speaking

Solution Circle: Tired of the Talking Head?

Are you tired of the boring, unproductive, brainstorming-turned-gripe session? Solution Circle is the evolutionized, brainstorming session. It’s an experientially-charged, collaborative, solution-focused, problem-solving, knowledge-sharing, peer-based brainstorming session. Participants gain solutions to challenges through the collective knowledge, experiences, and recommendations of their peers.

Engagement Evolution: How Design Affects the Mind

Lack of engagement costs employers billions of dollars each year. It can also cost you your job if your audience disengages.

A high level of engagement leads to higher retention and productivity; lower turnover and safety incidents; and better quality and survey results. But in today’s fast-paced, app-obsessed society, how do you drive collaboration, enthusiasm, innovation, and performance? With creative design.

This session takes a page from employer workspace design as we peel off the layers to reveal how providing the right environment can take your meetings from yawn-snooze to breakthroughs; and how evolutionizing engagement at your events can increase your ROI and ROE and success. Topics include:

• Mobility. Today’s workers are demanding it. So are today’s conference participants. Employers are allowing associates to work from airplanes, hotels, home, client sites, and stand-up workstations. You’ll experience one of the newest concepts in meeting design: a walking brainstorming session. And you’ll want to apply it to your clients’ meetings immediately.

• Communication. It’s the key to better engagement. An environment that promotes collaboration results in improved communication, which results in success. And one that’s created for comfort results in improved relationships , whether it's lighting, seating, or allowing individualization. 

• Connection. Society is becoming more and more connected, and behaviors are evolving. And not always for the better. The physical activity in Engagement Evolution means healthier, more intellectual, and – well – more fun interactions.

This program involves physical activity (walking) around a creative room layout and design elements.

Transforming Your Tradeshow

This program highlights how the evolution and history of the traditional tradeshow have led to today’s trend of the appointment tradeshow. In an interactive learning environment, participants will identify the challenges of the traditional tradeshow model, the ways an appointment tradeshow solves those challenges, and other forms of trending tradeshow models that are shaking up the conference world. We’ll look at the back-end of the appointment tradeshow model: software, pre-qualifying, determining criteria, and the matching process; and the front-end logistics of executing a successful appointment tradeshow: buyer vs. seller seating, appointment length, appointment timing, clock, hosted buyer option, and incentives.

Solution Storming: Recharging Brainstorming and Problem Solving

Similar to Solution Circle, this is the brainstorming session reinvented: an experientially-charged, collaborative, solution-focused, problem-solving, knowledge-sharing, peer-based brainstorming session. Participants gain solutions to challenges through the collective knowledge, experiences, and recommendations of their peers; this time with a twist. Solution Storming is technology-charged with mind-mapping software. Participants are encouraged (and should be prepared) to use tablets or smart phones during this program. Let’s get storming!

Success Through Service: An Exploration of Board Leadership

Even the most accomplished leaders had help getting to where they are today: guidance, a roadmap, and support. Do you want your board’s leaders to inspire and support excellence in nonprofit governance and teams? Do you want them to make a positive impact while developing themselves and others? This session provides the tools needed for effective board leadership, governance, and ongoing commitment to development and partnerships.

facilitating

I can help you:

• Build consensus through bottom-up innovation (Sometimes people are less receptive to ideas when it comes directly from the leader; it’s sort of like the difference between a mom and the cool auntie instructing a child)

• Identify the key stakeholders (leaders are often unaware of the breadth of an issue and, as a result, unable to identify who should be at the table)

• Ensure that everyone has a voice in the process

• Formulate creative resolution through reflection and adjustment

• Gather new ideas

• Leverage the creativity of your group

• With impartial insights into participants’ concerns and ideas

• Balance competing perspectives

• Allow conflict-with-respect

• Develop strategies toward goals

• Maintain focus on your vision of the session

• Align your solutions with your goals

You’re involved as much (or as little) as you want to be in my simple two-step process:

1.       Data-gathering: I’ll work with you to identify the core issue(s), desired outcome(s), and timetable. I’ll design a comprehensive session agenda.

2.       Deliverable(s): An unbiased facilitated group collaboration aimed at evaluating participants’ input; an optional data-rich executive summary (if you choose to have my seasoned documenter included for copious note-taking)

Through my creative facilitating strategies, your participants will feel engaged, involved, and empowered, and will become ambassadors and champions of the process and the resulting deliverables.

team-building

About my teambuilding exercises:

• Can be brief (30 minutes) or comprehensive (several hours)

• Involve movement (so we’ll assess any physical disabilities/barriers and phobias about close proximity to others)

• Are focused on your goal

• Can involve corporate social responsibility (CSR) with a local flavor or charitable aspect

• Are non-confrontational

• I observe the interaction and talk through the issue and the interactions with participants during and/or post-exercise

• May even involve having your group formulate their own teambuilding exercise they think will address the issue at hand

• Utilize props

• Are not about winning; they’re about collaborating

• May by symbolic construction

Most requested teambuilding exercises include:

• Blind Polygon

• Building the Castle

• Create Your Own Teambuilding Exercise

• Knots of Luck

• Marshmallow Challenge

• River Crossing

• Symbolic Construction

• Take the Cake

• Zoom & Re-Zoom

• Geoteaming

Focus groups

Do you want intelligent, creative solutions and constructive feedback about your current or pipeline product/service, problematic issue, upcoming renovation, policy question, corporate management, or another topic for which public or small group opinion could be useful?

I’ll provide you with data from participants who represent thousands of people with similar opinions, ideas, and preferences. Participants are urged to give their opinion, differ with each other in a respectful manner, and ensure their individual views are heard.

Why a focus group?

• Test new concepts before implementation

• Determine appeal and profit potential before spending hard dollars on a large project

• Find out why consumers like or don’t like your product or service

• Discover what builds their brand loyalty or detracts from it

• Learn what attracted them to your service or product and what continues to keep them attracted

• Measure how your advertising dollars are impacting your current and prospective consumers

Sales are never involved in a focus group, so your company or organization can remain completely anonymous or at the forefront of the conversation. It all depends on what we’re trying to accomplish.

We can augment (or replace) your focus groups with individual interviews (by phone, video chat, or in person) for a deeper dive, when the topic is sensitive, or when we’re working with rare respondent types.

A seasoned documenter is included for copious note-taking so you get a comprehensive, data-rich executive summary. That represents a huge cost savings over renting an expensive market research facility. After all, this process is about spending your money wisely.

You determine the participants, or I’ll help you scout them. Together, we’ll focus on finding the answers you need to move forward.