Jeff Korhan

Recent Activity

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  Jeff commented on the article | about 2 years ago

  The Conference Is Dead (...Does Anyone Care?)

  Darrell - Hang in there.  I believe we are entering the era of the motivational content speaker.  This is certainly true in my area of expertise, and from what I've heard from a few speaker bureaus, it is becoming more widespread!

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  Jeff commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  The Conference Is Dead (...Does Anyone Care?)

  Nathaniel - First, thanks for the response.  It's rare that the blogger follows up. It shows you care.

  
  

  You may have already discerned that I am a professional speaker, not a great one, but a good one that is learning to get better.  My strength does come from a over 30 years of business experience, both in a corporate environment and as an entrepreneur. 

  
  

  Coming from that perpsective, I do believe you are on target with your concept.  However, I believe solid leadership is necessary in the form of an outside, professional speaker.  If you don't have this, you frequently get the leadership from the heavy handed members of the group,which then smothers the discussion.  Anyone who has sat on a dysfunctional board knows this to be true.

  
  

  Now, the approach I am practicing, which I recently learned from our NSA - National Speakers Association president Phil Van Hooser, is to not project what you as a speaker are thinking, but to allow the audience to think, reason and learn through you, as you apply your wisdom and experience to their questions, in an interactive environment like the one you suggest.

  
  

  I do speak a great deal to non-profit associations and know for a fact they are hurting.  My solution to this is to do more to help them, again, by applying my business experience.  I see us as partners who have everything to gain by creating a productive forum for adult learning that keeps our economy moving forward.

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  Jeff commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  The Conference Is Dead (...Does Anyone Care?)

  I've read this post a few times and I'm still not exactly sure what you are recommending, other than change and less hierarchy.  I will agree to both of those, and suggest a solution.

  
  

  Given the suggested topic of this blog, I'm surprised to see not a single use of the word social in this post, which I believe to be especially relevant to this discussion.

  
  

  You have suggested that the traditional model needs to be reworked, and many of us would agree.  This is not surprising, as society's needs are continuously changing, and thanks to the explosion of social media, people are now more eager to express themselves in these situations.  They have a voice and want to use it to make a contribution.

  
  

  This indeed points to a need for business professionals to engage in new ways, as opposed to passively watching a keynote presentation.  It may suggest an interactive keynote, or more likely an interactive keynote session, where in fact there is not a keynoter at all - the session is the keynote.  This would still require a professional to facilitate this session.

  
  

  Professional speakers dedicate themselves to solving problems for their audiences.  As with any other profession, when they do what they do well, everyone wants an encore.  When they show up unprepared and otherwise add little value to their audiences, then indeed, everyone will feel cheated.  To have attendee orchestrated workshops as you suggest could work, but I don't think its a reliable model, especially when you consider the dyamics of human interaction.  Egos get in the way, as just one potential problem.  Anyone who has sat on a committee knows this.

  
  

  There has to be leadership.  That leadership is provided by a trained professional who has invested hundreds of hours of preparation to fulfilling the needs of the audience.  Many people can speak, but to do it well requires a level of skill and commitment like any other profession.

  
  

  People will always come together to solve business problems.  We can accomplish this at conferences, symposiums, summits, or retreats.  It doesn't matter what we call them, but it is important that we have them, and that we bring in professionals to lead, guide,and manage the dicusssion if we expect to achieve pragmatic results.