|
“Help! Help! Police!”
Where’s a cop when you need one?
The other day, I was going through a survey I
conducted titled, “Speakers’ Bureaus,” and I came across a Bureau that
looked to be doing everything right, but the Director still marked the
program as only “somewhat effective.”
I wondered why, so I gave her a call. Reason for the disappointment,
she explained, was that her speakers weren’t being asked to speak at
large groups. Still doing
very small groups, she said.
Sometimes only five people.
On average, thirty.
And she had hoped the Bureau would be getting invitations from
larger, more influential organizations by now.
“Well, how are you getting the word out?” I
asked. They did a pretty
good job at promotion, she said.
An even mix of word of mouth, web search, and direct marketing.
Sounds OK, I thought. But “word of mouth” caught my attention, so I asked,
“What do your evaluations say?”
Good marks, she said. The Directors of the organizations were very
pleased.
“How about the audience? Do you get any feedback from them?” I asked.
No, not really, she said. They didn’t have time to do audience evaluations. They ask just the Directors for
feedback.
Oh, OK, I said. Well, chances are your speakers aren’t doing such a
good job and the word is, indeed, getting out. Directors are typically very kind in their evaluations
because their feedback isn’t anonymous for one thing, and secondly,
they’re just glad to have a speaker. But audiences are different. “Word of mouth” is a two way street, you know. Could be your speakers are going
long. Or what’s worse, they
are going long with a boring talk.
Professors are accustomed to giving 50-minute lectures and sometimes
they have trouble boiling things down to 15 or 20 minutes, I said. Do you have someone in your
English Department or maybe over in your Business School who could
provide some speaker training or give some help with the presentations? I
suggested.
“Well, yes, but I’m not going to ask, she said. I think our professors would be
insulted if I suggested they get speaker training or help with their
presentations. Our speakers
are tenured professors and experts in their fields. And I wouldn’t want to put myself
in the position of being the Presentation Police!”
Me, either!
But if there’s a possibility your objectives are not being met as
a result of dull or poorly delivered presentations, maybe a little
policing is warranted, tenured experts or not.
So here’s what to do …
Let the evaluations do
the policing for you. Before
each presentation, ask your speakers, or the Directors, to hand out
evaluation forms. It’s not
like your professors have never been evaluated before. Students evaluate their professors
every semester and your speakers can put their audiences at ease by
telling them so. Ask the
audience to leave the forms on the table on their way out, have your
speaker collect them and send them to you.
If the audience feedback comes back all thumbs up,
it’s not your speakers but something else causing the lack of invitations
from top-tier organizations.
Could be in the promotion.
Face-to-face visits with targeted groups might solve the
problem. And don’t forget to
take the data with you to showcase your speakers’ abilities.
But if the feedback comes back less than
satisfactory, suggest some speaker training. If it’s a budget issue, the data will support your
request.
And if the data shows a need for presentation
development, suggest some editing.
Work on length, how the slides look from the back of the room, and
how the piece flows. Better
yet, get a professional to look at it. Again, if it’s a budget issue, the evaluations will
provide support.
Always get feedback from the audience. And make it a standard
practice.
Solid data is hard to argue with. Just like a cop.
Want to add a thought or a comment?
Drop me a note at rjmccall@executivecom.com
|
