I've just about recovered from last weekend's Professional Speaking Association 'MEGA' Convention. With conference season fast approaching (we have ours a bit earlier than most as many of us plan to be working at other people's conferences!), I thought it might be helpful to share a few tips on getting the most out of the conferences you attend.
ONE: Know Your Outcome
Conferences can be tiring, they can be entertaining, they can be interesting and, if you're lucky, they can be very social. They can also be a complete waste of time and money if you don't know what you want to achieve from your presence.
Understand why you are going and how you can benefit from the investment before you attend. Where is your business struggling? What areas do you need to focus on? Who do you need to connect, or reconnect, with?
TWO: Select Your Sessions You don't need to attend every plenary session if the content doesn't match your objectives. If there is an exhibition, perhaps take some time to talk to stall holders. Alternatively, use some of the time for a quiet 1-2-1 meeting with people you need to talk to.
A lot of conferences offer different breakout talks throughout. Study these in advance and work out which are the most relevant to you at this time.
THREE: Take Notice One of the Keynote speakers at the weekend, Nigel Risner, is fond of telling his audiences to put down their pads and smartphones and "Take notice, not notes".
At my first convention I took pages and pages of notes...and never looked at them again. Now I just jot down action points I commit to doing after the event, leaving my follow up far more manageable.
FOUR: Someone Old, Someone New Find time to network. I have found the primary benefit of most conferences I've attended has been the opportunity to rekindle some old relationships and forge some new.
If you are clear beforehand about your objectives, you can focus your networking accordingly. But always be open to meet new people randomly, you don't know where a possible relationship may take you.
To maximise your networking be the last person to sit down, move seats for each session and be the first to arrive and last to depart.
FIVE: It's Not Just a Weekend The conference doesn't end when you're in your car on the way home. Set aside some time to go through your action points and implement them. Discuss your takeaways with colleagues, mentors or mastermind members.
And follow up with everyone you met after the event, making sure that you don't revert to being strangers again when you shake hands the following year. | 
Last month saw the launch of The Global Networking Show, the new internet television show and podcast co-presented by myself and 
