“I wish we had STARTED the conference with this session…”

Live meetings are a wonderful opportunity to network. But how many people struggle to introduce themselves effectively (and memorably)? This can be fixed.

A story:

Last year, when I was facilitating one of my favorite Clarity workshops (on Personal Branding) at the LTEN conference, the participants worked together to develop their introductory messages.

The roomful of attendees enjoyed a great time brainstorming their keywords, stories, and pithy phrases. Everyone gets to walk away with a Memory Dart.

One participant came up to me afterward and said, “I wish we ALL had this session at the very start of the conference - how much better the networking could have been for everyone.”

I agreed.

So, I distilled the workshop down to a simple 3-step, 30-minute practical exercise for a live event - an icebreaker/keynote/workshop session (I didn’t know exactly how to describe it). I ran the idea past a number of smart friends and one of them asked, “Why don’t you call it a pre-note?”

Pre-note. Perfect! Liven up the event, encourage better networking, and give every participant something of great value to walk away with - before the keynotes even begin!

While I was initially thinking about the “pre-note” to add value to public conferences, others chimed in with their ideas:

• Team off-sites

• Advisory board meetings

• Developmental days

• Executive retreats

• Sales/launch/training meetings

• Networking events

• Virtual pre-event networking ice-breakers

• (I suspect there are plenty more - your ideas?)

The cool thing is, this brief interactive session can be scaled up to 45 minutes or an hour (combined pre-note/keynote), and it can also be scheduled in conjunction with a more robust Clarity workshop later in the event.

One event planning expert even encouraged exploring doing virtual pre-note sessions before the live event, as a way to build excitement and engagement (Thanks, Michelle)! I like that idea.

Also, this offering is not restricted to business settings. Who in the world doesn’t need to better answer the twin question, “Who are you/what do you do?”

Group gatherings are a unique time for sharing stories and making introductions. The pre-note makes it amazing for everyone - even the introverts in the room.

From 30-minute pre-notes to day-long training or brainstorming sessions, and everything in between: call me and let’s bring the clarity!

If you’re looking for a skilled consultant to help you and your team win with clear communication, contact me.

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