Ideas To Beat Conference Boredom

Ever been to (or organised) a conference or meeting and noticed your colleagues starting to nod off or get distracted? A boring conference is bad for productivity, employee morale and job satisfaction. Here are our top four ways to beat conference boredom for good!

1. Bring it to the Outdoors

Get your delegates up and out into the fresh air. Find an outdoor terrace or nearby common or park for lunch or outdoor games. Keeping cooped up in one space all day does no good for any of us. Getting your delegates moving and in another setting refreshes the mind and keeps them interested!

2. Good Food

It’s not just the way to a man’s heart, but the way to every workplace employee’s heart. Good food at your away day or conference is a sure-fire way to break up your discussions and boost delegate’s spirits. Offering a breakfast, hot lunch, canapés or something more substantial than just some biscuits, will ensure your delegates are not restless and hungry, counting the minutes until they can head home for dinner. Allowing this lunch or breakfast time will also encourage attendees to talk amongst themselves about things aside from the conference, which in turn will promote more discussion between delegates during the meeting.

3. Diversify

Think outside the box and diversify the way your conference is set up. Instead of just having a set lecture on a certain topic as your attendees sit back and listen, try using numerous flipcharts or posters around the room, writing up your topics and adding to them. Bright colours, asking attendees to help build on ideas and write up on the pages around the room gets delegates moving and thinking more about the topic at hand. Changing up the set out of your schedule (especially in a conference with more than one day) keeps your delegates on their toes and keeps them interested.

4. Change Your Lay Out

Try a non conventional set out to combat the conference boredom. Instead of theatre style all facing a top table, try a ring of chairs with the facilitator in the middle. This set out ensures the main speaker is interacting with all delegates and allows the attendees to engage more personally with the facilitator and each other.

Another great set up to combat boredom is an open space set out. More information about this set out and planning a conference with OST (Open Space Technology) can be found here

Call Hannah to discuss livening up your next conference on 020 3176 2182

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