Trade Show Communication

Last week, I attended Fieldays, the largest agricultural trade show in the southern hemisphere. I have manned booths at trade shows in the past, and I can’t help but critique the communication skills of those manning their stalls.

In a trade show, you have a spectrum of conversations, from one-to-one conversations to pitchmen who build up a crowd and then entertain and sell simultaneously. I am not pretending to be a pitchman,, although I have studied them a little.

But regardless of where you are on that spectrum, elements of the communication strategies discussed in this newsletter can help you be more compelling and effective in presenting, pitching and closing deals.

Curiosity

The first thing that makes a difference is the level of curiosity of the people manning the booths. Those who show an interest in the visitors, why they are at the show, what they hope to get out of it, and what they know about the stallholder’s products or the problems they solve.

This can be tiring work. For some people, it is easier than for others. As an introvert myself, I can attest that you can learn the skills to spend a whole day doing this to a high level but be prepared to have a couple of days off to recover after the trade show finishes.

The key here is that the best way to be interesting is to be interested. This also works from the stage, but not to the same degree. In the one-on-one format of a trade show, you have the opportunity to ask questions directly and interact with the person’s answer.

You Don’t Need to Sell

I believe avoiding a sales focus is the second key to success in the trade show environment. If the event is set up right, people are there to spend money, so the key is not to try to sell but to inform and entertain.

People at a trade show want an excuse to spend their money with you and to do that most effectively; you want to give them an experience. This is one reason that a sample is given, but if there is a way to make the sample special, it will make a big difference. If you have a “special bottle” put aside under the counter that you bring out occasionally for the right person, it can make a huge difference.

Deliver an Experience

Great pitchmen entertain the crowd with a surprising patter that is akin to a show. One of the best trade show operators I ever met was Joel Bauer who had a great patter interspersed with a number of amazing magic tricks. It is all about delivering an experience.

In my deeper past as a maître d’ of a restaurant, I used to circulate through the tables, checking people were having a good time. I would do the occasional magic trick at a table, plying them with some free Raki. Again, it was creating those experiences that got people to return to the restaurant and tell others about their amazing night.

It is worth pointing out that you don’t need to do this for every guest or visitor to your trade show booth; you only need to do this for a fraction of them. Of course, it is useful if you can select the right person for whom you want to create an experience.

If you can do this for someone who has a budget to spend on what you are selling or who has influence over a number of people who would be ideal clients, then creating an experience has a huge payoff. But note that it is equally important that you don’t reserve these experiences only for ‘strategic targets’.

Build a Legend

Offering experiences to a wide range of people enables you to build a legend. This is most effectively illustrated by Taylor Swift, who is famous for attending random fan’s weddings or other celebrations. Obviously, she cannot do that for everyone, but doing that a few times a year creates a story that travels powerfully through her fans.

If I have presented this correctly, you should have grasped the principle that creating an experience, including information and entertainment, is a powerful force for building your brand and generating interest and sales in your products or services.

You should also realise that these principles are effective across a wide range of communication formats, from sales conversations to service delivery to trade show conversations, all the way to standing on a stage and addressing a larger audience. How you deliver the experience is entirely up to your creativity..

Snippets is a section where I comment on interesting text I encountered in the previous week.

“Let me just say after watching tonight’s debate, both of these men should be using performance-enhancing drugs…”
“While Biden was preparing at Camp David – for a week! – did anyone mention he would also be on camera…”
-These were comments by Jon Stewart on the Presidential Debate this week.

“I don’t understand what he just said. I don’t think he understands what he just said.” was the zinger comment of the night by Donald Trump, who most people agree was the night's winner in the debate.

If the debate was all about logic and making sense, then it could be argued that President Biden was the winner. Both had gaffs, but if you were to read the transcripts, Trump’s words made less sense overall than Biden’s words.

But the reality is that debate is more about the feeling and emotion of the event. Trump’s experience on TV playing the role of a successful businessman won out and while he is no more qualified to be a president than he is to be a businessman, he was able to act as if he was.

This is why I strongly emphasise that a TEDx talk or any keynote talk is a performance when I train speakers. It is not a lecture, it is not reading something out; it is about bringing the message to life in terms of voice, movement, and gestures.

This difference made Trump look more effective than Biden, although the actual policy content offered by Biden was far more effective and realistic from Biden.

It is a lesson we can all take to heart.

Unpacking Wisdom is a weekly section in which I explore a famous (or not so famous) quote and how it applies to the Compelling Communicator.

Speaking from the stage, we often feel we must deliver something new to our audience. We want to blind them with our brilliance, impress them with our intelligence and take them on a journey with our genius. But Machiavelli warns us against this.

I have two points to make on this subject:

1. Remind them of what they already know

More often than not it isn’t new information that people need as much as being reminded of something they already know but have forgotten. Or enabling them to see a familiar concept in a new light or with a new application.

This is not new information, but it can be profoundly revelatory to the audience. In fact, it feels more profound to us when we are reminded of something we know to be true that can be applied in a new or different way. We believe the speaker because we believe in our own knowledge.

2. Tell them the same things again and again

As speakers, it is a huge problem that we get bored with our messages. Particularly if we have a unique or novel idea, we must continually present that idea over and over again. For our varied audiences, it is often a new message, but for us, we feel we are repeating ourselves incessantly and fear we are boring our audiences.

Generally most speakers need to resist the urge to find something new continually. Instead, you should find a variety of ways to talk about the same thing and then add something new as a test every now and then to see how it flies -alongside your key message.

Finally, I want to make a note regarding Niccolo Macchiavelli. I read a translation of his book, The Prince, several years ago. In my mind, his book was an ideal publication of the time, a real how-to book for surviving in the world in which it was written. While Macchiavelli is often referred to as devious or untrustworthy, I found his philosophy to be more reality-based.

If you haven’t read his book, give it a go. It is short.

What I am up to this week…

Professionally:

This week, I am launching the coaching program for TEDxUoWaikato. I am also expecting a flood of work in instructional design.

What I am reading:

I have started reading a fiction book loaned to me by a friend: Stone Junction by Jim Dodge. It is an interesting book about modern-day outlaws.
I have also been reading Networking Your Way to Success by Sue Coleman

What I am watching:

I have re-watched all the seasons of The Wire and recently watched Groundhog Day. They both stand up pretty well story-wise, but the technology in both looks so dated!