent classroom, make sure it has facilities for using audio-visual aids. Trainers will need to screen clips and give presentations to make training material engaging. Intranet sites help training coordinators share or post important information for trainees to access. Organizations should also create online databases for learners to find information after the training. You can also use social networking to help employees stay abreast of each other’s progress.

If you have been assigned the task of making your company’s next event a success, hiring a good training room rental is half the job done. The other half is about choosing the right speaker. Understanding your audience’s demographic is as important as hiring someone with enough experience behind them.

Depending on the topic and your target audience, you may want to choose a speaker from within or from outside of the industry. Here are some ways to choose the right speaker for your event.

Determine the purpose of the event

Establish the goal of the conference/meeting right at the outset, so that you can be clear on where you should look for speakers. This will also depend on whether the objective of the event is to increase brand awareness, to educate the audience on a specific issue, or lead generation. The right candidate will let you in on how they plan to deliver the course or a keynote in order to drive home the agenda of your event.

Choose a speaker from the right field

The next step is to narrow down to speakers from the right industry and field. This is because no matter how effective a certain speaker is, if they’re not from the right industry, they’ll be ineffectual. If you want to train your employees on leadership, choose a motivational speaker.

Industry professionals must be chosen if the message to be delivered is industry-specific and need better elucidation. If you need to generate sales or have a wow-factor, it is a good idea to rope in a celebrity.

Your speaker should be tech-savvy

This goes without saying, as no event is complete without the intervention of technology. Speakers these days deliver presentations on projector screens, and have begun to increasingly utilize videos, infographics, and images. Ask your chosen speaker to come down to the training room rental venue once and make themselves at home with the setup. Do not forget to ask your classroom rental provider for facilities like electrical outlets, 24X7 internet, and audio-visual compatibility.

Research your speaker enough

Your speaker needs to linger in the minds of the attendees long after the event is over. Utilize the internet to conduct proper research on the best you can get. Use the right keywords and never flinch from looking for the best of the lot, even if it means stretching your budget a little.

Another thing to remember is to choose speakers that are active on social media. Use resources like PeerIndex and LinkedIn to find trending speakers, since this will also help attract their niche audience to the event. Read reviews and watch videos of their earlier public speeches before moving on to the next step.

Screening your shortlisted speakers

Insist that the speakers do their homework on the company and the objective of the event. You need to gauge their ease with the job and the effort they have invested in researching about your business. Ask them if they would be co-promoting the event. Speakers that ask challenging questions are better than those that don’t, since it is an indication of their engagement in a discussion. Finally, don’t be afraid to discuss their pricing upfront.

Teaching for the first time can prove to be a truly intimidating experience. First-time teachers often feel ill-equipped and overwhelmed, frustrated or even isolated. And this uneasiness is likely to last through the initial few sessions. In fact, every new lesson is likely to cause jitters for beginners. One good way to get used to these sessions is to opt for training room rentals and consider mock or demo lectures before the actual session. Here are some more tips for helping first-time instructors with their daunting task.

Learn More about the Target Group

The success of your classroom session will largely depend on the nature of the audience. So, it is of paramount importance to learn more about your class. If you are addressing university students, consider a bit of research about their profiles. This will help in preparing for the kind of questions they might ask and the level of training they would need. Similarly, if it is a training session for professionals, reading up on their qualifications, job roles etc, will help. Just like you will need to plan for training room rental and batch scheduling, it is equally important to plan your research schedule.

Determine the Course or Session Goal

Before you can start planning for the content, you need to decide on course goals you wish to achieve. Determining the goals in advance will make it easier to prepare the course content. Identifying the objective of the course will simplify the process of defining the mode of instruction, the evaluation process to be undertaken after the completion of the course, exams and so on.

Reach out to your Mentor

We all have that one teacher in our lives whose sessions remain etched in our memories forever. It is a very good idea to reach out to your mentor at this point in time to understand what it is in him or her that clicks. Ask more about teaching techniques, preparations before lessons, the manner in which student contact is established and so on. He or she would be the best person to inspire you.

Set Aside Time for Preparation

You can teach well only when you know enough. There is no alternative to preparing thoroughly for your session. The only way to respond to questions satisfactorily is to gather in-depth knowledge about the subject. So make sure you have time for preparing and revising.

Practice

Once you are through with the preparations, practice is essential. You can rent classroom and organize mock sessions with similar target audience groups. Holding practice sessions with friends is also a good idea. Be open for criticism. Pick up points for improvement and work towards perfecting them. These sessions are likely to make you more confident and much at ease. You can also record your own sessions and watch them later for more clarity on improvement areas.

Arrive Before Time

Arriving before time on the day of the actual event is the key to delivering a successful session. Plan your day beforehand. Arrive with ample time to spare. Gather yourself, get familiar with the classroom set up, test your equipment if needed, freshen up and be ready to deliver a top notch session!

Remember, being a teacher is a commendable profession where you impart knowledge and skills to those who need it. Be extremely proud of your duties and deliver the best performance you possibly can.

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Delivering presentation is a skill that you can develop with practice. If you are a good presenter, it shows how confident and organized you are. Perhaps, the easiest way to develop your presentation skills is by doing it in a classroom. You can contact a training room rental company in your locality and plan your next presentation in a classroom setting. Here are some useful tips on how to improve your classroom presentations.

Be well prepared with your topic

Thoroughly prepare your topic. The audience can ask anything anytime. Doing a thorough research before presenting helps you answer their questions promptly. It also makes you feel more confident. Also, make eye contact while presenting your work. Otherwise you may look less confident.

Visit the training room before time and try to familiarize yourself with the objects you are going to use, such as, chalk, erasers, and chalkboards. If it’s a PowerPoint presentation, then have a basic training session for the same. That way you can prepare well and avoid mistakes during presentation. Also, choose a reliable classroom rental company and check the classroom for size, layout, and capaciy.

Speak loudly with a perfect diction

Keep your voice a little loud than your normal voice especially when the presentation is in a large classroom. If possible, use a microphone so that your voice could reach to every corner. Try to work on your diction if it’s not up to the mark. Otherwise it may lead to have a wrong impression among the audience. Do not go through the slides or notes again and again. Just have them for reference point of view; else the audience will feel that you are not well prepared.

Work on the anxiety factor

It’s quite normal if you are anxious before or during the presentation. Try to calm yourself and have some water as dry mouth also results anxiety. Keep a smile on your face during the session as it will result in enthusiasm in yourself. Boost yourself as most of the people are having the fear of public speaking and you are enough courageous to stand and speak in front of them. It’s common that during nervousness you speak fast, hence use pauses in your speech.

Engage with audience

Keep the session humorous as this will help you out to relate with the audience. And also keep the mood a bit light. If any person among the audience is putting any question, ask her name and then when answering call them by their names. By this way, people will listen to you with more concentration.

Accept the fact that you can’t answer all the queries

No matter how much you have prepared, you may not know the answer to each and every query. After all, everybody is learning all the time and audience will also embrace this fact. And by admitting it, you can actually show your genuineness to the audience. Don’t feel bad about it, just note down the query and try to find the answer later.

To read our previous article, please click here.

Salespersons have this ability to sell even an average product smartly. However, just depending on their inherent selling skills is not enough. As an employer, you should train your salespersons and keep them updated about your latest products, services, and the industry trends. One good idea would be to organize training programs regularly. If possible, consider inviting industry experts to your training programs. This would be a great opportunity for your sales team to interact with the experts and get the right guidance from them. Before you rent classroom for your training program, check whether your training room rental company provides the necessary tools and facilities for conducting an effective training session. Here are some useful tips on how to train your sales team.

Keep it short

According to a recent study, long lectures are ineffective. Students have a short attention span these days. Even if you deliver a compelling lecture for one hour, your students may not be able to concentrate for more than 15-20 minutes. So keep your training sessions short and to the point. For instance, show them a five-minute video explaining your sales strategies for the next quarter. Another good idea would be ask them questions during the training program. This helps keep the audience engaged.

Share success stories

Salespersons usually have a positive mindset. They always see the glass half-full rather than half empty. They love to hear success stories. Make sure you share enough success stories to keep them motivated. If one of your sales representatives achieved a remarkable success in the recent past, share that story with your team and see how it creates a positive impact on their performance.

Make the most of technology

If you are using new software or technology in your organization, your salespeople should be made acquainted with them. For instance, CRM is a great tool to collect, organize, analyze customer data. If you are planning to implement CRM, you should train your salespeople. They should get hands-on training on how to enter customer data into the CRM system, how to access the data stored in the system, and when and how to use it to sell more.

Provide product knowledge

Your salespeople should know your products in detail. If you make any changes in your product features, you should keep your salespeople updated about it. If required, organize sales training program every month, so that you can keep your sales team in the loop about any upcoming products or any changes in your existing products. You can get hefty discounts from your training room rental company, if you rent classroom from them frequently.

Provide industry insights

It is also important for your salespeople to know about the recent trends in the industry. Make sure your sales training programs include lectures on the same. There should be sessions on competitor analysis and so on.

Another good idea would to provide your new hires firsthand training. You can send your new people with seasoned salespersons, so that they can get practical training on how to sell in the real life scenario.