First, thank you for volunteering your time and energy to present at the 2022 International Conference in Cleveland! Without folks like you who are willing to share your expertise with the ACCT community, there would be no conference…period. If you haven’t already done so please be sure to complete your 2022 Presenter Agreement form by no later than Wednesday September 1st, 2021!
As you prepare to share your knowledge with the ACCT world, we would like to offer you a few presentation resources:
- Here is a handy list of 52 ‘Presentation Hacks.’
- Need a list of things to try to avoid? Here you go: 21 Presenter Habits to Avoid.
- Check out this list of qualities of a good workshop.
- Service Crew members are here to help! They are basically your superhero sidekick.
- They are here to help you. They are your first person to ask. If they cannot complete something, they will be happy to find the proper help.
- With that said, there is a lot that the Service Crew member can do for you. There also is a LOT of stuff that we can prepare for before you get in the room. Service Crew members have several duties to take some of the pressure off of you, so that you can bask in the Presenter Spotlight (spotlights not included in room setup, you will have to bring your own). They will be available to: check badges at the door, room capacity, counting people coming in & out of the room, time limits, collecting evaluations, telling people to not stack the chairs and stand on top like king of the mountain (safety first!), etc.
- Room capacity: Your Service Crew member will be the person to prevent you from being smothered by a crowd that exceeds room capacity (see, they really are a superhero sidekick!).
- Counting attendees: They will be tracking how many attendees are in the room when you begin the workshop & how many are there at the end of the workshop. Are you a statistics nerd & interested in these numbers? Just ask your Service Crew member at the end of your workshop.
- Time limits: Wait…time limits!? That’s right. Your fantastic sidekick is looking out for you & your time. That means that you don’t constantly have to check your watch or worry if you keep people late. Whew! That’s a relief! Your Service Crew member is going to quietly hold up a few signs for your viewing pleasure (15, 10, 5, STOP) to let you know when you are nearing the end of the workshop time frame. Your job is to actually notice the signs & make adjustments as needed.
- Missing a marker? Service Crew will find a new one!
- A/V issue? Service Crew will send up the equivalent of the Bat Signal to the Workshop Crew for help!
- Too hot or cold in your workshop room? Service Crew will figure out how to fix it (or get you a blanket).
- Need a tissue? …ewwww…please bring your own.
- Need a smiling face in the crowd? Service Crew excel at smiling!
- Want an introduction? If you ask nicely, your Service Crew member will be happy to introduce you!
- Welcoming people! Service Crew members serve as hosts of the room. An attendee will receive a smile & instructions on using the online workshop eval (or a physical copied, when requested) from the Service Crew member as they enter the room. Yay! One less thing you have to do…well, the eval distribution part, not the smiling part. You will definitely want to smile some.
- Troubleshooting – No, they can’t actually shoot anyone named Trouble, but they can help you out if something goes awry before or during your well-prepared workshop.
- Be aware of the time allotted for your workshop: Many presenters end with a statement about how they had so much more material to go over but were simply out of time. Remember, there are only 90 minutes allotted for your information. You will do better to have a great presentation that ends early and allows extra time for Q & A, than to have a hurried presentation that ends abruptly due to time constraints. The Service Crew member will have a series of signs that will help you keep track of your time (10 minutes left, 5 minutes left, etc).
- Use your time wisely: Everyone has their own technique for making introductions. Keep in mind, having each attendee introduce themselves TAKES A REALLY LONG TIME! This may be appropriate for certain workshops, but please give serious consideration to the amount of time you spend on introductions during your workshop. Your attendees are more interested in learning what you have to share than they are in learning everyone’s name and two interesting things about them. If part of your goals include networking for your attendees, consider leading introductions in small groups instead.
- Have a back-up plan: This could apply to many aspects of your workshop. Do you have a plan for when technology fails? Do you have to adjust your presentation if you have more or less attendees than expected? Will it affect your presentation if someone leaves or comes in halfway through? Think through what could go wrong and always have a plan.
- Be authentic: You were selected as a workshop presenter for a reason…You are intelligent and passionate. Speak from your heart and everything will be fine.
- Contact info: Make sure to bring a load of business cards. This will be helpful for networking in general, as well as for giving to attendees that would like to contact you about your content at a later time.
- Check messages: Plan ahead. Make time. Check your messages WHILE AT THE CONFERENCE. Some people may attend your fantastic session, need to scoot to the next session & quickly pick up your business card (or take a photo of your contact information when you post it on the screen or flip chart) on the way out. These people & others may want to meet up with you while at the conference to connect more. If they try to message you online to schedule a time with you, but you want to wait to check any messages until you get back to the office…well, you can see how this might not end well. Even if you just set aside a few minutes each day to check messages for any meet up requests & leave all other emails for your return to the office, that will be a good plan.
