Maximizing Meeting ROI

Research compiled by PriceWaterHouseCoopers for 2012 looked at meetings or events that were at least four hours long, had 10 or more attendees and were held in rented venues. They determined that there were 1.8 million meetings, 225 million attendees and $280 billion in costs.

Are you maximizing your meeting and event ROI?

In order for your next meeting or event to produce a positive ROI, your attendees need to leave the event motivated to do something different long-term.

Events such as all-employee meetings or multiday conferences require special planning. ROI will be created when you are able to build value for attendees through a well-defined intent and objectives delivered through compelling presentations.

The Event Presentation Life Cycle

This formal process is designed to help improve speaker skill and presentation quality therefore improving event ROI.

1. Theme/topic selection: The first step in preparing a high value event is to determine the main objective, theme and desired results of the event.
    
2. Speaker assignment: Selecting a speaker is often the most important set of decisions impacting your event ROI. Each speaker has various characteristics that will impact the energy, flow and effectiveness including: area of expertise and passion, energy and presentation skill level, creativity and theatrical ability and ability to motivate versus train.
    
3. Speaker coaching: Regardless of the skill level of the speakers you are putting in front of your audience, formalized speech and presentation coaching will help ensure clear, consistent messaging.
    
4. Objective assessment: The use of a structured and objective assessment tool will provide a baseline for ongoing speaker development and continual improvement. Formal assessment should be based around three main categories: content, vocal delivery and presentation style/engagement.
    
5. Coaching review:Your corporate speakers should receive feedback from an expert trained in reviewing presentations incorporating the objective assessment, subjective feedback and a review of audio or video of the event when available. The review should focus on content delivery, message effectiveness and presentation style.

Through this defined process, not only will you improve your current event, but you will also lay the foundation and establish the process for continual event ROI improvement.