Why Event Managers Need High Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence is the concept of being aware of, understanding, managing, and even harnessing your own emotions, as well as the emotions of others.

We will teach you some techniques to become a better event manager, by controlling your emotions before, during and after an event.

Emotions are what differentiate us from robots and other ai systems. We are all emotional beings. And during the organisation of an event, these emotions can take off. We will show you how to control these emotions.

When you are organising an event, you will have to be able to talk, communicate, negotiate and create with all kinds of people. All these people have totally different backgrounds and educations.
Your client might be a successful CEO or a senior marketing manager. Some of your event partners and suppliers are artists, creative minds, technicians, top chefs, bartenders, hostesses and other people who need a totally different approach when communicating to and with them.

Especially when the event is almost starting, the tensions rise sky high. It is thén, as an event manager, that you become an emotional leader. You will have to guide these people through the process of the event.

How?

First of all by controlling yourself. It is all in the preparation of the event. Try to imagine every step of the event while you are preparing the event. Put yourself in the minds of the guests. What do they need? What could they be looking for (toilets, cloackroom, medical help, drinks, food, parking,...)? Make your own "VR impression" of your event, before the event. It will exclude all kinds of problems that could arise. And it will help you solve them when it happens during the event.

Above all, keep calm. Control your emotions, stay véry rational. As long as you are calm, your client ànd your suppliers will be too. There is a solution for everything. If you are not able to find the solution, ask someone else you trust.

Is something still going wrong? 
Experience with other events will help you to find solutions quickly. Think fast. Use your network. Call a flexible supplier to help you, delegate a small but urgent task to someone you trust and ask this person to keep you informed. 

Learn how to communicate with all kinds of people. From the king untill the plumber (with all respect of course). They all need different approaches. But you, as an event manager, must be able to reach their minds by talking to them. That is why you should train this talent by going where these kind of people are. Go to football games, go to a local pub from time to time. But also go to high class events, high end restaurants and talk to other entrepreneurs. It will help you communicate to people in general. It will help you understand how they think. And above all, it will help you achieve better results during the process of creating and selling an event.

Events are often fun. One essential tip : do not drink alcohol during your events. It will change your emotional reactions, which could dammage your reputation and your event. 

Events are mostly a very happy place. So be happy too! Even if you are stressed out, smile! Act! How can you learn this skill? By working 2 months in a succesful restaurant or bar. Always stressy, but in front of the clients you always need to be calm and happy. If you do not have the time to work in a restaurant, gò to a restaurant, and observe the experienced waiters. Most of them will show you how to manage their stress.

When you are able to control your emotions, you will be a succesful event manager. Emotional Intelligence will help you in the development, the organisation, the execution and the selling of your event to your client. It is all a mental game... :-)

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Written by Laurent Lootens, owner and Founder of Lapin Quotidien and So-Phi.