People organise events for a variety of reasons: training, networking and bringing people together, to name but a few, and the number of organisers doing so for these grounds has increased in recent years. Choosing the right venue and location are stressful enough, but on top of those concerns there are the challenges of running the right activities and engaging the guests once they come through the doors. 

A soul-destroying event could spell disaster for your brand and company, but have no fear. Below are six simple ways you can supercharge your event and keep the attendees clamouring for more: 

1. Call In Some Content Producers

Content is huge now, so you need to hire some professional content creators to help with the content marketing of your event. This is a superb way to start telling the story of your event, get potential attendees familiar with your brand and, generally, get them enthusiastic for the event. The content contributes to the overall experience of the event. Of course, you’re creating expectations by doing this, too, so you must be sure to deliver the goods on the day.

2. Encourage Social Media Use

Social media is another part of the event experience and is a way to generate excitement before the event, during it and after it. An event hashtag is a given, to help promote the event, and that can get the ball rolling, but if you’re the organiser you should keep the momentum going by encouraging discussion on social media. Ask engaging questions or introduce interesting topics, related to the themes of the conference event itself.

3. Keep Things Simple

Now, your audience won’t be idiots, but you should observe a simple formula to keep them from dozing in their seats. The content should be valuable to them in some way or have a wow factor that makes them sit up and take notice. It should solve a problem, provide an answer to a question or respond to a theory or need. The content should also generate some form of emotion and be something that they want to later share with others at the event and away from it. Professional content producers can help with all of this.

4. Train Speakers in Engagement Techniques

Public speaking is a skill and it takes no small amount of guts for speakers to get up there and deliver their speech or presentation. No one likes to give a tranquilising speech or stare into the eyes of attendees who are visibly bored and have grown irritable, maybe a touch hungry, too, or both.

None of that has to happen, though, if you train speakers in engagement techniques. This gets the audience more involved. The speaker can ask them questions. They can have breakout sessions. They can run activities or workshops that lend themselves to interaction. Boredom shouldn’t be an issue.

5. Use audience engagement handsets

Audience engagement system handsets are useful for a simple reason: they include everyone. A lot of events use websites or apps and present polls in which the attendees can take part, but sometimes internet bandwidth issues can disrupt engagement measures like this. A handset offers more reliability and, to a certain extent, equalises attendees because no one has to be tech savvy to use them. Older members may struggle if they were to have to use their mobile phones to participate and would welcome the handsets if this is the case.

6. Harness the power of analytics

How do you know if a conference is going well? A real time analytics tool can help you gauge it. Implement one of these tools and you can track how attendees are responding to your social media content. You can also have a look at any online feedback forms guests have submitted during the event. This data supplies you with valuable insight which you can use to make changes to the event as it happens or keep in mind when you hold your next event. No longer do you have to hit and hope or look on helpless as an event goes downhill.

A note on presenting at a conference event

If you happen to be one of the brave souls presenting at an event, consider hiring an expert to help you with your presentation visuals. Bullet points do add structure, fair enough, but they can be a bit boring as well, to say the least. 

Meanwhile, there are presentation specialists out there who can design your presentation visuals for you. Shoddy visuals can damage your presentation and your credibility. You want to look like a professional, but poor visuals will let you down. Hiring a PowerPoint pro to give your presentation the TLC it needs to shine and keep your reputation intact.  

Whether you’re running an event to train people, get people networking or just bring people together, you can minimise the stress of the endeavour by implementing the tips above. They’ll help you and your speakers to keep the attendees engaged, making it an enjoyable event for them and a successful one for you.

For more details on how to make your next event truly engaging, be sure to check out https://responsecrowd.com

Don’t miss out on a very special Narnia-inspired Christmas experience – The Most Magical Library of the Best Stories Ever – which will take place 22-24 Nov at C.S. Lewis Square, east Belfast, as part of this year’s C.S. Lewis Festival, 22 – 26 Nov.

Join The Literary Fairy, her friend Finn Faun, and the Very Interesting Creatures to sort out the terrible mess created by the evil Snow Queen and foil her rotten plan to ruin Christmas! This brand new C.S. Lewis-inspired Christmas experience will take place in a specially designed magical space in C.S. Lewis Square, where children and families will go on a fun and imaginative journey, encountering some fantastical characters before finally meeting Santa himself once their quest is complete. For further information on tickets, booking and the festival  visit www.eastsidearts.net

Maeve Curley from Lavey (and a member of Termoneeny Running Club) is busy training for next year’s London Marathon.

She is determined to raise as much as she can for Children’s Liver Disease Foundation (CLDF) the charity which has been close to her heart ever since her six year old son, Ted, was given a life-saving liver transplant when he was just 22 months. Now Maeve has come up with a novel idea to keep her on track with her training and boost her fundraising – it’s the Tedathon!

“I want people to pledge to walk, run or cycle for 5K or 30 minutes each day during December,” says Maeve. “It’s only £10 to join in so it’s a simple way both to raise money for a fantastic cause and to improve health and fitness during a month of over-indulgence. I’m lucky to have got a London Marathon place but I appreciate not everyone can do that. However, anyone can join in the Tedathon I’ve got friends and family both here and overseas who have signed up.  With a choice of a Tedathon medal (that doubles up as a Christmas tree bauble), or a pair of glow in the dark laces (as well as a ‘fit’ December) upon completion, I would love if as many people as possible could get on board and get Tedathon done!”

“To have a child suffer liver failure and go through transplant at such a young age is truly traumatic but Children’s Liver Disease Foundation have been there for us with information and emotional support all along. We want every family in our situation to have that kind of support and this is my way of giving something back.” 

“I would not have been able to launch Tedathon without the support of Declan and Emma Leung at Virtual Run NI.  They have provided guidance and ideas, and are designing the most amazing medals,” said Maeve.  Declan said, “At Virtual Run NI, we want to encourage people to get fit and active, we want to motivate and encourage runners (and in this case walkers, cyclists and swimmers too!) of all abilities and ages.  We always reward all finishers with the most fantastic medals and we are really excited about our Tedathon medal!”

Jacqueline Mc Gonigle, Chair of Termoneeny Running Club said, “We are proud to support Tedathon, and would encourage all runners, walkers, swimmers and cyclists to sign up for this very worthy challenge.  Termoneeny Running Club is only too happy to promote this fundraiser, and have enjoyed coming up with lots of ideas to support Maeve and Tedathon.  We wish Maeve all the best with her London marathon training.” 

Alison Taylor, Chief Executive of Children’s Liver Disease Foundation commented: “CLDF is the only UK charity dedicated to fighting all childhood liver diseases, by providing information and emotional support, funds for research and a voice for all those affected. In order to do this however, we rely on voluntary donations, so we are delighted to hear about the Tedathon. What a fantastic and fun way to get people involved in raising awareness.” 

Click HERE to sign up to #tedathon19 and good luck!

You can join in the conversation on Facebook and Twitter and use the hashtag #tedathon19

For more information on CLDF visit childliverdisease.org.

By Patience Bradley, author of The HouseWork WorkOut

Many people struggle to find time to exercise.  Sometimes just finding a little bit of time in our hectic schedule is virtually impossible.  So don’t try! At the end of the day cleaning and tidying your house is something you simply have to do, modifying your household chores shouldn’t be that hard.

By turning your household chores into a workout you can increase your heart rate and work your major muscle groups.  From hoovering, mopping and dusting to gardening and even cleaning the kitchen, there’s hundreds of exercises you can do at home.

When doing your HouseWork WorkOuts it’s a good idea to do these in 30 minutes slots.  You could even create a 30 minute playlist to work out to. Don’t forget that having up-beat and fast music on will help to keep you motivated, studies show that working out to fast music will increase your pace (which in turn increases your heart rate and therefore see you burning more calories), and the music typically makes you work out for longer.

1. Vacuum Your Entire House

Vacuuming can be a great exercise for your core and abs if you keep those muscles tense while cleaning. It burns around 190 calories per hour, but if you want to take this exercise further and burn more calories, do lunge motions while taking steps to work right in to those glutes.

2. Sweep Or Mop Your Floors

Prepare your floors by clearing the surfaces so you can clean as many as possible in quick succession. Where you can, squat rather than bending over to lift items and get to those hard-to-reach areas. Mopping burns around 195 calories per hour, but don’t forget to switch between your right and left arms to ensure an even work out. Use a good amount of elbow grease when you’re on your hands and knees scrubbing to work out your arms and shoulders, and remember to hold that tummy in while doing so to work out those abs.

3. Run Up And Down The Stairs

When you are tidying-up, and bringing items up or down the stairs, opt to repeat the action more often than you actually need to. For example, when bringing items upstairs, run up and down the stairs three times, as opposed to the one time that you need to. Walking up and down stairs at a brisk pace burns around 500 calories per hour. To turn this in to a toning exercise, go up two stairs at a time, but at a slower pace, so that it becomes a controlled strength exercise as opposed to a cardio one.

4. Do Calf Raises As You Wash Dishes

Start with your legs hip-width apart, before lifting up on to your toes. Hold this position for three to 10 seconds, before slowly coming down to stand on your whole feet again. Repeat this exercise 10 times per set, for three sets, with one minute rest in between sets.

5. Clean All Of Your Windows (Inside & Out)

Use both your left and right hands and arms to ensure an equal work out, and clean in a circular motion. Reach as high as you can to work your abs and oblique muscles (your waist). Cleaning windows burns around 180 calories per hour. The same applies to cleaning surfaces, mirrors, and dusting.

6. Weed Your Garden & Trim Plants

If weeding on your hands and knees, ensure you use proper cushioning, and engage your abs by keeping them tense throughout the work out. If you are doing short duration weeding in bursts, try squatting instead, and don’t forget to squat when gathering up the waste to put it in garden bags. Gardening in this way burns approximately 289 calories per hour.

7. Wash Your Car By Hand

Many of us enjoy the convenience of taking our cars to automatic or manual car wash services, but if you want to take advantage of nice weather, and get a work out in at the same time, wash your car by hand instead. A full car clean includes wetting, cleaning, rinsing, drying, and polishing, which are all fantastic actions for your arms and abs, as well as squatting to reach the lower areas of the vehicle, or to wet your chamois or sponge in soapy water. If you want to maximise this work out, clean the inside of your car, including the windows and hoovering the carpets and seats. Cleaning your car by hand burns around 230 calories per hour.

8. Make-The-Bed Triceps Dips

Depending on your skill level, changing bed sheets can feel like a work out on its own, especially if it’s a double. Maximise the benefits of doing this chore by fitting in some arm toning exercises at the same time. Sit on the edge of the bed with your hands placed palms down next to your hips, fingers facing forward. Scoot off the bed until you are only supported by your arms and feet. The further your feet are from the bed, the harder this exercise is. Lower down slowly, keeping your elbows tucked in to your sides, and use your arms to push yourself back up. Repeat 10 times in one set, for three sets, with  one minute rest in between sets.

9. Toilet Split Squats

When cleaning the toilet and the bathroom, use the toilet (with the seat down) to perform Bulgarian Split Squats. Place one foot on the toilet and your front foot far enough out in front of you so that you can lunge down without your knee going over your toes. Slowly lower your body down and use your extended leg to push yourself back up. Your instinct will be to lean forward over your extended leg – don’t – keep your upper body as straight as you can. This is a fantastic work out for your whole leg as well as your glutes! Don’t forget to repeat on both legs.

10. Lazy Bicep Curls

If you are carrying bags of groceries in to the house, or bags of rubbish out to the bin, use the opportunity to fit in a few bicep curls. Get a good grip on the bag palm facing up and make a fist, keep your elbows at your sides, and lift the bags so your hands reach your chest. This move can even be done with tins of beans, one litre bottles of juice, or anything else that makes a suitable weight, while you’re sitting watching TV!

11. No Time To ‘Waist’

If you are waiting for the kettle to boil, pasta to cook, or the microwave to ding, squeeze in a few squats, lunges, or push-ups off a wall or kitchen counter. If you make a dinner every evening, and a couple of cups of tea a day, the short-duration exercises will soon build up over a week, and after all, every little helps
The HouseWork WorkOut by Patience Bradley is out now and available from Amazon or www.excaliburpress.co.uk/book-shop