Fun Meetings Increase Retention Levels

Most adult’s attention levels start to diminish after just twenty minutes of passive listening and their minds begin to wander.  Since the average meeting lasts longer than twenty minutes how much content is actually being absorbed?  What steps can a presenter take to keep their audience interested and increase retention levels?  The key is to get your audience involved.

Interact with your audience

Toss a ball out and get the catcher to answer a topic related question or provide input on a subject.  For instance for a sales meeting you could toss the ball out asking the catcher to relay strategies they’ve personally used to increase customer loyalty or if you’re looking for a discussion prompter the catcher could express the biggest customer challenges they’re facing.  Keep the action flowing, get the catcher to then toss the ball to another participant in the room.  This strategy gets participants actively involved and boosts creative energy.

Take 5-15 minute breaks every 20-40 minutes and get everyone up!

Make partners or teams and challenge which team can toss a ball back and forth the longest without dropping.  Or use a larger lightweight ball and challenge which team can keep the ball in the air the longest without any team member hitting the ball more than once.  Use a stopwatch and have the next team try and beat the best time.
Have Target Practice!  Set-up empty water bottles as targets and challenge who can knock the most down in one shot.  Use large rubber bands, a Marshmallow Shooter or maybe a Flingshot Monkey as the weapon.

Hand out toys

ncrease alertness and creative thinking by giving participants small items they can play with while listening.  Active hands make active minds.  Molding putty or squishy stress balls are perfect for keeping hands busy while not being too distracting and make great take-home treats at the end of the day.  

Incorporate the toy into the topic

Use the hand out toys to reinforce the goal of the meeting.  For example, at the end of the meeting ask participants to sum up one idea or concept they found most valuable and to illustrate it by molding something from the putty or creating a name for their stress ball using letters that spell out their point. 

For example:

The point they found most valuable was “listen to your customers needs”.

If they have putty they could mold an ear to represent listening.

If they have a stress ball they could name it “Cail” for Customers Appreciate Interested Listening.

It is very entertaining and sometimes enlightening to listen to everyone’s points and it can give valuable reinforcement and insight into the purpose of the meeting.

Try utilizing some of these suggestions and prevent your next meeting from falling into the unsuccessful meeting wasteland!

 

 

 

 

 

Start Your Engines

Start Your Engines

Team building that will recharge, energize and bond your team!

Start Your Engines 12/15/2012

Start Your Engines 12/15/2012, a set on Flickr.

Ultimate way to build office camaraderie!

3 Steps to a Successful Office Party

How do you make your corporate holiday party a success?  The answer is simple, create an atmosphere that encourages guests to get up and mingle.  Engage them in activities that get them interacting with each other breaking the social barriers that separate us.

Here are few simple steps to set the stage and make your party a huge success.  People will talk and reminisce about it for a long time. 

1. Get people mingling right away

Introduce an icebreaker game to play when your guests first arrive or sit down to dinner.  This will get guests more relaxed and encourage socializing and interacting and get the evening off to a smooth start.  An example of a good icebreaker is one that asks intriguing questions of guests that encourage them to open up or say something funny or interesting that would not ordinarily come up in conversation.  For example “What is something about you that would surprise most people’ someone always has an unexpected response which encourages others to share as well.  No one will feel uncomfortable or awkward wondering what to talk about because the icebreaker will get the ball rolling.  

2. Make teams

If having dinner, each table could be a team or mix them up randomly or sometimes strategically works best.  Teams could be created by a draw from a hat, a list posted on the wall or drawing a card from a deck.  Another fun idea is to create words or sentences that can be cut up and given to each guest.  Each guest will have to find their teammate(s) by matching their partial word with that of another.  For example “mistletoe” could be split to make the guest with “mistle” find the guest with “toe” and vise versa.  For larger team sizes post a list of words that would combine into teams. Example, “mistletoe” and “evergreen” make a team of 4.  This really mixes the group and prompts them to make contact with almost everyone at the party.

3. Have structured interactive games
Now that you have them up and split into teams, eagerly anticipating what is next, introduce some fun and interactive games.  Implementing games that get guests interacting and laughing is the key to creating a memorable evening.  Getting the teams to progress through the games in an organized fashion is a must.  With proper direction given to each team, group sizes of up to 300 or more can make their way through all of the games meeting up with opposing teams at just the right time.  This keeps the fun and excitement flowing as teams will not get lost or confused or wondering where to go and what to do.  Much like a scorecard and hole signs on a golf course, that filter hundreds of golfers around a course all day long, a similar scorecard can be developed and game area signs used that will guide your guests flawlessly from game to game.  Organization, especially with bigger groups, is essential however including games that are easy to understand, fun or interesting to play will also guarantee the success of your event.

It's Time For Santa!

Snow snow and more snow!  There's no better way to brighten your office party or social event then to have a visit from the Jolliest Fellow around!  We've got a direct line to Santa and can arrange to have him pay you a special visit.  Contact us for more details and to check his schedule!

High 5 Feud 10/12/2012

High 5 Feud 10/12/2012, a set on Flickr.

High 5's Interactive High 5 Feud is full of laughs and good natured fun. Perfect for upcoming Christmas parties!