Here’s a 90 second video … or a story summary follows below too.
It all started with (6) small business owners presenting at a conference’s lightning round.
Each speaker spoke for app. 5 or 10 minutes only. They all demonstrated their own unique qualities as speakers. And the same time, their approach to content & format had traits in common: they were informal yet still informative, engaging, and story-centric.
This speaker slate set the audience’s expectation for what the lightning round would be like.
Then something completely different took the stage.
A sales representative from one of the event’s sponsors started a 20 minute sales pitch. Yikes.
Certainly a sponsor has a right to work with conference planners on how they will engage with attendees. But this sponsor’s presenter disengaged the audience by coming across as a plastic salesperson wanting to validate product (vs really help listeners in the room).
It begs the question: was there a more effective way for the sponsor to promote their product?
Criticism was striking. And it changed my speaker preparation checklist forever.
The negative reaction from the in-person audience and also reactions on Twitter were significant. Overall the event was a great small business conference (the Grow Smart Biz Conference here in DC) with a diverse, strong speaker slate.
This experience however has added (3) questions to my speaker preparation checklist to always address: Is my presentation style and tone compatible with what the audience expects? And is that style going to compliment or contradict other speakers at the event? As in, does the audience expect a sales pitch or another type of approach to engagement?
More from Live Your Talk:
- Commanding use of silence by a president;
- 3 ways to prepare for audience Q&A (and some great media history too);
- How women can be more persuasive speakers plus more tips galore.
