When you need to create a skit for a sales meeting, a blank sheet of paper can be daunting. Where do you start?

Fortunately, there are numerous proven formats, and they all revolve around three simple overall objectives:

• DELIVER relevant information and/or insights that relate to the audience’s everyday experiences
• ENTERTAIN the audience in ways that promote engagement
• EMBODY the key takeaways such as strategies, values and business goals

In the carousel above, we highlighted four formats that are consistently successful for sales teams. From parodies of familiar television, film, or theatrical productions, to other genres that invite audience participation.

They are hardly the only possible formats, but can serve as inspiration and, in many cases, templates for development.

Want to learn more about putting on skits for your sales meeting? Read top tips from the MossWarner production team here.

Many companies are involving their meeting producers in negotiations with their meeting venues – and for good reason.

When you’re planning for a large meeting, one way to keep your budget in check is having your production company work with your meeting planner on negotiating with the hotel or venue.

Many companies are doing just that. Why?

Because producers will anticipate costs that might otherwise get overlooked until they become line items on the final invoice.

We recently asked Bob Smithers, our Executive Creative Director, what those companies are gaining by engaging their production companies so early.

And he shared some observations, based on 30+ years of experience, of costs that a production company would typically call out and assist in negotiating.

Scroll through the carousel above for a more detailed look.

Companies have already started planning their National Sales Meetings for the First Quarter.

It’s a big investment of time and money. There are so many moving parts. So many unknowns. So many moments to seize, yet so many rabbit holes to fall into.

There are substantive things we have seen clients do to simultaneously meet or exceed their objectives and control costs at every stage of planning and production.

The tactics fall into three basic categories:

MAXIMIZING RESULTS
MINIMIZING COSTS
MEASURING CHANGE

By strategically focusing on these three categories, your corporate events can deliver lasting impact and maximize ROI well beyond the day of the event.

Scroll through the carousel above for a flyover of the kinds of things companies are doing in each area.

As meeting plans start to take shape, clients are asking us about immersive experiences, interactive storytelling, gamified strategy simulations, VR/AR and live streaming for remote participants.

And beyond the obvious questions of what kinds of experiences to incorporate, they’re asking us what they can do to maximize the return on their investment.

Executive Producer Douglas Blecher has some thoughts on that.

As he puts it, “Before you ask yourself what to do, ask yourself what the engagement you want looks like and how it could translate into results. Then you can develop the experience around that, and decide which of the many amazing tools out there to use. It helps keep the creative process moving forward, and without churn.”

Scroll through the carousel above for Doug’s top tips on designing for optimum engagement at your next meeting.