using ice cream theory to break through meeting & presentation silence
TRANSCRIPT
Using “Ice-Cream Queue Theory” to Break Through Meeting & Presentation Silence
Julian Goodes
1
2
Looks pretty good right?
3
How long would you queue up to buy one of these?
4
2 minutes?
5 minutes if it was really hot?
5
Not at one ice-cream shop in Shanghai
Queues at weekends typically take 2 hours (200 meters long)
6
So what is going on here?
Why would anyone queue up 2 hours for an ice-cream?
7
1. Price? $4-5 each
2. Selection? 5 Flavours
3. Lack of Competition? Other shops very close
4. Cultural Chinese Love Queueing?
Seen many Foreigners queueing up too!
8
Answer: Social Proof
9
What is Social Proof?
“People assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behaviour for a given situation”
10
Or to put it simply..
“People will copy what others do, especially if everyone else is doing it”
Also known as herd mentality
11
Examples of social proof
Canned Laughter
Celebrity Endorsements The Oprah Effect
12
So..what has social proof got to do with breaking silence in meetings/presentations?
13
A lot. Audience is unwilling to be the first person to ask a question
14
Ever noticed how typically the first question has a snow-ball effect and leads to many more?
15
What can a meeting leader or presenter do to break through this silence?
16
Try one of the following 3 techniques;
1. Designated Question Asker(for Managers only)
Manager selects a peer who MUST ask a question at any time
This normally gets the ball rolling..
17
2. Check-in With Your Audience More Regularly
Instead of waiting till the end of your meeting/presentation check in more often.
E.g. After an important slide
18
3. Prepare 1-2 easy questions beforehand
Note: Aim here is to create the environment for questions
19
Thanks.. for reading 14
Years Greater China Training Experience
128 Different Multi-National Companies
95 Average Program Feedback Rating (%)
Julian Goodes
