Hosting a workshop is a great way to advertise and create connections in your field of expertise. Workshops can serve as additional revenue for your business. And aside from imparting valuable knowledge or skills to your audience, it can also be a learning experience for you to refresh and refine your practical and theoretical skills as the host.

A successful workshop takes a lot of planning. If not done well, it can be a huge waste of your resources. But if hosted successfully, experiential workshops for your business can be beneficial for you and everyone involved. Below are some creative ways you can incorporate into the success of your workshop:

1.    Make your topic relevant

To be able to bring attention to your workshop, you should have a content that will be useful and interesting to your attendees. Come up with ideas that are relevant to the current events and trends that your audience will surely be able to relate to. To help you with this, conduct initial research. It’s also a great idea to ask your audience by sending out surveys and then shape your topic content through its results.

2.    Spice up your agenda

Now that you have a topic think of fun ways on how you will deliver it to your audience and achieve your workshop’s goal. List your main points and break them down into details that will make it easy for you to deliver. For each main point, plan the visual aids you will need and the activities you will have. Try having different games or activities for each point to keep things interesting.

Remember not to plan too many activities in a short period. Too many activities might burn out your audience and will make them leave without finishing the session.

3.    Get creative with your location

Choose a venue that will surely attract attendees. Don’t settle for the usual conference room with the usual rows of tables and chairs. Have a relaxed ambiance by conducting your workshop outside and close to nature, in a garden or a park. Or better yet, put up a temporary tent structure in a vast space outside the office, decorate it and have it as your venue. Get creative by having couches or beanbags instead of chairs, or standing table podiums that will encourage small groups.

4.    Keep it interesting with music

Make your workshop alive by having music. Music is a great cue to start and end your workshop. Use music to signal transition from a point to another point on your topic. You can also have instrumental music for your background music during the session.

5.    Make the audience excited with recognition and rewards

Keep the audience motivated in finishing the workshop by giving out certificates or having a raffle at the end of the session. Recognizing their efforts and participation will also make them stay throughout the course. Reward those answers during the question and answer portion with small incentives. If you have games, give prizes to those who won. Doing so will make your audience more competitive and involved throughout the workshop.