Archive for Venues

Accelerated Learning is Key!

Hi my name is Callan Rush and I’m here with another Workshop Wealth Tip.

This tip is all about what is generally known as Accelerated Learning…

So if you’re not familiar with that particular word, I’ll explain what Accelerated Learning is.

Have you ever been to a workshop and the person on stage is asking you to Hi-5 your neighbor and to repeat things back and fill in the blank and to say things back?

The purpose of these Neurolinguistic programming techniques is to actually make your learning experience more interactive.

A lot of people hate this and a lot of people use it.

So where do I stand on the issue?

My issue is that you absolutely must learn how to use Accelerated Learning from the stage and how to use Neurolinguistic programming from the stage…

But the trick with pulling it off and making sure it’s a win for you and a win for your audience is called SETTING THE CONTEXT.

So a lot of people will just get up on stage and start using all these techniques and asking their audience to Hi-5 and ask their audience to repeat things back but they won’t actually tell their audience ahead of time why they are doing it.

Then what happens in that the audience member who is being asked to do all these things starts to feel like a monkey that is being told to do tricks.

So what you want to do instead is set the context for Accelerated Learning.

You can set it up by letting your audience know that you will be using some things that will help them learn faster, remember more of what they learn, sustain their learning and be able to implement it in a practical way more easily.

Get their enrollment, explain what’s in it for them before you start using all these techniques.

And I think what you’ll find is they will be much more eager and enrolled to participate with you in the Accelerated Learning.

So that’s my Workshop Wealth Tip.

If you want to look below the video you’ll see there is a place for you to leave questions and comments.

If you’re interested to learn exactly how I language the permission when I’m asking for permission to use Accelerated Learning, go ahead and leave a comment below and I’ll tell you how I do it!

Until next time be brilliant!

Callan Rush xo

Callan on June 8th, 2011 in Business, Curriculum Design, Inspiration, Learning Theory, Marketing, On-Stage Delivery, Personal Experience & Stories, Presentation Skills, Room Set-up and Design, Uncategorized

Keep People Focused… no Windows!

This Workshop Wealth Tip is about creating an for optimal learning environment.

My advice for you is to book a venue that doesn’t have windows. If the venue does have windows, make sure the curtains are closed when you’re on stage.

This is very counter-intuitive because you might think bright lights and open space are good for learning.  However, when you are in a long workshop you want to keep people focused on the front of the room, on you and on learning. People’s attention starts to drift outside if the event room has windows and they are bright and open.

You can always open the windows during breaks but while you’re teaching it’s best to  keep a the space contained and create an optimal learning environment.

If you have any other questions or you’re wondering about the appropriate choice of venues and how to design the space, please leave a comment below and I will get back to you as soon as I can!

Until next time be brilliant!

Callan Rush xo

Callan on May 11th, 2011 in Marketing, On-Stage Delivery, Presentation Skills, Room Set-up and Design

Add some ‘HOME’ to your Events!

This Workshop Wealth Tip is about making your event room more homey.

My tip for you this week is to make sure that you always have live plants or live flowers at all of your events. We always have fresh bouquets of flowers placed around the room at our events (we love fresh roses).

As a workshop leader, most of your live events will take place in some kind of ballroom with crazy carpeting and air conditioning. So you want to be sure you bring something in that is lively, adds warmth and gives a feeling of home.

If you have any other strategies to make your events feel more warm and less like a “seminar” please leave you comments below.

Until next time be brilliant!

Callan Rush xo

Callan on May 4th, 2011 in Business, Presentation Skills, Room Set-up and Design

Keep Your Workshops Cool!

This Workshop Wealth Tip is going to help you achieve an Optimal Learning Environment in your workshops, retreats and seminars. One important piece is to keep you rooms on the cooler side.

I like to keep my workshops at 69F… any warmer and you might get into trouble with people losing their alertness level, and possibly even falling asleep :(

This video was shot during a break at a recent workshop of ours called Magnetize Your Audience. Its interesting that the very next weekend, we led the event again and there was an air-conditioner malfunction and the room was like an igloo all weekend long… that’s obviously not what we’re going for here, we don’t want people losing blood-flow to their fingers!

Again, I’ve found 69F to be the magic temperature to shoot for.

Please leave any questions or comments you have about room temperature or other matters pertaining to your event space.

Callan Rush xo

Callan on December 10th, 2010 in Learning Theory, Presentation Skills, Room Set-up and Design, Venues

Water Stations are Good (on one condition)

This Workshop Wealth Tip is about the placement of your Water Station.

Its a big mistake to put your Water Station inside your event room. It can be a HUGE distraction with people’s glasses clanking and water being spilled, etc.

I highly recommend you provide a Water Station, for sure… just leave it outside the room. If you’re giving your participants ample break time, it won’t be a problem for them to keep themselves hydrated during those designated times.

If you have any questions regarding water, food, or anything about putting on your workshops, retreats and seminars… please leave it below and I’ll get back to you shortly.

Callan Rush xo

Callan on December 8th, 2010 in Room Set-up and Design, Venues

Technology?!? … PowerPoint?!? … I Say, Old School Rules!

My Workshop Wealth Tip for today is… PowerPoint Sucks! :)

I’m Old School, Baby!

PowerPoint presentations usually put people into a Passive Learning State, just like when we watch TV and zone out.

I prefer to use an ol’ fashioned flip chart with nice, fat markers.The width of the markers is critical as you need to ensure everybody in the room can clearly read what you’ve written… even the lady in the back that forgot her glasses!

Remember, you also want to keep people involved and engaged with what you’ve written… getting them to read aloud what’s on the flip-chart is a great way to do this.

For your markers, I recommend Pilot SC 6600. They don’t smell very good, but they’re the best I’ve found with regards to readability for my audience members.

If you happen to know of any good, fat markers that don’t have a strong smell to them, please let me know in the comment section below as I’d love to check them out.

Also, if you have any questions or stories regarding the use of PowerPoint, flip charts, colored markers… anything like that, please leave it below and I’ll be sure to get back to you!

Callan Rush xo

Callan on December 3rd, 2010 in Curriculum Design, Learning Theory, On-Stage Delivery, Presentation Skills, Room Set-up and Design

Sound is Vital to Your Participants

This video was shot during a break at my Magnetize Your Audience 3-Day Intensive. This Workshop Wealth Tip is KEY to managing the energy of the participants in your workshops, seminars and retreats.

The Tip is to always have an A/V station (along with someone who knows how to use it) at all of your events. One of the most important things I learned from my primary mentor in this business is the importance that Sound plays in the learning process.

I mentioned in a previous tip that its important to be mic’d up, so that you can project your voice without shouting… well, that is only one piece of sound-factor. Music is a critical element in keeping people engaged, awake and able to learn at your events. Having the equipment facilitate all of this is critically important.

If you have any questions about A/V equipment… or where to find good people to operate it, please leave it below for everyone’s benefit.

Callan Rush xo

Callan on November 29th, 2010 in Resources, Room Set-up and Design

An Instant Way to Make Every Workshop a ‘Sell-Out’!

Whenever you do an introductory workshop, be sure to put out less chairs than you think you’ll need. I like to put out about 20% less chairs than the number of people I’m expecting to show-up.

This does 2 things…

1. It forces everyone to move up toward the front of the room. This makes sure the front row is full when you take the stage.

2. It helps build the ‘BUZZ’ and the anticipation of your event when you have to put out more chairs to accomodate all the participants. This is a great way to start building up the energy before your event even starts.

Please leave any comments or questions you may have regarding this little technique. I assure you, what you share will be in service to other readers!

Callan on November 19th, 2010 in Room Set-up and Design

The Magnetize – Mesmerize – Monetize Model in Action!

My staff and I are working insane hours right now getting ready for 2 Magnetize Your Audience events on back-to-back weekends, which is something we’ve never done in our business. As I started to run out of steam last night, I found myself going through some old pictures from some of our past events (I posted a bunch to my Facebook page… http://www.facebook.com/callanrush ), as well as some old videos.

I started feeling very sentimental, as all this footage really reminded me about why I do this in the first place (sometimes I need little reminders when things are this busy). I’m going to share with you a video I’m particularly proud of!

This particular video footage is taken from one, small project we took on about a year ago and the results were staggering.

A woman came to us concerned because her upcoming event was under-sold and things weren’t looking too hot. Well, I’ll let the videos speak for themselves… but really, Justin (my business partner) and I only did 3 things for her (but I think you’ll agree they’re 3 very important pieces).

1. We helped her with a couple of last-minute room-filling techniques.

2. We redesigned the layout of her event room to create an Optimal Learning (& selling) Environment.

3. We re-wrote her Offer Scripts for her, and gave her some critical Delivery Coaching to help with her sales results.

That’s it… 1… 2… 3…

Watch these 3 quick videos to see what happened. First, the calm before the Storm…

Then, the Inevitable Storm…

… and finally, from the Queen of Business Acceleration, herself…

If you’re anything like me and you’re continually fueled and motivated by the results of your clients, please share a story below, I’d love to hear from you!

In the meantime, make sure you ‘Like’ my Facebook page, I’m constantly posting Workshop Wealth Tips there that will ensure you get results like Christine did!

http://www.facebook.com/callanrush

Callan Rush xo

Callan on November 3rd, 2010 in Case Studies, Inspiration, Personal Experience & Stories, Room Set-up and Design

Finding Your Perfect Venue — Part 1

Often, I get asked about workshops venues. More specifically, I get asked…

“What should I be looking for?”

“How much should I pay?”

Today, I’m going to cover that first one.

Well, assuming you’re looking for a more traditional, hotel ballroom type of a set-up, here’s what you should be looking for…

(NOTE: There a ton of cool ways to run workshops and seminars in non-traditional venues, we’ll cover that another time)

1. Ample Square Footage -

I find 1100-1400 sq. ft. is perfect for around 50 participants in a theatre-style seating arrangement (meaning just chairs, no tables). I suggest using this number as your benchmark and adjust accordingly. If you’re doing an event for 100 people… just
double it!

2. High Ceiling -

My preference is to find a room with a 12 ft ceiling. I find it to be the perfect height! Its high enough that the room won’t feel congested or confined… while it’s also low enough that you can maintain the feeling of a safe and intimate space.

Most rooms you’ll come across will have a 8 or 9 ft ceiling… this is too small, especially if you have a stage. If your stage is more than a foot high, then you’ll have to compensate by making sure the ceiling is even higher.

3. Square Shape -

You want the room to be as square as possible, meaning all 4 walls are the same length.It’s totally fine if the room isn’t perfectly square, but you want to avoid the ‘Bowling-Alley’ effect. A long, narrow room is very difficult to set up properly.

When you do have a room that isn’t perfectly square, set up the stage on a wide wall… NOT an end wall. This is likely counter intuitive for you. The reason you want to do this is to maximize the width of your front row… this is your Prime Real-Estate!

Why?

Because that’s where your Buyers sit!

When you put the stage on the wide wall, you make sure that everyone is closer to the stage… closer to you!

I promise if you do this, you’ll make more sales at your seminars and workshops… give it a try!

Please leave a comment below… whether it be a question I can answer, or a tip you can share with regards to finding great venues!

Callan on September 1st, 2010 in Room Set-up and Design, Venues