5 Ways to Spice up Your Next Business Meeting

There is nothing more terrible than having to sit in an hour-long business conference that is nothing more than a person standing on the stage, lethargically flipping through slides filled with text. Tired of sitting in these boring meetings? Worried that the next meeting you put together will be a dreaded event? Here are 5 ways you might be able to make your next conference a more exciting occasion.

Food
There is nothing more universally enjoyed than food. Providing something to eat at your next business meeting will be sure to put your attendees in a better mood. Making sure that your guests are properly nourished will help them focus! Think about having a local restaurant cater your next event.

Activities
During his talk at the 2008 Serious Play conference, designer Tim Brown had his audience participate in several activities. One of the activities involved giving the audience members thirty seconds to draw their neighbors on a piece of paper. By getting incorporating activities in his talk, Brown maintained the attention of his audience, thereby helping people to gain more value from his presentation. For your next meeting, think about what kinds of small activities you can do with your audience to keep them interested and focused.

Breakout Sessions
Having to sit in the same chair in the same meeting room for two hours is boring. Break apart the information that you want to communicate so that there are pauses in between for your listeners to interact with each other. For instance, after discussing a concept, split your audience into groups so people have a chance to voice their reactions.

Music
Music can stimulate your listeners and get them excited. There are many creative ways to implement music in your business meeting. Why not have a surprise marching band go through the room, playing a well-known song? Naturally, people aren’t expecting something as crazy as a marching band when they attend conferences and meetings. It might be a good idea to break the monotony every once in a while!

Twitter
Give your audience another way to interact with you by suggesting the use of Twitter. Come with a hash tag that people can use to post their opinions on Twitter as they listen to the presentation. Not only is this a fun way to encourage people to listen to the discussions, it’s a great way to gain exposure on the internet.