There’s a short introductory talk by the MC welcoming everyone with a sprinkling of humour thrown in – so far so good. But as you finish the main course one of the company’s directors takes to the podium armed with what looks like a book full of notes – the evening could go downhill you think. And more often than not you’d be right. He feels it’s his duty to extol the virtues of this great organisation – possibly from day one up to today, with a few statistics thrown in just in case you weren’t sure how great they are.
Hot on his heels comes the guest speaker who everyone awaits expectantly. After all he’s an expert in his field and he’s bought with him the ubiquitous power point presentation. It’s actually not too bad – not quite death by powerpoint, but way too long – and doesn’t he know there’s an amazing dessert waiting to be served. And why do the wine waiters disappear when someone’s speaking?
Don’t they know listening is thirsty work? And just when you think it can’t get worse there’s the company awards ceremony, where copious amounts of staff are awarded for everything from making really good coffee to brightening up the office. It would be fine if done in house but the fact that you don’t know any of them and have to clap enthusiastically 25 times in a row is a bit of a pain and delays that darn dessert. Eventually chocolate heaven arrives and the wine glasses are refilled.
The dancing starts but by now it’s so late on a weeknight that most people eat and run. So what can be done to save such events? Firstly it would really help if the speakers added human interest to their presentations, giving real life examples of situations not just statistics and facts.
Power points should be virtually banned from gala dinners and kept to conferences – unless there’s a good degree of humour to them and awards should stay in house. If it’s a celebration keep the talking to a minimum and give your clients a good party…
Contact Information:Media MentorsMarion Scherwww.mediamentors.co.za pr@mediamentors.co.za 082 467 6046
