Stand Out by Engaging Your Audience: Here’s How

I've been thinking about the 20-minute format and it has to be well thought out. For example, how do you provide value to speakers if they only have 20-mins? Just being in your aura isn't a powerful incentive. Or, how do you leverage the content after the telesummit is over? And how do you engage attendees so they keep coming to you for more even after the telesummit is done?I have answers to these questions, but I'm going to test this model first. Stating that 20-mins is the model to use for telesummits going forward isn't good enough. Others have used the 20-minute format in the past, so this model is not new. However, where they have fallen is that they didn't consider the questions I posted above. I challenge your readers Nancy to not only refresh their telesummits with the 20-min format, but also put it into practice AND share the case study. I look forward to the results.

Good challenge!I've done plenty of media spots that were very brief yet informative and also spoken at networking lunches where they only give you 20 minutes… so it IS doable in those formats and I'm sure can be transferred to teleseminars.You say you have answers to your questions… and inquiring minds want to know so please post a link to where you're working these ideas out! thanks for your spicy input!!

Nancy, I consider you a true expert at telesummits because you have spoken, and continue to speak, at so many. That makes hearing you say that that '"telesummits have become parodies of themselves" very fun and refreshing.I agree with Leesa that shortening the length of the individual presentations isn't necessarily the best answer to making a telesummt stand out while being both attractive and useful to the audience of potential purchasers. However, as both a producer and consumer of such content, I am thoroughly fascinated by the conversation–the comments and the questions raised.Many of us are engaged in the same challenging task–balancing what we know and learn about "what works" with what we believe to be the value of presenting content in a fresh and original manner.

Great points Kay!So what I'm hearing you and Leesa say (which I wholeheartedly agree with) is that length isn't as big an issue as is quality. So maybe what got me grumbling was the frustration of enduring medoicrity in 60 minute increments.

Hi Nancy. I recently joined a local Toastmasters club and it really teaches the most effective way to be an organized and succinct speaker. I highly recommend it for anyone who does public speaking or who just wants to be a better communicator. I often do public presentations but this organization is helping me be a better communicator.

That's a great tip Wendy, thank you! Speaking in front of a live audience is the best way to see what engages them or not… just look and see who's paying attention. Congrats!

In another lifetime, a different role, I used an accelerated learning model to plan course sessions, presentations, seminars and workshops. The aim was to reduce learning time, cover more material and energize the learning process. One of the positions of accelerated learning practitioners is that it's the joy of learning that is often the major determiner of the quality and quantity of learning. This joy of learning "means interest, connectedness, and the involved and happy creation of meaning and understanding and value on the part of the learner. If we focus on the learner and the outcomes (accelerated learning, joy in learning), then we will find the most effective ways to engage with our audience. It won't be a formula and a specific time or a new technology that will "fix" our telesummits, events and presentations. It will be whatever we do to make learning a whole-body, whole-mind, whole-person experience.[Whoo hooo! Kate's Soapbox. Standing down ]

Stay on the soapbox Kate, you're saying great stuff!!