People want to know where to look. Your guests will expect to know when each activity will be taking place.
Communicate the Event Schedule to Your Guests
Have everything timed out as best you can. And, more importantly, communicate the day’s structure to everyone who attends the event.
People crave direction. Every audience wants to know when to participate in the programming of your events. No matter what the activities are; dinner, entertainment, a speaker, socializing, dancing, etc. People want to know when and where they should be.
Here are some ideas on having your event’s structure communicated well to the people who attend your event. You could:
- Print programs and hand them out to each attendee
- Have table tents set up on every table, outlining the order of events
- Set up a poster(s) or screen projector with this info (they can be in several places if needed)
- Have someone announce on the mic what will be happening next. Or, you could even have a pre-recorded version played over the PA
You are on a timely schedule, and it is very important that your audience contributes to being prompt. I’ve seen it time and time again where guests are waiting around, unsure of where to go next. You don’t want your guests to be in that position.
Relating this back to entertainment, this becomes ever more important since most acts have their set lists well timed out. They will need to start on time to deliver their show effectively. If the audience isn’t ready, the show won’t begin on time. That sets the performer up on the wrong foot, and a stressed audience can’t connect well either.
Whatever the case, remember that people don’t like to guess, so be willing to spoon feed them this sort of information. It will make your event run very smoothly, and your guests will appreciate it.
