trade show presentations | Chris Taylor Consultant

Putting show biz back into trade shows

Trade show presentations? Yikes! You know what they’re like. The only thing you can remember is the intense desire to leave as soon as possible and drown your sorrows at the nearest bar.

But they can be an incredible opportunity for both individuals and organizations. Think about it. Approximately 150 to 200 people will attend your average trade show seminar.  And if you present well, they will carry the message back and share it with between 10 and 20 more people in their own organization. This secondary audience had ballooned to between 2,000 and 4,000 people. Those are huge (and very interesting) numbers.

My client, Chris Taylor, had landed a speaking gig at the American Rental Association, a huge event where event planners and rental equipment suppliers get together.

His trump card was a set of Behavioral Analytics tools that put a little science into recruiting the right people. And then putting them in the right seats, doing the right jobs. Behavioral Analytics tools are based on academic research. Presenting them can easily become a little professorial (meaning boring), and Chris happened to have a PhD in chemistry. Strategic insight: why do trade show presentations have to be dreary? Chris had mentioned that he would be presenting with one of his clients (let’s call her Mariette), an ARA attendee and very talented event planner.

Great, I said. I’m going to write a script that’s halfway between a sitcom and stand-up comedy. What? Why?

Because, if used appropriately, humor is the best! No one expects it, everyone loves it, and if you can deliver, the audience can’t wait for more. Here’s the rationale: when content is associated with a pleasurable event, it sticks, and subconsciously, people are happy to recall it.  During an unpleasant – or boring! – event, people shut down and shut information out.

Chris and Mariette didn’t have any idea of what their story might be, but I was confident that if I got a few data points, I could create one.

I was too pressured for time to mention that I had 25 years of experience in writing scripts (Chris and I had just started working together): for TV ads, for radio ads, for TV series, for radio drama series, for corporate videos…you get the idea.

And I told them I would rehearse them. I also hadn’t mentioned that I had a thirty-year career as an actor and director. Go ahead. Google my name. It’s Alan Fawcett. You’ll find I’m not a very good actor and I’ve got a lot of work to prove it. 

Chris and Mariette presentation at the trade show

Chris introduces Mariette and says: You have a great company. But you had a problem.

Mariette: Yes. A Delivery Manager who couldn’t deliver. He wouldn’t do the basics, like ensuring that our trucks had everything on them that they should have.

Chris: Not good.

Mariette: No. Inevitably something would be missing. And then he’d have to work an 18-to-20-hour day to make up for his mistakes and would expect to be congratulated for it.

Chris: Really not good.

Mariette: No. Because his teams would have to work 18-to-20-hour days to cover for him. And that’s bad. Because working 18-to-20 hour days makes it really difficult to concentrate.

Or even stay awake.

Mariette: Drove off the side of the road.

Chris: No one got hurt.

Mariette: No. But it’s hard to keep the show on the road when the show’s in the ditch.

Audience: Not exactly what you expect to see in a trade show presentation. Laughter.

Mariette: And that’s not the worst. There was also the Cabana in the Wind.

Chris: That’s an Elton John song.

Mariette: (Mournfully) No, it’s a lament. Trust me.

Audience: Getting into it. They can’t wait to find out what comes next.

Mariette: One of his teams was doing a breakdown at a posh client’s mansion, and they were running late because a hurricane was due to make landfall and traffic was snarled for days. They called in at 3 am and said: We’re out on our feet. Send in a team at 7 am to finish up.

Chris: What happened?

Mariette: The hurricane made an unexpectedly early house call at my client’s place, whirled a cabana up in the air and dumped it into the swimming pool.

Audience: Loving this. Way more than mere chuckles.

Chris: What did your client think?

Mariette: Oh, they friggin’ loved it.

Audience: They can’t believe it. The f-bomb at a trade show presentation? From a polite, well-mannered event planner? Widespread applause and some convulsive howls of laughter.

And so the script went.

The point is: the results

All big trade shows do surveys of presentation attendees. Two weeks later, the presentation was rated a 4.95 out of a possible 5. 25 different content points were recalled and approved of.

Most importantly, my client expected to get 4 responses from those who attended. Out of 180 attendees, 80 requested further information or a meeting. That’s about 43%. You can’t get 43% of people to do anything. Even if you pay them.

Chris presented in mid-February. By the end of April, he had been unable to work his way through all the requests for follow-ups. And although not all of the follow-ups would be this profitable, one of them will be worth $40K in this calendar year alone. You do the math.

Chris will be in clover. Assuming he can get any sleep.