We’ve all seen it. The speaker with 120 slides in 8pt font trying to squeeze everything into a 20 minute slot. The session chair who decides to take the conversation in their own direction rather than guiding it. Individually these moments might feel minor, but collectively they can undermine what should have been a strong, well-curated programme.
Because here’s the reality. You can invest huge amounts of time building a high quality agenda, securing the right topics and the right names, but if the delivery falls short, the audience experience suffers. And increasingly, experience is the deciding factor in whether people attend, return, and recommend your event.
Sometimes the issues are basic. You can’t hear the speaker properly. The slides are unreadable. The content is too dense to absorb. Or the session overruns and eats into networking time. None of this is about the quality of the thinking. It is about how accessible that thinking is in the room.
Which brings us to a slightly uncomfortable truth. Most conferences do very little to actively support their speakers and chairs to deliver well.
Part of the challenge is perception. Suggest training to a seasoned speaker and you may well be met with resistance. Many will feel they already know what they’re doing, and to be fair, some do. But speaking at a conference is not the same as presenting in a boardroom or delivering a lecture. It is a different environment, a different audience dynamic, and a different expectation.
So the question becomes, how do you bring people with you rather than putting them off?
The answer is in how you position it. This is not about “training” in the traditional sense. It is about helping speakers maximise the impact of their session. Framing it as support, insight, and shared best practice tends to land far better than anything that feels like remedial coaching.
In practical terms, this does not need to be over-engineered. A short, well-structured briefing can go a long way. Clear guidance on slide design, timing, and audience engagement should be standard. Sharing what works well at your specific event is even better. If you have data or feedback from previous years, use it. Show speakers what resonates with your audience.
Where you can add real value is in giving examples. What does a great session actually look like at your conference? How interactive should it be? How much content is too much? These are the things that even experienced speakers often get wrong, simply because no one has told them.
Session chairs are often the forgotten piece of the puzzle, and that is a mistake. A good chair can elevate a session, create flow, manage time properly, and draw the audience into the discussion. A poor chair can derail it completely.
Training chairs is less about content and more about role clarity. They are not there to dominate the conversation or showcase their own expertise. They are there to facilitate, to keep things on track, and to create space for both speakers and audience. Giving them a simple framework to work within can make a significant difference.
Then there is the question of format. Not everything needs to be a one-to-many presentation. In fact, many of the most engaging sessions are those that feel more like conversations. Panel discussions, moderated Q&A, and interactive formats often land better because they reflect how people actually want to engage.
And finally, conference hosts. In my view, they are massively underutilised. A strong host can act as the thread that runs through the event, setting the tone, maintaining energy, and connecting the dots between sessions. Done well, they become part of the experience rather than just a logistical necessity.
The bottom line is this. Content still matters, of course it does. But content alone is no longer enough. If you want your conference to stand out, you need to think just as hard about how that content is delivered as you do about what it is.
Training your speakers and chairs is not a nice to have. It is one of the simplest, most effective ways to improve the overall experience of your event. And in a market where experience is increasingly what drives attendance, that is an opportunity worth taking seriously.