Picture this scene. You’re chairing a conference and nine minutes into a ten minute slot the speaker says, “Now that brings me to the end of my introduction, the first point I’d like to make is this…”.
Or worse, the speaker throws to question time at the end of their presentation, and nothing happens. You peer across a darkened room, desperately searching for a raised hand. Fearful of the impending chorus of cicadas and scared that tumble-weed might begin to roll across the floor.
Or worse still, the gut-wrenching terror of being halfway through an introduction only to realise you’ve got brain freeze and completely forgotten the speaker’s name.
If you’ve experienced any of these, then you know just how hard it is to effectively chair a conference or be an emcee. However, if you get the opportunity to I advise you to take it. It’s a way to demonstrate great leadership qualities. It gets easier the more times you do it and can be a lot of fun.
I’ve chaired literally hundreds of meetings, conferences, panel discussions – you name it. Here are the 10 most important lessons I’ve learned and how to use some of those Black Isle skills to ensure success.
1. Your number one enemy is time.
A whole raft of factors will conspire against you to chew away at the available time. The organisers will fail to get everyone seated on time and key speakers will often arrive late (or sometimes not at all).
What to do about it? Well, short of having access to Marty McFly’s DeLorean (from the movie Back to the Future, remember?) you might follow the suggestion of some aircraft pilots who, after taking off late, say they will make up lost time in the air.
In other words, keep coffee breaks really short, manage question time ruthlessly and switch between speakers in a snappy fashion with brief introductions.
2. You are the only one in the room who is absolutely, categorically, not allowed to fall asleep.
Thankfully I’m not guilty of ever committing this heinous crime, but I have witnessed it first hand, and it’s not pretty. All joking aside, you are there to set a good example by paying attention, being engaged and present in the moment.
Regardless of how interested you really are in the topics on offer, it’s your job to remain focused at all times. I know sometimes this is not so easy and as a result I believe this is where you really earn your money on the day – either physically or metaphorically speaking.
3. Regard your segments as a series of mini-presentations.
This means you need to be well prepared. There are no shortcuts for this. Know your audience and think about some key messages.
For those familiar with the Black Isle approach, I advice you put together some Lee Iococca-style notes for each segment and think about both sides of the Kipper – in other words, make sure to use plenty of colour.
Of course, using good PEEP skills will be the key to your delivering at your best. And remember to keep your remarks on the short side. Less is more!
4. Aim to add value to the speakers.
Try to get copies of the speakers’ presentations beforehand. At the very least, you will need to understand all of their key themes and positions. This will enable you to add your own view to theirs, pull it all together, and prepare for your wrap-up beforehand.
It is also a good idea to suggest the speakers contact each other beforehand to avoid any overlap.
5. When introducing speakers don’t read from their bio.
To introduce the speakers use some mini Lee Iococca-style notes. Whatever you do, please don’t just read from their bio – this is not what you would call an edge of seat start! Draw only the relevant points from the bio and use anecdotes where possible.
6. Prepare your questions or comments in advance.
You may need to get question time rolling by throwing a few questions to the speaker. This will allow the audience to transition from listening mode to speaking mode, and might stimulate some good discussion. Perhaps get questions and ideas from the speakers themselves beforehand. And remember if you do this, no Dorothy Dix style questions.
7. Have an edge-of-seat start.
The edge-of-seat start for the entire conference is up to you. Make it relevant and have a message. For example if you’re chairing a conference on Occupational Health and Safety, have a message around the idea that OH&S is the responsibility of us all.
8. Address housekeeping issues up front.
Set the ground rules nice and early, for example questioners are to identify themselves (name, position, and organisation) so the speaker knows what angle the question is coming from. Remind the audience of the importance of punctuality if there are to be breaks and, most importantly, at the start of every session you will need to remind the audience to turn off their phones.
9. Anticipate how you will handle inappropriate audience members.
Time is your biggest enemy, remember? One of the worst offenders will be audience members who think question time is their opportunity to deliver their own speech. Think about how you will politely cut in and encourage them to get to a proper question. It may also be necessary to cut in and stop any debating going on between audience members, and/or the speaker.
Simply having a line like this up your sleeve will pay dividends: “I’m sorry, but we really don’t have enough time to dwell on this point any longer. By all means please pick up the conversation during the break, but we can’t take up any more the audience’s time on that particular issue right now. Does anyone else have a question for us?” (Don’t make eye contact with the prime offender after this).
10. Expect the unexpected
Such a cliché, but still important to consider the following: fire alarms, power cuts, visual problems, speakers going overtime, and/or attendance numbers are low (maybe change the format).
All of this reminds me of an amusing story. And if you’ve read this far then you’ll see why the punch-line is perhaps a little poignant.
At a conference not so long ago, a less than competent speaker was ponderously working his way through a typical ‘death by PowerPoint’ presentation. From the back of the hall, a few of the delegates started to escape through the rear doors. Some of the others, on cue, started to slip out also. Until eventually, by the time the speaker had clicked over to his last tired slide, only one audience member remained.
The speaker looked up from his notes and said, “And in conclusion, I would like to thank especially you sir for having the decency to listen to me until the end.”
To which the lonesome audience member replied, “Don’t thank me mate, I’m the next speaker.”
