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How to be an Audience Arsonist - Light a Fire of Possibility

Guest post by: Chip Eichelberger

Article Overview: A body at rest tends to stay at rest… - Sir Isaac Newton Sir Isaac got it right: a body at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. Want proof? Peek around the curtain at audience members listening to a dull, flat, run-of-the-mill speaker at your next convention. Those bodies aren’t moving. They’re at rest. In fact, some of them are asleep. An "audience arsonist" can overcome that inertia and light a fire that moves them to action. The value of any event – a global company’s annual gathering, a sales convention, association meeting or any other professional event – is in the information and attitude audience members take with them on those return flights home. An Audience Arsonist is unique. They have the ability to "light a fire" under an audience and move them to action. Learn how to do that.

How to be an Audience Arsonist - Light a Fire of Possibility

A body at rest tends to stay at rest...

- Sir Isaac Newton



Sir Isaac got it right: a body at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. Want proof? Peek around the curtain at audience members listening to a dull, flat, run-of-the-mill speaker at your next convention. Those bodies aren’t moving. They’re at rest. In fact, some of them are asleep. An "audience arsonist" can overcome that inertia and light a fire that moves them to action and discover what is possible.

The value of any event – a global company’s annual gathering, a sales convention, association meeting or any other professional event – is in the information and attitude audience members take with them on those return flights home.

Force an audience to endure a long-winded, one-sided speaker for more than 10 minutes and, not only do these once-eager listeners turn off the sound button, they turn off – period. Even if the speaker is a well-known pro from within the audience’s own ranks!

Adding the right professional speaker to the roster adds value to any event. These professionals reach out, grab the audience by the lapels, engage attendees to exchange information and opinions, sparking debate, creative thinking and the imaginations of every audience member.

Professional event speakers understand communications, they know how to read an audience’s mood in seconds and they understand Newton’s laws of physics. When you hire an audience arsonist as an opening or closing speaker you light a fire within audience members that burns brightly with new ideas, new mind sets, the latest industry-specific knowledge and a desire to change the same-old same-old.

So, you want one of these dynamic professionals at your next corporate gathering to kick off the event, to provide perspective and “thought fuel” during the event, and to wrap up the proceedings, providing context and high-octane energy that audience members use when they get back into the field.

So, what do audience arsonists do? They move bodies and minds at rest by creating sparks that remain with participants for years to come. They are able get people to look beyond where they are to where they can be.

Do Something Different

You see this a lot. A speaker standing at a podium with a captive audience attempting to pay attention to someone they know speaking about something participants already know.

It’s flat. It’s one-way communication. And it’s been done a million times before.

An audience arsonists employs a variety of tactics to, not only engage listeners, but to encourage participants to engage one another. How often have you attended a convention and not known who was sitting next to you? (Maybe a quick handshake and mumbled greeting before taking your seat.)

The engine at the front of the speaking venue physically moves those bodies at rest, emotionally and professionally. Communication is no longer one speaker and 50, 500 or 5000 audience members. Each of those audience members becomes a contributor with something of value to offer others.

One common practice is to break large groups into smaller groups, the way we used to do it back in elementary school, and small group discussions are beneficial with an audience that’s already motivated. But it’s something that we’ve all done before.

Instead, your audience arsonist facilitates the exchange of ideas and opinions using innovative methods.

This also gets people out of their seats, talking to each other and sharing ideas as the audience arsonist moves through the throng to keep things moving forward. They understand that motion creates emotion. It’s an entertaining way to connect, and it isn’t something you see at many professional conventions.

Push the Envelope

An audience arsonist moves people to make decisions that will impact their performance. Not just talk about it! Actually apply the information they are learning now in a way which participants are encouraged to take risks and push the envelope.

If the corporate culture is structured, audience arsonists discover this fact during their pre-event research and work within existing boundaries, while encouraging audience members to examine the status quo in the home office and get creative in problem solving, client care, expansion of services and other broad-reaching initiatives. A good speaker understands the corporate culture of the participants, the objectives of the event and tailors his or her remarks accordingly.

Challenge the Listeners

Most audience members have never climbed a rock face, bungee jumped or parachuted from a small plane.

An audience arsonist challenges his or her listeners. One well-known speaker has the audience use their physical and psychic energy to break through boards and the barriers that are holding them back. Another has audience members juggling bean bags, keeping all those “balls in the air.”

Engage The Audience

An audience arsonist is, by nature, likable and entertaining. But they aren’t entertainers. These professional facilitators don’t talk to an audience. They talk with an audience, soliciting responses, evoking emotional reactions, getting people to look at the brutal facts of the current situation that must be addressed.

An engaged audience has the right mind-set for the events coming up, or the events they’ve already attended. The audience arsonist provides context and encourages innovation at the opening or close of your event.

Communication is no longer a one-way street. The audience is fully involved in convention activities. They leave the event energized, brimming with new ideas and new ways of approaching the work they do day to day.

An audience arsonist lights the spark of imagination, expands the minds of attendees and creates an exciting, open environment in which synergies are made, changes to the SOP are adopted and audience members leave the venue with something of value.

Energy. Energy coupled with new ideas, a new POV, new confidence and an improved view of the workplace and each individual’s place within that workplace.

Planning a convention? A conference? Any kind of event? Hire an audience arsonist and take Newton’s law of inertia to heart. Move your audience and make your event memorable.

Hire an audience arsonist to set the tone and light the spark of imagination. That’s an event worth attending every year.

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Article Tags: arsonist, attitude, audience members, do not be boring, engage an audience, motivational speaker, newtonsir isaac, presentation skills, professional event



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