In any industry, at some point you will encounter undecided stakeholders who need to be converted from lukewarm skeptics to red-hot advocates.
Whether you’re a business maven pitching a new idea for your company, an admin seeking final sign-off for an event or a proactive school principal securing funding and support of parents and the wider school community, persuading others of your vision and getting them on board is a crucial skill to help you in the workplace.
Here, we explore five tips for speaking confidently and persuasively with undecided stakeholders to help you realize your vision.
1. Reaffirm your shared goals and purpose.
One of the most effective ways to positively influence others is to understand how your objectives play into their objectives—and to find common ground between the two.
Before the meeting takes place, spend some time understanding the aims of both parties and how your vision complements both goals. For example, onboarding a digital communications platform for your school community reduces tasks and saves time for administration and teachers so they can focus on students, while parents have full transparency and access to school communications.
At the beginning of the meeting or presentation, start by addressing the collective goal and purpose, and share how all stakeholders will benefit from your proposed vision. At the end of the meeting, reiterate this so it stays in their minds.
In other words, make your stakeholders believe you are helping them to reach their goals, and they’ll be more open to your vision.
2. Practice active listening and empathy.
When it comes to influencing others, it’s easy to confuse actions for progress, and assume that speaking more leads to persuasion. The reality, however, is that a big part of influence is listening to your stakeholders and understanding their points of view.
Rather than simply presenting your vision, take the time first to listen to the concerns, opinions and beliefs of all your stakeholders. When you address them, acknowledge their points of view—this way, you show that you respect and value their opinion, and build a mutual level of understanding and trust with your stakeholders.
Ultimately, the more they feel understood and the more they trust you, the more influence you will have in the long run.
We have two ears and one mouth and we should use them proportionately.”
– John Berghoff, Quiet by Susan Cain
3. Use psychological theories to your advantage.
Science has come a long way in recent years, and this means there is no shortage of psychological theories which can help you influence others positively in the workplace. Familiarize yourself with a few that can help you gain that extra level of credibility and influence, so you have a toolkit to draw upon to help enhance your level of persuasiveness.
For example, social proof, which includes using testimonials from other key opinion leaders to validate your point, can help you gain credibility amongst your stakeholders. If you’re trying to persuade parents to be more involved in the school community, using quotes or having a speech from a parent gives your vision more credibility.
4. It’s not just what you say, it’s also how you say it.
This includes body language. In communication, the way you present yourself can either enhance the impact of your words or detract from it.
Practice persuasive body language when you’re communicating to stakeholders, and this will help you gain influence and project authority—which, in turn, builds your rapport and gives credibility to what you say.
In a nutshell:
Stand tall but relaxed, with your shoulders back.
Keep your posture open: don’t cross your arms and legs, lean against objects, or put your hands in your pocket.
Maintain eye contact with your stakeholders to acknowledge them, whether they are parents who are new to the school community or teachers you have worked with for years.
Use your hands: Gestures can help drive a point home, or signal the desire for participation. Just be sure to use them sparingly, however—too many gestures can make you appear nervous or detract from your words.
5. Address and embrace positive conflict.
When looking at how to influence others in the workplace, one of the common mistakes people make is avoiding conflict altogether. Stakeholders will disagree with you—it’s all part and parcel of the communication process. However, rather than avoiding or ignoring the conflict, embrace it as an opportunity to have a dialogue and potentially influence their viewpoint.
If a stakeholder disagrees or challenges your vision, use it as an opportunity to practice active listening: Ask open-ended questions to really understand their goals and empathize with their concerns, and reflect on any shared goals you have to show that you are working together.
More on influence and persuasion
Bringing stakeholders onboard can be a challenge, yet these tips will help you approach every meeting better prepared.
What tips do you find useful for convincing undecided stakeholders?
October is going to be a killer month of live music entertainment in Texas. I’m planning on attending seven concerts—all of the bands are original and incredible. (For those interested or in need of some music recommendations, the schedule includes the Canadian jazz quartet BadBadNotGood, L.A.’s soul-funk Chicano Batman, Houston’s Thai-surf rock Khruangbin and the always-evolving Australian seven-piece King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.)
With this in mind, I had the opportunity to chat with music booker Jason Swartz, founder of Alliance Talent, about the challenges planners face when seeking to include live music in an event’s schedule and the state of the festival scene in the U.S.
Have you booked much talent for association or non-profit events? If so, what unique challenges arise?
Through my company, Alliance Talent, I have been actively involved in non-profit events since we began booking concerts in the early 2000s. When it comes to non-profits, I haven’t faced many challenges that are all that different than with any other client. Typically, when an event is run by a non-profit they still have budgets available for booking talent. We go through the process of getting to know the client, the overall goals for the event’s musical direction, press needs, social media and, of course, the budget.
Once that’s dialed in, we obtain the lists needed to make a firm decision on direction. The main challenge that comes with non-profits, like universities and other associations with multiple decision makers, is getting everyone on the same page in terms of musical direction.
Many people choose talent based on their personal interests with the assumption that others will also be engaged by what they like. With 17 years of experience, I know how to get an organization aligned. Sometimes this involves combining an opening act of one genre and a headliner of another or simply guiding them on a list of artists that works for everyone’s expectations.
What advice do you have for planners that appear to be stuck in the habit of hiring 70s or 80s cover bands year after year?
It’s always fun to book 70s, 80s and other theme based cover bands because like DJs they can play a wide variety of music that will appeal to everyone. There is always that concern that choosing a specific act with their own music may lead to them playing 2-3 songs that everyone loves and then having the remainder of the set filled with songs that don’t appeal to the audience.
If an organization really wants a 70s and 80s style show, we guide them on acts that are versed in doing special events for charities, non-profits and corporate organizations. Those kinds of acts will know that they need to play their own music, but they will also add in some jams that everyone can relate to. Often, those include their own versions of covers from that era. Also, the idea of having the actual band that played those original songs adds a much stronger cache to an event both for attendance, press and social media.
Showing organizations how they can benefit from marketing elements makes a big difference from simply booking a cover band. Also, adding a host DJ to the event to warm up the crowd prior and post to a band’s performance is always a great way to satisfy everyone’s needs for a variety of music from a specific decade.
How can planners help their events get out of a rut of offering the same kind of music year after year?
If an event planner is looking to switch things up from past years, they need to make a leap of faith and just jump into it. Again, I’d recommend starting by connecting with a professional talent buying agency that can really guide them through the best options for their budget, theme and overall experience.
I’d also recommend internally to put together a list that aligns with their theme or genre, so that when they do connect with a talent buying agency they will already have taken the steps to get their entire board on the same page. Once a specific list of 10-20 acts has been pre-approved it will be that much easier for the buyers to negotiate on their behalf knowing the event is ready to go.
What does it typically take for an organization to shake things up and get more creative with its auditory entertainment?
They need to look at the benefits of having an actual act with a known national name. As mentioned, the press and the cache will help with the marketing and will help sell tickets for the event that year. In addition, the organization will start to build up a track record of having known national talent, which will make it easier to get bigger names on board year after year. Musicians, agents and managers always feel more comfortable to play an event or a festival once they know other national names have played it in the past or are on board for the current year.
Not all events have significant budgets for entertainment. Can you share some tips to help planners find and pay for recognized bands?
Checking to see who’s already in town or is local is a great way to get some kind of discount. The less a band must travel, the less they will charge. Also, if a non-profit organization is hosting an event for a specific charity or cause, it is often possible to identify musicians that are supportive of similar causes. These acts are often likely to perform at a discount if it is a cause they believe in.
How can planners best locate lesser-known acts that are original but also affordable?
The best way to find known acts at a discount is to go through experienced talent buying agencies. It takes a knowledgeable team that is talking to artists, managers and agents every day to know which artists are more eager for gigs and looking to do things at more reasonable prices. As mentioned, researching who is on tour and close by to where the event is taking place may also lower costs.
What should planners be wary of when booking entertainment?
Event planners need to ensure that the company they are dealing with for booking talent is experienced and well referenced online. Get some documentation from them on their history or ask them for some references.
Also make sure that when you agree to the booking you’re aware of all the additional costs. Booking talent doesn’t just involve a fee for talent, there also may be an additional fee for the agency booking it, as well as additional costs for the talent itself. Those costs usually involve travel, hospitality and backline production equipment.
One benefit of going through experienced talent buying agencies is that reputable ones will be able to compile all of these costs into one all-in fee so planners can focus on what they do best rather than dealing with all the logistical needs of the performers and their teams.
The structure of music festival lineups has changed significantly since the early years of Lollapalooza—now it seems that a set group of acts simply tour between festivals rather than each major festival booking a fully or mostly unique lineup. How is this affecting the draw of festivals?
Even though one would think that having similar acts at various festivals would cause attendance to go down, festival attendance over the decades (since Lollapalooza) have gone up significantly. Acts that typically only tour once every few years can tour more often since festivals pay top dollar.
Acts like Radiohead, Paul McCartney, Bjork and a huge list of others that formerly toured infrequently now tour a lot more. That means more amazing shows by awesome talent across a wider variety of regions. Also, social media has really helped propel festivals. When an artist has an amazing performance at one festival, there is a social media effect that enables people to have the same amazing experience online.
What are some aspects of festival organization and planning that you think could be improved upon?
I’d like to see an increase in creativity when it comes to choosing locations. In the last 10 years, the festival experience has really come of age in America, but how many times are we going to have a festival on a grass field or in a concrete parking lot.
I would love to see festivals branch out to create more events in nature. Whether its eco-concerts in a forest, at beach locations, alongside rivers or in the mountains, featuring music in other natural environments would really enhance the festival experience.
Also, the concept of creating communities within a festival is fun and encourages people to remain on the grounds for the duration of the festival. Creating a community opens all kinds of new experiences related to food, architectural design and communication between fans. In this setting, people won’t just go home from a festival with a phone filled with live show content and a t-shirt. Now they will return having really connected with new people, and will have experienced something unique and fulfilling.
Are there some examples of festival organizers doing this right that you can share?
Lightning in a Bottle in Bradley, Calif., is a really cool festival that continues to make its festival setting more interesting from a community and environmental standpoint. Adding more art structures, lighting and layouts in their campgrounds has created a cool forest-like community.
Also a new festival in Negril, Jamaica, called Tmrw.Tday Cultural Fest was quite interesting as a destination festival that incorporated beach, jungle and even rock cave parties into its weekend itinerary. I thought that was amazing and has a tremendous potential for growth.
These events do not need to be limited to environments, I think festivals could try throwing an event at a water park or amusement park as well. Festivals need to remember in the end that they are throwing a massive party and potentially creating a community for a day. Proper festivals really should be more than just multiple concert performances going on at the same time surrounded by carnival rides and the same old typical food stands.
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Caesars Entertainment offers meeting and event planners one dedicated team that works as a united front, committed to providing the most successful meeting experiences possible. Enjoy elite perks, rewards and privileges with our Total Rewards Meeting Diamond Program.
Click here to fill out the survey for your chance to win!
Meeting planners are always looking for new ways to create an environment that fosters lasting impressions. I’ve noticed an uptick of meeting planners bringing their groups outdoors to enjoy nature, and have seen how this can help the overall success of an event. By encouraging attendees to get out of the traditional boardroom, meeting planners can find easy and fun ways to engage their group and create a setting that builds lasting connections among your attendees.
I recommend that meeting planners consider the following when planning an outdoor event.
Use nature to help meet your goals
First off, planners should outline the goals of their event and understand how incorporating outdoor elements can help to achieve the desired result. For example, if planners would like their group to network, a casual and relaxing outdoor setting may help attendees to be more comfortable with connecting and encourage meaningful conversations.
Also, planners should not be hesitant to change it up a bit and consider moving traditional elements of the meeting agenda outdoors. For example, instead of a projection slideshow presentation, I’ve seen planners host creative and fun flip chart sessions outside in which the attendees have been fully engaged and more interactive than in a traditional ballroom or boardroom setting. We’ve even held trade shows outdoors to add a new element to exhibits. Sometimes a small change in setting is all it takes for planners to make a big difference for their event.
Reset your mind and re-energize
As we live in the day and age of fast-paced work environments, instant downloads and hundreds of emails, planners can get attendees outdoors in order to help them tap into a different part of their brains and decompress. Even if you have a content-heavy program, planners can incorporate outdoor breaks that allow guests to enjoy the fresh air, give their minds a moment to process all of the information they’ve learned and allow them to “reset” before their next set of sessions for the day.
When planners incorporate the outdoors into their events, they are choosing to infuse “light space” which refers to anything with a natural setting, from fresh air and sunlight to trees and running water. These types of spaces are perfect for groups to spur creativity and reenergize, helping to increase the success of the event.
Things to consider
Hyatt Regency Lost Pines – Outdoor Banquet
For planners who are hosting full outdoor sessions, it is important to keep a couple things in mind to ensure a successful event. For example, I encourage planners to consider a pavilion-type setup which provides overhead shade or extended covering that protects from the sun and is adaptable based on weather changes. I also suggest a casual dress code that is suitable and comfortable for being outside—there is rarely the need to be in a suit for an outdoor function.
Although several types of meeting sessions can be hosted outdoors, I’ve noticed that roundtable discussions that open up dialogue to attendees and encourage out-of-the-box thinking typically work best, rather than closed, content-driven sessions.
Consider and utilize your specific venue
I recommend that planners look for destinations that provide an abundance of outdoor space. As most resorts are designed to incorporate a natural landscape, they are typically ideal venues for outdoor meetings that encourage creative learning. A resort’s outdoor spaces are usually among its best assets, and as an added bonus, it’s typically beneficial for planners to utilize those areas.
In May 2017 Google unveiled Event Search for the U.S. market. It is the search giant’s latest product which aims to shorten the path between clicking the “search” button and setting eyes on the desired information.
Google Event Search puts every event company on notice. The shorter search sequence means more convenience for the user, but it also comes with additional work for event marketing professionals. Under the new regime, they have to implement additional mark-up on their event pages and follow a clear set of best practices in order to make it on the coveted Google Event Search list. Read on to find out how to maximize the potential of this powerful new tool!
What is Google Event Search?
Google Event Search is to event marketing what Knowledge Graph was to content marketing: the user searches puts in a query and, alongside the usual page-ranked results, a panel with readily digestible, actionable information in the form of “smart cards” appears. Each smart card presents an event with a meaningful headline, location, date and time, and other relevant details like tickets or pictures. Clicking on a smart card takes the user to the source page.
Needless to say, making your way into the Google Event Search panel can do wonders for your online event promotion. It is not rocket science, but there are some details and tricks to it. Here is the breakdown.
Google Event markup
In order to get your event to show up in relevant Google Search and Google Maps queries, you need to apply the appropriate markup to your event page (click here for an example on how to do this manually). If you have a number of different events already listed on your website, you might want to resort to Google’s Data Highlighter instead. It will crawl the designated event pages and introduce the appropriate markup for a stellar Event Search appearance.
Technical guidelines
To ensure there are no technical obstacles to your event turning into an attractive smart card on Google Event Search, your event page must consist of structured data items–refer to this guide on event types. There are some required properties to include like location, name or starting date as well as a host of recommended properties, such as a description, an image and ticketing information. (Go here for full details direct from Google.)
The other requirement is for each of your events to have a unique URL and the corresponding event markup associated to that URL.
Content guidelines
Once your markup is in place, you should optimise your content as well. First and foremost, make sure you have described the event accurately; give it a meaningful title and a succinct, catchy synopsis. Make the location, date, and time explicit, and add a booking link.
It may be tempting to present non-events as events to gain additional exposure. Limited-time offers or discounts on certain services, however, are not true events, and Google will not list them as a rich card in Event Search. They will still appear in the regular search results; however, we would never recommend such erroneous labelling.
If you are hosting a multi-day event, make sure to add both the start and end dates. Separate sub-events with individual ticketing, on the other hand, require unique URLs.
Follow the recommendations above and take your event promotion to the next level!
When it comes to presentations, I could write a “1,200 Tips for Great Presentations” article and only scratch the surface. But in the interest of time (and sanity), I’ll center this post on how to present to senior executives. And even more specifically, how to present at a financial meeting with executives. Whether you’re a marketing coordinator doing a presentation on the values of leads generated or giving a full CFO presentation to executives, these five tips will put you on the path to delivering a rock solid, controlled and insightful presentation.
1. Be clear in your objectives
When you find out that you will be presenting, get as much information as you possibly can about what you should be doing. Some of the non-negotiable, need-to-know facts (apart from the time and date of the presentation) are:
How long is the presentation?
What format does it need to be?
Who are you presenting to?
What are they interested in finding out?
You should endeavor to have these questions answered as precisely as possible before you even consider what information you’ll present. The answers to these questions will give you the base you need to create a presentation that is informative and engages your audience.
Pro Tip: When you find out about the presentation, have a think about it and work out what your key questions are. Then book in some time with whoever gave you the task—it can be as simple as chatting on the way to get a takeaway coffee. Make sure you come away with a firm understanding of what you are doing. There’s nothing worse than the feeling of building a presentation only to lose confidence that what you’ve done is not actually what’s required!
2. Prepare properly
This one might go without saying,.but going into a financial meeting with executives unprepared is a big no-no (regardless of how good you might be at speaking off the cuff). There are a couple of keys here that you might not think of as part of your preparation.
First, when preparing your slides (we will assume you are using slides here), make them as visual as possible. Think pictures, infographics and graphs. Nobody (even the most financial of chief financial officers) wants to look at slide after slide of spreadsheets.
Second, send the documents to your executives in advance. They might read over them in detail, or they might not. But they will almost certainly flick through them and this will likely pique their interest in what you have to say.
3. Highlight clear takeaways
All good presentations should boil down to a few key points (three at absolute maximum)—these are your takeaways. Takeaways are the things that you want to stick in people’s heads even when they’ve forgotten everything else you’ve said. They should frame your presentation—and by that, I mean that you state them clearly at the beginning, end and allude to them throughout.
You want your takeaways to be positive, even if the news is not necessarily so. Frame any issues as work in progress, for example, “We have struggled to recover this debt, however as a result we have started a new debt collection process and expect that matter to be resolved shortly.”
For a great takeaway, frame your point positively and in simple language for maximum stickiness (in the minds of your executives).
4. Anticipate the questions
Anticipating questions is one of the central pillars of a good presentation. You DO NOT want to get stumped by a question. It’s a bad look.
When you have a pretty firm idea of what you will be covering in your presentation, if you take a run through it you will pretty easily be able to spot the areas where questions will arise.
Often those questions will be around a bad figure—“Why is it like this?” “What’s being done to fix it?” “What have we done in the past?” But they might be around good news as well—“OK, so we’re looking good now, but what’s our strategy for when that CapEx hits the bottom line?”
A surprising number of people opt for the ostrich approach and stick their heads in the sand, but you need to be real with yourself, work out what those questions could be and plan your answers. Read on to find out the best way to do that.
5. Cover the difficult points with a narrative
This is one of the secrets of how to present to senior executives. Nobody likes having to discuss struggling finances or mention that the figures are perhaps not where they should be. It’s a difficult conversation to have at the best of times, made all the more difficult by a critical with a deep interest in the company!
So if you know your cash flows look bad due to clients who haven’t paid their invoices, think about how you can present this information. What factors are playing into the situation? Are there process difficulties that are restricting the generation of revenue? And, most importantly, what are you already doing to fix the issue?
Having this narrative at hand shows the executives that you’ve identified the problem, looked into it and are fixing it. Often (though not always), this is what your executives want to hear. It’s not that they expect everything to always run smoothly, they just want to know that the people they have handling these problems are capable and in control.
It’s important to make a good impression on executives. And apart from that, delivering a great presentation can be a huge boost to your self-confidence. By following the steps above you will be taking your presentation and turning it into an incredible opportunity to raise your profile within your company and set yourself up for success.
When it comes to presentations, I could write a “1,200 Tips for Great Presentations” article and only scratch the surface. But in the interest of time (and sanity), I’ll center this post on how to present to senior executives. And even more specifically, how to present at a financial meeting with executives. Whether you’re a marketing coordinator doing a presentation on the values of leads generated or giving a full CFO presentation to executives, these five tips will put you on the path to delivering a rock solid, controlled and insightful presentation.
1. Be clear in your objectives
When you find out that you will be presenting, get as much information as you possibly can about what you should be doing. Some of the non-negotiable, need-to-know facts (apart from the time and date of the presentation) are:
How long is the presentation?
What format does it need to be?
Who are you presenting to?
What are they interested in finding out?
You should endeavor to have these questions answered as precisely as possible before you even consider what information you’ll present. The answers to these questions will give you the base you need to create a presentation that is informative and engages your audience.
Pro Tip: When you find out about the presentation, have a think about it and work out what your key questions are. Then book in some time with whoever gave you the task—it can be as simple as chatting on the way to get a takeaway coffee. Make sure you come away with a firm understanding of what you are doing. There’s nothing worse than the feeling of building a presentation only to lose confidence that what you’ve done is not actually what’s required!
2. Prepare properly
This one might go without saying,.but going into a financial meeting with executives unprepared is a big no-no (regardless of how good you might be at speaking off the cuff). There are a couple of keys here that you might not think of as part of your preparation.
First, when preparing your slides (we will assume you are using slides here), make them as visual as possible. Think pictures, infographics and graphs. Nobody (even the most financial of chief financial officers) wants to look at slide after slide of spreadsheets.
Second, send the documents to your executives in advance. They might read over them in detail, or they might not. But they will almost certainly flick through them and this will likely pique their interest in what you have to say.
3. Highlight clear takeaways
All good presentations should boil down to a few key points (three at absolute maximum)—these are your takeaways. Takeaways are the things that you want to stick in people’s heads even when they’ve forgotten everything else you’ve said. They should frame your presentation—and by that, I mean that you state them clearly at the beginning, end and allude to them throughout.
You want your takeaways to be positive, even if the news is not necessarily so. Frame any issues as work in progress, for example, “We have struggled to recover this debt, however as a result we have started a new debt collection process and expect that matter to be resolved shortly.”
For a great takeaway, frame your point positively and in simple language for maximum stickiness (in the minds of your executives).
4. Anticipate the questions
Anticipating questions is one of the central pillars of a good presentation. You DO NOT want to get stumped by a question. It’s a bad look.
When you have a pretty firm idea of what you will be covering in your presentation, if you take a run through it you will pretty easily be able to spot the areas where questions will arise.
Often those questions will be around a bad figure—“Why is it like this?” “What’s being done to fix it?” “What have we done in the past?” But they might be around good news as well—“OK, so we’re looking good now, but what’s our strategy for when that CapEx hits the bottom line?”
A surprising number of people opt for the ostrich approach and stick their heads in the sand, but you need to be real with yourself, work out what those questions could be and plan your answers. Read on to find out the best way to do that.
5. Cover the difficult points with a narrative
This is one of the secrets of how to present to senior executives. Nobody likes having to discuss struggling finances or mention that the figures are perhaps not where they should be. It’s a difficult conversation to have at the best of times, made all the more difficult by a critical with a deep interest in the company!
So if you know your cash flows look bad due to clients who haven’t paid their invoices, think about how you can present this information. What factors are playing into the situation? Are there process difficulties that are restricting the generation of revenue? And, most importantly, what are you already doing to fix the issue?
Having this narrative at hand shows the executives that you’ve identified the problem, looked into it and are fixing it. Often (though not always), this is what your executives want to hear. It’s not that they expect everything to always run smoothly, they just want to know that the people they have handling these problems are capable and in control.
It’s important to make a good impression on executives. And apart from that, delivering a great presentation can be a huge boost to your self-confidence. By following the steps above you will be taking your presentation and turning it into an incredible opportunity to raise your profile within your company and set yourself up for success.
Are you interested in educating yourself on some of the best traditions in event planning so that you can improve your approach? A lot of event planners have their own style, but sticking to a proven formula is a good recipe for success.
With that thought in mind, here are some of the top event planning traditions you should be aware of for your next project.
1. Provide great food
At an event for a lot of people the highlight is the food they are going to be eating. The food is part of what makes a great night out so you cannot sacrifice on this all-important aspect of the event. There are a lot of events actually planned out around a specific meal.
Even though the main meal is the highlight, you need to create a four-course meal structure. The event might take place over a period of several hours, and a single meal is not going to cut it. Be creative with the entrees to get things going.
2. Efficient registration
You must select a way of registering for the event that is efficient. Decades ago cards were sent out and people would need to RSVP. Nowadays online registration is the way to go and there are many software options to get this done.
You can view things such as how many invitations were opened—even if they haven’t yet selected an option. Providing an easier invitation delivery system means you’re going to get much higher response rates, and the length of the response time will be reduced.
3. Plan the event socially
Whilst planning the event allow the attendees to have input on the different decisions. This can be done online via a variety of different social platforms. Let’s say that you are selecting the flower arrangements and aren’t sure which ones to go with. You’ll provide a few different combinations and the feedback from the community will make the decision for you.
Overall, the ease with which decisions are made will improve and guests will get an event that better matches their preferences—it’s a win-win for everyone.
4. Get staff you can trust
On the big day it will be too late to post an ad for a new waitress or cook. You need to make sure that you have a team of dedicated professionals that will perform when the event day arrives. Also make sure that they are put in the best possible position to succeed. Equip them with the best technology to make the event easier to coordinate.
For example, reliable headsets can make for improved communication, which can be essential when you need to find the guy organizing the chairs when there are a few unexpected guests.
5. Engage the audience
Guests that are left to make their own entertainment can very quickly get bored, and once that happens it can be an uphill battle trying to get their attention and enthusiasm. From the very start try to engage the audience by hosting a quiz, putting on a presentation via video or in person or holding a games session. What you go for should depend on the type of audience you’re dealing with. There are countless ways that you can engage the audience.
By following this framework, you’re on the path to hosting a successful event. These methods have been tried and tested by countless event planners before you so they are worth paying attention to. But don’t be scared to try something new from time to time for the chance to give guests an event experience that will stand out for a long time to come.
Just one day into the filming of season four of the reality TV series Bachelor in Paradise, production came to a grinding, screeching halt. The reason? There was an alcohol-fueled sexual encounter involving two contestants: Corinne Olympios and DeMario Jackson. The allegation is that Corinne was too drunk to consent and the producers should have stepped in to stop a sexual encounter. They didn’t.
The Criminal Code of Canada is being updated to clarify and toughen up the meaning of sexual consent. Specifically, despite a recent controversial court ruling that is under appeal, someone who is unconscious or so drunk that they are not aware of what is going on cannot give consent. Other jurisdictions are likely to follow.
No one other than the producers who are in possession of the video footage knew for sure what happened on the Bachelor in Paradise set. After a two-week investigation, Warner Bros. announced that the raw footage had revealed that no sexual assault had taken place that night. This did not undo the fact that, The Bachelor brand has been tarnished and the future success of Bachelor in Paradise remains uncertain. Could the same thing happen to your brand?
During a corporate event, especially when a corporate group is in a stunning foreign setting, alcohol may flow freely and as everyone is having fun and in a lighter mood…and it’s easy for employees to forget about their personal safety. It is also easy for companies to forget about Duty of Care.
Employers have a duty of care to their employees, which means that they should take all possible steps to ensure their health, safety and wellbeing.
Unlike a TV series, in a corporate environment, there is usually no video footage to shed a light on what took place. There have been enough U.S. sexual harassment lawsuits that have resulted in multimillion-dollar awards to establish the fact that there can be liability for the organization when situations go awry. Recently, Uber executives were forced to resign as a result of a dysfunctional corporate culture that included alcohol abuse and sexual harassment. Wired magazine’s article about the “alcohol soaked” cultures in many tech firms which shared the results of a Cornell University study, concluded that there is a: “…close connection between permissive workplace drinking cultures and sexual harassment. And while blaming sexual assault on alcohol would be a mistake, many incidents involve people who have been drinking. In short, heavy drinking at work or conferences makes employees—especially women—less safe.”
There are no easy or clear-cut solutions or easy answers, but the following steps help reduce risks to employers and ensure employee safety during corporate events and overseas trips. Corporate event planners and their clients would be well advised to give serious consideration to these 10 tips for preventing alchohol abuse and sexual misconduct at company functions.
1. Set and communicate clear and specific policies about alcohol consumption and appropriate behavior for corporate events.
It is best to include this in a documented code of conduct and have all employees sign it when they are hired (or when the code is introduced/amended).
2. Pinpoint which misconduct warrants disciplinary action, up to and including termination.
As a guideline, misconduct that violates the criminal code or jeopardizes the safety of employees should be included. Also include behavior that could bring disrepute or negative publicity to the organization.
3. Remind individuals that they have a responsibility to monitor their own alcohol consumption and behavior and avoid situations that could put them in danger.
Examples: Avoid sexual encounters with co-workers and individuals who you have just met if you are even slightly tipsy. Don’t go off the beaten track on your own, especially if you have been drinking.
4. Establish a zero-tolerance policy for sexual misconduct.
DeMario Jackson’s employer fired him immediately.
5. Ensure that all members of the senior management team lead by example.
6. Limit alcohol consumption.
Consider wristbands as an alternative to an open bar or drink tickets. (Drink tickets can be passed on by employees who don’t consume alcohol.)
7. Provide a wide assortment of non-alcoholic beverages.
8. Always have certified bartenders to monitor the situation for hospitality suites and villas.
I repeat always.
9. Designate at least one senior manager to refrain from consuming alcohol, monitor the situation and intervene if things get out of hand.
Hotel security can be called upon to escort individuals who are rowdy or disorderly back to their rooms. For events “at home,” transportation can be arranged to ensure that employees get home safely or a hotel room should be provided for them to sleep it off.
10. Turn off the tap at least an hour before an event is scheduled to end.
This will reduce the likelihood that individuals will leave events in a vulnerable state.
Sex when mixed with alcohol can be a volatile cocktail with serious fall-out for employers and employees. Caution must be exercised by all parties.
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There are no easy or clear-cut solutions or easy answers, but the following steps help reduce risks to employers and ensure employee safety during corporate events and overseas trips. Corporate event planners and their clients would be well advised to give serious consideration to these 10 tips for preventing alchohol abuse and sexual misconduct at company functions.
