Lackluster Lunch & Learn?

 

Ahh, the lunch & learn. Free food in exchange for a participant's attention and buy-in. What's not to love?

A lot. 

Audiences are savvy; they know what a lunch & learn tends to be--a thinly-veiled pitch trying to sell them on something in exchange for some pizza and their valuable time. It's no surprise, then, that audiences don't come into a lunch & learn with the most open of minds. In fact, many come in thinking, defensively, "You're not going to sell ME."

This, unsurprisingly, does not make them receptive to your information. They exist on the spectrum of indifference to active resistance. 

However, you can break down this defensiveness almost immediately and turn a skeptical or bored audience into raving fans--and it's as easy as incorporating a game show. 

Why Game Shows?

1. Competition: Structuring the event as a competition engages the audience's sense of play and activates their desire to show off their knowledge (and win!). 

2. Interaction: This leads to the lunch and learn being an active experience instead of a passive experience. Not only are participants interacting with the presenter, but they're also engaging with their peers as teammates, discussing answers, and becoming involved with the content.

3. Message Reinforcement: This direct interaction leads to content and message reinforcement. The game questions are a content review, and they can lead to deeper level of curiosity and understanding. Audience members pay closer attention to the content when they know it will help them (win the game) later on. 

4. Emotional Experience (i.e. FUN): Game shows are a break from talking AT people; giving them an energetic experience that engages their emotions (emotional engagement also correlates with greater content retention). Aside from being extremely effective, they're also a lot of FUN. 

When to Use a Game Show in Your Lunch and Learn?

1. Beginning: Playing a game round before the presentation begins both generates curiosity around the topic and sets the tone: This isn't going to be the normal lunch & learn--it's going to be an experience that audiences will enjoy. 

2. Throughout: Playing rounds throughout the event boosts energy and keeps it high even when the lunchtime lethargy hits. 

3. The End: Closing out your presentation with a game round leaves your audience with a positive impression--and that translates to more than just a good time, it's a feeling of goodwill about YOUR company and/or product. 

When our clients started using game shows as part of their lunch and learns--it wasn't hard to get attendees in the seats, staying in the seats, and staying engaged throughout. Using game shows is definitely more than food for thought.