5 Cool Ideas™ for Promoting Seminars
By Michael Angelo Caruso

Learning is most fun and most effective when it is easy and natural.  Yet, the very nature of seminars and other classroom activities sometimes makes people uptight and anxious. “Reluctant learners” pose a challenge for seminar promoters.  I’ve learned a lot about seminar promotion having delivered nearly 1,500 presentations all over the world.  If you’ve attended one of my programs, you have experienced these promotion concepts in person.  Perhaps you’ll attend one of my events this year.  Check my calendar for upcoming events.  Here are 5 Cool Ideas for effectively promoting seminars. 

1. Strategic language can sell the event. 
   There’s a bit of Hollywood in the seminar business. Refer to the speaker as a “special guest speaker.” Refer to the activity as an “event” rather than a “seminar.” You can also refer to it as a “show.” If your seminar presenter can’t deliver a show, get another presenter.

2. Mandatory events can create problems.  
   If you make the event “mandatory,” you risk alienating people who feel that the program is being forced on them. Instead, establish positive expectations for attendees using phrases like “you will never forget this program” and “this will be the best seminar you have ever attended” and “you will directly benefit from this program within 24 hours of attending.”

3. An important event creates a big buzz. 
   Promote the training as you would a concert. Arrange for the speaker to be interviewed by a reporter with the local newspaper and the host of local talk radio program. Publish the speaker’s credentials in your corporate newsletter. Print tickets to the “main event.” Invite special guests like favorite customers, vendors and local dignitaries. Have a special reception prior to the program to create even more buzz.

4. Make the event "exclusive." 
   This marketing technique creates desire in “seminar resistant” people. Schedule special receptions or meetings for certain departments or pay grades. Refer to that portion of the event as “invitation only” and later open it to everyone if you’d like. Remember the psychology axiom that states, “People tend to want what they cannot have.”

5. Use the event to promote future training. 
   Solicit verbal and written evaluations. Be sure that evaluation forms have a narrative section at the top to capture specific comments. Notify attendees that they are required to submit a paragraph summary of what they learned. Instruct attendees to include a written pledge to apply one seminar idea in their day-to-day routine. Make sure attendees know that you will ask them how the application of the idea has improved their quality of work. Ask them at their next performance review. The paragraph summary links the employee’s commitment to their performance and their performance to their review, making the training session more relevant and more effective.