Tips for Seminar Success

While consumer seminars may not be “your thing”, many of the underlying principles for a seminar apply to the normal operation of our businesses.  Please take a moment to read this even if you are not a “seminar guy”.

Last week I shared with you that consumer seminar material is available from OneAmerica.  From invitations, to workbooks, to follow-up material, and the presentation itself, you have access to a full catalog of seminar material from OneAmerica.

You can experience the “Great Retirement Income Gap” consumer presentation on Tuesday, June 23 at 3pm (eastern).  Michael Florio and I will present the full consumer presentation that should take no more than 30 minutes.  We will be sharing with you simply, a discussion of the greatest threat to our retirement incomes – the lack of planning for extended healthcare issues.

One overlooked area of producing any presentation is planning and organization.  Here are a few items that might help you with better prepare for your seminar.

1. Plan to follow-up. I mentioned this last week, but follow-up is vital.  Follow-up does not mean after the event only – it means follow-up with the people that you invited as well as other people that you will rely upon to make your meeting a success.  Conversations throughout the seminar process will help yield better results.
2. Schedule – confirm – and reconfirm. This ties in with the first item and it might sound like paranoia, but confirmation can save tremendous amounts of frustration.  If you can prevent an issue from negatively impacting your seminar, do it.  The first thing is to make sure that everything is scheduled then making sure it is locked and loaded – technology, location, supplies, promotional material, etc.
3. Remember the call to action. Don’t be that guy who invites people to spend an hour of their time without leaving them with a “follow-up activity”.  It could a request to schedule an annual review meeting or a Q&A session to address questions that might have popped up after they left your seminar.  Whatever it is – make sure you open the door for a future conversation.
4. Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback. OneAmerica makes it easy for you – feedback forms are included in our seminar packet.  Of course, if you are producing a “virtual” consumer seminar – you can have your client offer their feedback immediately at the end of your webinar or as a separate survey.  One way or another, get feedback.

These are only a few suggestions that will help you make your meetings and seminars more productive.

You can join me for our consumer seminar the “Great Retirement Income Gap” on Tuesday, June 23 at 3pm (eastern).

To learn more about consumer seminars from OneAmerica,  please contact me via email at kevin.fisher@oneamerica.com or by voice/text at (678) 512-9627.

If you missed my  webcast yesterday where I shared ideas for our “relaunch” following our forced slowdown, you can find an on demand recording at my FWF Video Library or at the FWF GoToStage Channel.

And … a reminder, every Tuesday morning at 10am (eastern and pacific), join Michael Florio and me for LTC Coffee Break where we share a conversation over a cup of coffee.