We’re coming up to the Learning Technologies Exhibition and Conference time. It’s the time of the year when we wander round stands and, unless we have a budget to spend, have a great time seeing what’s new and interesting.

One thing to improve your experience is to prepare your introduction.

You’ll wander round stands avoiding eye contact with vendors. It’s uncomfortable for them and you. However, if you have a clear introduction you’ll find it much easier to talk to vendors.

E.g. Hi, I’m NAME and here to look at TOPIC. I work for a TYPE OF ORGANISATION of NUMBER OF PEOPLE. I’m looking to see how your product fits MY BUSINESS PROBLEM.

• Name – who you are seems silly but it frames how your name is pronounced and avoids the embarrassing look for the name badge.
• Topic – what aspect of L&D you’re interested in.
• Type of organisation and number of employees- explaining the size and shape of your organisation helps the people you’re speaking with the context you’re coming from.
• Business problem – the performance issue you’re working on.

The essential element is the business problem – don’t walk round looking at stands with a learning problem – we need to recognise it’s the business issue we want to solve. This is where the conversation becomes more than a fleeting details swap between attendee and vendor. Vendors will appreciate the conversation more too.

Are you going and want to catch up? Let me know.