Learning Language and Avoiding Mistakes

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Tips for meeting professionals of any age

What can we learn from past meetings and events? What can we learn from past interactions? Keynote speaker Quinn Conyers delivered a dynamic and captivating presentation at IACC to answer these crucial questions for meeting and event professionals. Learning from past mistakes, learning new tips from experts and presenting yourself with as much knowledge and professionalism as possible are the lynch pins for any industry leader. Smart Meetings and Conyers have compiled a list of tips to boost meeting professionals everywhere.

Luxury Language

Use words that have power. “Luxury language” refers to choosing your words in a way that keeps your audience engaged. “Engage” is a good example of luxury words. In fact, “E” words stand out as we look at Conyers’ word cloud of luxury language.

“Being an effective leader in the meetings and events industry boils down to how well you can lead others with luxury language.”

—  Quinn Conyers, keynote speaker, IACC 2024

The largest word was “empower.” Luxury language can be used to establish your worth as you present yourself to potential partners, employers or when you pursue any other personal or professional ventures. The next largest words were “engage” and “elevate.” Conyers expressed the importance of using luxury language to not shy away from powerful words as you are presenting, but to advance your vernacular to develop your business relationship and implement a level of respect for your intent.

Avoiding Mistakes

Sometimes, the best lessons learned are those meeting professionals have learned from a bad experience. Things may fall through the cracks, certain logistics weren’t given enough attention or completely unforeseen circumstances led to uncertainty or panic. Below are some common mistakes Conyers pointed out that are too often made—but can be learned from.

• Don’t let your personal brand or communication style negatively effect your leadership role. Meet your team where they are.
• Don’t lead with your title. More people are interested in you and respect you for your transformation. Talk about your journey, not your accolades.
• Don’t shy away from effectively communicating your abilities.
• Never use “discount dialect.” When pitching, presenting or speaking to the public, always use “luxury language.” Be empowered, engaging and elevate the experience.

Innovation and Creativity

What are some of the most significant challenges meeting and event professionals face today and how do we work towards finding solutions? Using the above tips about luxury language and avoiding common mistakes, presenting to potential partners and investors can be effective and lead to problem solving. Some criteria to think about when presenting a solution to an industry problem you are facing:

• What is the impact on the intended stakeholder?
• How creative/innovative is your idea?
• How well designed is your idea?
• Are you using the above tips to enhance the impact of your presentation and using great communication skills?

Read More: Navigating the Thrills of Event Innovation

Using luxury language, avoiding common mistakes and always staying creative are all important tips for meeting and events professionals at any level of their career.