Here is a shortcut to integrate your audience into your program, focus on key issues and get up close and not-too-personal with your audience.  

The Pro-Match Matrix is a bulletin board with topic headings and columns with spaces for the attendees' business cards below. It is a pre-meeting activity to generate attendee participation.

Positioned at the entrance to your workshop, the Pro-Match board invites people to place their business card beneath a header/topic of their choice. In the process, people "self-sort" into categories representing their interests or an area of expertise. The topics are chosen by the speaker to create interaction or connection within the group. The possibilities are endless.

Audience Benefits

 Conversation Starter - Helps people before the workshop begins --People will naturally ask, "What's this?" to their neighbor, followed by, "By the way, my name is .." By reading the topics and business cards, attendees can learn practical and intriguing facts about each other.

Create a buzz -The Pro-Match Matrix attracts attention and will uild a crowd around the board, as well as generate excitement for the workshop. The audience can speculate on how you will use their business cards.

Find Leads - Both you and the attendees can browse the business cards for potential clients and partnerships--essentially a place to make professional matches.

Sets expectations for participation -The Pro-Match Matrix gives the audience the idea that the presenter cares who they are and that audience participation is an important aspect of the program. This tool promotes positive expectations for the speaker by establishing the foundation for the audience community.

Establishes community -- People can connect - whether it's with their introverted colleagues or their fellow aspiring rock stars. Your audience will have already established a like-minded community before you even open your mouth.

Speaker Benefits

Personalize the presentation to the audience -Use the matrix to note geography, companies, and titles of the audience members to improve presentation relevance. For example, in an interactive meeting presentation "Transform Bores and Snores into Encores" for Meeting Professionals International, I used the "Pro-Match Matrix." Using the matrix, I noted participants from the legal industry, which typically represent conservative perspectives. These individuals could be valuable as devil's advocates for my creative ideas. I altered my presentation to make sure the conservatives had the opportunity to express their valuable insights. The board also allowed me to identify attendees from my target market representatives from I made sure to involve these individuals in interactive activities.

Verify your audience. Use the matrix to find out if your audience composition matches your plans. For example, if your audience is mostly from New York City in women's retails sales, instead of the agrarians from the South you were expecting, you can modify your style, language, pace, and examples.

Wield a verbal weapon to grab people's attention when you need it - Since you know a bit about attendees, you have quick access and a direct connection to your audience through the matrix and can reference individuals in your examples to keep the snoozers and potential catnappers alert.

Spotlight members for intra-audience networking - I once used the matrix to identify the following groups: "I want to attract more meeting planners to my venue" and "I am a meeting planner." I invited the venue representatives to the stage to give introductions and describe their target "meeting planners." I then asked meeting planners in the audience to introduce themselves. To make a physical connection, I had the venue folks place a target hat on a meeting planner's head and then shoot a balloon bow and arrow to hit their target market. They both literally and figuratively hit their targets. The matrix board provided a mechanism to facilitate professional matching, a shared activity, memorable entertainment, and it was fun.

Create Professional Expert Groups The matrix can be used to identify common interests. For example, at a UW EMBA meeting, you might create topics e.g. "I want to do a start-up", "I want to do business in Asia ", and "I want to create a foundation".

The Pro-Match Matrix can create an interactive environment before you ever work your magic. You can now elicit volunteers, examples, and integrate your audience into the program. If you are the genius I think you are, you will have peppered the board with topics like "I am a CEO," "I like to donate services," and "I have money to burn". Crafting the topics is crucial--develop interesting topics for both your audience and you.

Who said you can't hit 10 targets with one solution? The Pro-Match Matrix is my homage to multi-tasking. Always walk away from your event knowing who's who.

How to create and set up your own Pro-Match Matrix.

Pro-Match Matrix Board

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