Figuring out an intelligent giveaway when you’re a presenter is not as easy as you might think. In this Pocket Sized Pep Talk listen in, because I’m quite confident, I can tell you how to get this little potentially important move just right!
Originally Published: March 1, 2023
Rob Jolles (00:00):
Figuring out an intelligent giveaway when you’re a presenter is not as easy as you might think. Well, let’s have ourselves a pocket sized pep talk because I’m quite confident I can tell you how to get this little move right?
Intro (00:14):
A pocket size pep talk, the podcast that can help energize your business and your life with a quick inspiring message. Now, here’s your host, Rob Jolles.
Rob Jolles (00:27):
Go to any seminar or workshop and you can usually count on two things. Firstly, there may be too much information presented to you, and secondly, they’ll probably be some sort of giveaway. We’ll save that too much information for another time. Right now, let’s take a look at the giveaway. Like many things in the presentation world, there’s actually a lot at stake and there’s an art to it. If the giveaway is not carefully thought out, it can actually annoy an audience. Once I attended a kickoff meeting with seasoned sales team and they winced every time a giveaway took place, that’s because the giveaway was an umbrella. The fact that it was a cheesy looking umbrella didn’t help all that much, but the deal breaker was that it was a full size umbrella that wouldn’t fit into anyone’s suitcase. For the trip home, the giveaway was mocked and the two people who won them threw them away before heading to the airport.
(01:29)
If the giveaway is too costly, it can anger an audience. While working for Xerox, I taught the art of the giveaway to a new trainer. A few weeks later, he cornered me and he told me the giveaway was upsetting his class. For some reason, after some digging, I found out that his giveaway had been $100 bills paid to trainees who could provide a preferred response. Instead of motivating the audience to participate, the giveaway angered the audience and it turned ugly. There were disagreements about who had their hand up first and what constituted an appropriate answer.
(02:06)
If the giveaway is too personal, it can fool management. While working for Xerox, one of my favorite giveaways was what I used to call a Rob Jealous Action series poster. This was an eight by 10 poster of yours, truly smiling broadly with a creative caption under or above the picture. It was signed of course, and it was probably no, it was my most successful giveaway. It was well thought out, not too big, not too trite, and easy to transport. Unfortunately, my manager never understood the silliness of this giveaway and how much my students liked them, so he told me I couldn’t give them away anymore.
(02:54)
If the giveaway is too trite, it can be forgotten. I’ve lost track. The number of speaking engagements I’ve attended with a big creative giveaway was a sleeve of golf balls or a t-shirt with a marketing message. The giveaway was intended to inspire the audience participation, not to cause everyone to roll their eyes and remain disengaged. Needless to say, this type of giveaway does not wow an audience, and so we arrive something that I unveiled some years ago called a Roble head. Now, Roble Headss are pretty well thought out. Each Roble head has been created to hold business cards or other small items, and that means that this giveaway might earn a precious spot on a desk or another visible location. Roble Headss provide marketing opportunities. On the other side of the base, you’ll find the well-known words energy and enthusiasm. On the other side of the base, you’ll see us subtle, www.jolles.com.
(04:00)
Roble heads are not too costly and travel well packed, wrapped, cushioned, and individually boxed. They can easily fit in a suitcase. Too personal. Whoops. Well, maybe they are. When an audience understands the personality of the speaker, they’re listening to the giveaway, simply access and expression of creativity. Not only is something personal, an appropriate giveaway, but it can provide a last in memory that has a much deeper meaning than a sleeve of golf balls. So the giveaways really capture people’s attention. After I posted this in a blur article about the words on the base of the new Roble head, I received the greatest number of comments in three years, including 22 requests for Bobbleheads, which haven’t you haven’t figured out by now are Bobbleheads, but I don’t like to call ’em Bobbleheads. For the record, bobbleheads are not sold. They can only be one in the workshop side liver. So think about those giveaways, and remember, if you’re ever at one of my sessions and I ask for a volunteer, get that hand up in the air. There’s a good chance you’ll walk out with a Roble head of your own. Oh, and by the way, once I left Xerox and that’s over three decades ago, I’ll always give out Rob Jos action series posters.
Outro (05:35):
Thanks so much for listening. If you enjoyed today’s show, please rate and recommend it on iTunes, outcast, wherever you get your podcast. You can also get more information on this show and rob@jolles.com.