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Let us help plan your next event! 405.739.8239// Conveniently located inside the Oklahoma Travel Information Center 7200 SE 29th Street Midwest City, Oklahoma 73110 Shorter speeches, mixed seating arrangements among trends in educational meeting formats By Jennifer Sharpe of shorter segments, sometimes called format. campfire chats or group chats. “They were some of our highest-rated horter speeches have be- “With that format, it is still a keynote sessions,” Irwin said. “Adult learners come a popular education speaker, but in a 30-minute presenta- want the meat in a shortened version, format for meetings. tion instead of an hourlong presenta- and they want to spend less time hear- “The TED Talk style is tion,” Roberts said. ing you tell them what they need to definitely still trending,” said Express Employment Professionals know. They just want to get down to it.” JenS Roberts, vice president of education has also explored the TED Talk concept Workshops are also being imple- for the Oklahoma chapter of Meeting using a format with a 30-minute lecture mented more. Professionals International and owner followed by 15 minutes of a ques- “If you’re going to bring in a key- of Toast OKC. tion-and-answer session. note, and really want to get that bang “The TED Talk format is great for “Usually, with TED talks, you don’t for your buck, do a keynote session attendees because it allows them to en- have that interaction,” said Terese followed by a deep-dive workshop,” gage and focus fully in the content, as Irwin, director of events and experi- Roberts said. opposed to an hourlong or hour-plus ential marketing for Express Employ- The workshop should be about 90 session where you just open a door for ment Professionals. “What we’ve been minutes and follow the keynote speak- so many distractions.” noticing, over the years, is that people er, with a 15- to 30-minute break in TED Talks are traditionally 18 min- want their education in bite sizes. So between. utes or less, which is not conducive to we spend less time on lecture and more “This format is also good for the every group’s agenda or speaker bud- time on getting the message across people who want to feel out if the topic get. Roberts said her clients tend to not quickly, then giving the audience that is for them, especially at a conference,” follow the true TED Talk format be- interaction time so that they can refer- Roberts said. cause they are looking to get the most ence it in their own framework.” When longer sessions are inevitable, value out of their speaker. Instead, they As a result, Express found that room layout and furniture can become 8 might schedule an increased number attendees enjoyed the shorter speech accessories to enhance the meeting’s 8 Meeting Planners Guide 2018 format and promote a positive learning environment. “When you know that you have “We’re trying to get to a a keynote speaker for an hour-plus session, try to create environments that point where it’s not just people are comfortable in,” Roberts said. “We’re trying to get to a point a room with four walls, a where it’s not just a room with four projector and a screen.” walls, a projector and a screen.” Options include modular seating – Jen Roberts, vice president of education for Oklahoma chapter of instead of tables and chairs, or clusters Meeting Professionals International and owner of Toast OKC of sofas, couches and chairs. “The trend that I’m seeing with event more beneficial than rounds. There is Express’ training session for new organization, particularly with Meet- less distraction because you’re facing franchisees consists of two weeks of on- ing Professionals International at their forward; you’re looking right at the site education. At the end of each daily annual conference, is mixed seating, speaker. A twist on that would be set- session, attendees will get a message where some people have a surface, and ting up curved theater seating instead from the chatbot asking for feedback. some don’t,” said Irwin. of just straight across, just to give some Based on that feedback, the attendee While typically using rounds or dimension to the room.” will get a response and follow-up text theater seating, Express Employment Jennifer Alexander, director of sales messages re-emphasizing main points Professionals has also explored the and marketing for the Embassy Suites of the day. For some, that interac- idea of no seating, achieved by placing by Hilton Norman-Hotel & Conference tion outside the classroom setting is tall cocktail rounds at the back of the Center, concurred. reinforcement that facilitates further room. “Room setup depends largely on the comprehension of the material. “We’ve discovered, especially with client and how many attendees they Roberts said another innovative our salespeople, that people who are have. Across the board, we are still idea to vary the education format is to used to being out on their feet all day seeing basic classroom-style setup. We have a two-day event, with a keynote long will gravitate toward standing in are also seeing crescent rounds, which the back, taking notes at the table, just allows the audience to have more inter- evening session, followed by breakfast so that they can feel a little more active action in small groups, and still be able and a workshop the next morning led because they are not people who can sit to focus at the front of the room.