What is the link between queuing up for an ice-cream & getting your audience to open up more in presentations and meetings? Click on the slides to learn 3 important techniques to break through meeting silence.

1. Using “Ice-Cream Queue Theory” to
Break Through Meeting &
Presentation Silence
Julian Goodes
1

2. Looks pretty good right?
2

3. How long would you queue up to
buy one of these?
3

4. 2 minutes?
5 minutes if it was really hot?
4

5. Not at one ice-cream shop in Shanghai
Queues at weekends typically take
2 hours (200 meters long)
5

6. So what is going on here?
Why would anyone queue up 2
hours for an ice-cream?
6

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!
7

8. Answer: Social Proof
8

9. What is Social Proof?
“People assume the actions of
others in an attempt to reflect
correct behaviour for a given
situation”
9

10. Or to put it simply..
“People will copy what others do,
especially if everyone else is doing it”
Also known as herd mentality
10

11. Examples of social proof
Canned Laughter
Celebrity Endorsements The Oprah Effect
11

12. So..what has social proof got to do
with breaking silence in
meetings/presentations?
12

13. A lot. Audience is unwilling to be the
first person to ask a question
13

14. Ever noticed how typically the first
question has a snow-ball effect and
leads to many more?
14

15. What can a meeting leader or presenter
do to break through this silence?
15

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..
16

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
17

18. 3. Prepare 1-2 easy questions
beforehand
Note: Aim here is to create the
environment for questions
18

19. Thanks.. for reading
19
14
Years Greater China Training Experience
128
Different Multi-National Companies
95
Average Program Feedback Rating (%)
Julian Goodes

20. Julian Goodes
contact@advance-consulting.com.cn
www.advance-consulting.com.cn
20