Events are about people.
We plan events to connect with our audiences, leads, customers, employees, followers, or stakeholders.
This is necessary to increase the impact of our message(s), change opinions and behaviors, or ignite fruitful collaborations.
Without nurturing the right relationships with people, it’s impossible to achieve the expected results. The entire idea of the events industry revolves around in-person communication and interaction.
However, it’s not always easy to build a bridge and connect with attendees.
Communicating with a large number of people and identifying with their interests or concerns can be challenging.
It’s not easy to build honest and straightforward communication with your attendees.
So how do you do it? Here’s a list of recommendations:
Tip 1. Always have your attendees’ best interests at heart
People sense when you’re trying to sell them something or when you’re after easy gains without providing anything in exchange. To connect better and faster with your guests, focus on delivering massive value through your event.
That’s why we advise you to first learn who your attendees are and the challenges they experience.
Then, work on providing content (via roundtables, seminars, etc.) that will help them discover the actionable solutions they can apply immediately to overcome their problems.
You can also offer a great amount of value by taking care of the networking dynamic.
For example, you could help attendees build meaningful relationships by scheduling one-on-one meetings with others who are relevant for them.
There’s no shortage of ways in which you could express your care for your audiences. So make sure you show them that their interests are your highest priority.
Tip 2. Make the event more conversational
People are tired of being the end receivers of information without having a saying. Long gone are the days when your attendees would just sit back and listen to speakers for hours without getting the chance to express their own point of view.
To establish a relationship with your guests, you’ll want to provide them the opportunity to share their thoughts.
You can do that by running live polls, asking attendees for their insights during the talks, and encouraging them to team up with other attendees and discuss different topics.
Tip 3. Deliver a personalized approach
Whether they’re attending small or large events, your attendees can sense when they’re getting special attention from the organizers.
This can manifest in different ways, yet the most efficient thing you can do to gain rapport with your guests is to provide customized opportunities.
For example, if you’re running multiple knowledge sessions concurrently, you could let attendees build their own event program based on their interests. You could also send them personalized notifications and invite them to participate in different activities.
Tip 4. Make good use of humor
The event moderation is everything. It can break or make the entire experience. So if you want to achieve a higher connection level with your guests, hire a moderator who knows how to balance the serious stuff with humor.
This will create a more relaxed atmosphere and get people to feel more open to communication and interaction.
Tip 5. Provide a holistic event experience
You’ll have a hard time building a positive relationship with your guests if their accommodation or event check-in was terrible.
You need to consider the entire attendee journey map, from start to finish, and design friendly experiences that will make all interactions with the event’s logistics effortless and less stressful for the attendees.
Make things as easy as possible for your guests and they’ll be more prone to positively react to your communication and message(s).
Wrap-up
Building an honest, sincere relationship with your attendees is essential if you want to have an impact and convey a transformative experience.
So to make it happen, always focus on your guests’ interests and deliver massive value, make the event more conversational, utilize a personalized care and approach, hire a moderator with a good sense of humor, and ensure a holistic event experience.
