Imagine yourself the day before your event. It is time to prepare your introduction… You thought it would be settled in two minutes, including the pen search, but this is the black hole, the blank page… What are you going to say? ?
No, it’s definitely not coming. So you are looking for “event introduction” on the Internet… And you come across this Eventdrive article that gives you 5 ideas to introduce your events.
That’s it, you’re saved! You will be able to assume and we will have assisted a new event planner towards success.
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Why is a good introduction important?
Your event is a special moment, rich in meetings and emotions. At least, that is one of the objectives of this one, isn’t it? The introduction is the very first moment your guest will experience. And as we say so often, we don’t get a chance to make a good first impression twice.
If you succeed in seducing your participants at this critical stage, they will certainly remain attentive throughout your event.
That is why it is important to work on your introduction. Whether it is original or touching, it must leave its mark on people’s minds. Thanks to our 5 tips, be sure that your guests will remember it!
Come on, let’s stop mouth-watering. Let’s go, follow me!
Did you say super powers?
First technique to introduce your event? Let your guests introduce it themselves 😉
This exercise may lack originality… Giving name, position and address seems rather formal. But here, guests will have to express themselves in a more personal way by revealing a part of their dreams. How does it work — admit that you are excited to know more?
It’s easy: ask your guests to stand up in turn, introduce themselves quickly and describe the superpower they would like to have. The craziest proposals are allowed!
Some may limit themselves to powers directly related to their profession, when others will take the liberty of choosing a power from which they would sincerely like to benefit, without any direct connection to their work. In any case, this unexpected question will create a more relaxed atmosphere, with the aim of freeing up speech.
What is expected of you: support for the shyest, humour and confidence. Feel free to bounce gently on some answers, especially those of the most comfortable guests.
Thanks to our experience at Eventdrive, we guarantee you, this technique works! Participants feel much more relaxed, dare to talk about themselves and how they feel. We recommend that you set up this activity for small events (max 40 people).
Let the guitars make noise! ?
Or your turntables, as you wish ?.
Eventdrive recently assisted OVH in the creation of a “wow” event, and it must be said that we were amazed by the crazy opening that Octave Klaba —the CEO— and his team proposed to us!
Indeed, OVH chose to introduce its event by performing a piece of the famous band Metallica. The CEO on stage, with his electric guitar in his arms, has also amazed the audience. The podium was transformed into a real concert stage, the musicians revealed themselves under the spotlight and the guests recorded the show! An experience they won’t soon forget, I’ll tell you that! In addition to the surprise of the guests, this introduction, punctuated by drums and guitars, woke up the guests in the morning and prepared them for the day.
The show also increased OVH’s visibility through the publication of videos, live videos and photos taken by guests, posted on social networks, integrating the location of the event and enhanced with some hashtags. How beautiful, free advertising! And I don’t count the impact of word-of-mouth, which is also significant… At that moment, I have only one thing to say: What else?
Watch the replay of the OVH event with its Rock N’ Roll opening just here!
The Storytelling ?
Telling a nice story before starting your event works perfectly. An effective way to capture the attention of your guests, and thus, create emotion! But it requires talent and a high level of oral fluency.
The advantage of telling a story in the introduction is that the guests will be able to identify themselves with the person who is speaking, or even with the company. As a result, they will be immersed in history and will more easily receive the information transmitted during the event and the speech. A real relationship will therefore be built between the speaker and his assembly.
Story telling is also an excellent way to engage and retain the audience. The strength of emotions has already been proven in many scientific studies. By triggering particular emotions, it is possible to influence an individual’s behaviour. We advise you to use specialized companies or consultants for this purpose.
This method will allow you to spread a powerful message to make an impact on people’s minds.
A little tip: telling an anecdote from your personal story will only make the speech more moving. Your honesty and humanity will be more visible.
I recently attended a conference on the theme of marketing. The speaker introduced the event by telling how he had seduced his wife and by making a parallel between Outbound and Inbound marketing. Exciting! Don’t go into details and tell your story in chronological order so you don’t lose your audience. Finally, gain benefits and move your audience. This is the purpose of a story after all ?.
At Eventdrive, we like to think that there is no problem without a solution. Conclude your introduction with a moral, a lesson you have learned, a definition. In any case, there must be an outcome.
Weather of the day ☀️
As we have seen before, letting your guests express themselves is important. And for that, there are different ways, all as playful as each other, such as the superhero technique that we have already mentioned, for example.
This exercise was already very personal, but the next one goes even further, inviting participants to talk about their emotions and feelings. It creates a climate of trust and engages guests to interact with each other. That’s what you’re looking for as an event planner, isn’t it? We’ve found out who you are, it’s because we’re real event psychologists at Eventdrive!
Simply start by asking your guests their current state of mind in turn. This may sound embarrassing, but this exercise is a great way to open up to each other and engage in discussion. In an even more fun way, you can also ask each participant what their daily weather is, but using an emoji. It’s a simpler way to express yourself, especially if your guests are reluctant to put words to their mood of the day.
Did you know that every Monday, the Eventdrive marketing team meets to share the previous week’s results and starts the meeting with personal weather:
- Performance: figures, efficiency, timing,
- Feeling: how do I feel?
- Learning: did I develop skills? Did I learn anything?
Did you think about Eventdrive?
All-in-one digital event management software is full of resources to make it easier for you to organize and manage your event. And some of them provide tools that allow you to create interactivity in order to surprise and satisfy your employees.
The most famous of them and the easiest to use —let’s be honest— comes from Eventdrive of course. We have the particularity to suggest to use a dedicated, very interactive and intuitive application, in order to create a link between the guests and to host your event. For example, you can create word clouds in real time! You don’t know what it is? No problem, we explain it to you! ?
A word cloud is about asking participants to write a word according to a specific question, such as “How do you feel today? ,” and to collect as many answers as possible.
As participants vote, the words, which are broadcast on a large screen for all to see, grow larger. If the same word is written several times, it will grow bigger and so on. At the end, we will immediately see which word has been written the most, and thus what is the predominant mood of the participants —for example.
Creating a link between your guests is essential, your event is made to exchange, between the company and the employees. Everything is based on exchange, which is why we have suggested several solutions to surprise your guests, create a more friendly atmosphere and connect your participants.
Music, stories, entertainment, interactive tools, original questions… Use them to make your event introduction a real success!