Please avoid this mistake...
The biggest mistake you can make when you're planning your retreat or your live experience is overwhelming your participants with too much content.
And I know that sounds weird because people are coming to learn from you. But you ever go to an event yourself where come lunchtime you find yourself looking at your watch, seeing what time it is because you're checked out. Your brain is fried from the morning sessions. So here's why that happens.
As somebody who hosts events, you want to ensure that there's a nice balance of content and integration and experiential at your retreat. You want to give participants a moment to actually integrate stuff that they've learned from you, whether it's in the form of breakout sessions, group exercises, excursions.
You want to give participants ample time to reflect and actually absorb the content that you just taught them. This can be done by having your participants in an environment that promotes relaxation, reflection, or some form of rejuvenation. Now, here's why retreat leaders make this mistake. They tend to want to showcase that they know their stuff. You want to prove that you're competent to your attendees, so you overstuff your agenda.
Less Content Could Mean Better Results
The next thing you do is you just cram way too many content sessions in a given window, realizing that although people are there to learn from you, their brains can only absorb so much at a time. Another thought you're probably thinking is, well, if I have more content, that means more value. Well, that's not the case.
There is the law of diminishing returns. Too much content, too much overwhelm, can in fact hinder the experience of your attendees.
Another thing retreat leaders and business owners don't do is that they lack awareness about the participant's needs. Think about you yourself as a participant. What are you coming to your event to learn? And what is too much information that in fact, will be way too overwhelming for your attendees to implement when they get back home?
Now, here are some benefits of giving your attendees time to go enjoy the content that you just taught them. You ever find that when you're the most relaxed, when you're getting a massage or you're in the shower or you're out for a walk, you tend to retain information. You tend to reflect in those moments of deep disconnection. Well, that's one of the benefits that your attendees will have if you're able to create that reflective environment.
All Retreats Need Balance
Another thing you can do is create ample time at your retreat for the participants to actually connect with one another, whether that's through scavenger hunks, whether that's through group breakouts, whether it's through transformational experiences.
Attendees will learn just as much from other attendees as they will from you, the event leader. The last thing is that any leisure time, any open agenda window that you can create at your event will get filled up by natural conversations.
The fear, again, that you have is that if you don't give enough content, your attendees will not get the value. Well, after hosting over 200+ events and retreats, I can tell you that having a nice balance between content and open space is the key. It's the magic formula for a successful retreat.
As a bonus tip, there's something that I launch at all of my events, and it's called the Audible. The Audible is a reference from sports, and it simply means no matter what the plan is, be open to shifting the plan. So I actually like to read the energy of the rooms at my event. I like to read people. I like to see what exercise is really hitting, where are people maybe losing energy or dropping off, and I like to change my agenda on the fly.
So as much as I've got a concrete agenda of things that I'd like to do in a way that makes sense to me as the host, I'm also open to making real time changes on the fly, on the spot, and making an Audible that I think could better serve my attendees. So as a quick summary, you want to make sure that there's ample time, there's nice balance between the content that you produce as well as open leisure and free time for your attendees.
For example, if your morning is content, make your afternoons fun and connection heavy. If your mornings are connection heavy and fun, well, make the afternoon content heavy. Make sure there's a nice balance. So if you've been thinking about hosting your own retreat to grow your business, to attract new prospects, new leads to your business, and really find a way to make sure that your business fuels your life, not the other way around, well, retreats are the secret weapon. Click the button below, get in contact with me, and let's start mapping out your first profitable retreat.
