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One of the best ways to set an upbeat tone at your events is to have a little music playing as people come into the room. I travel with a CD of current hits (half the stuff I don't even know) that I play at a healthy volume before I speak. It just puts energy into the room. I want people talking loud and jamming to tunes before I come on stage.
Think about this for your next event or meeting. What if people came to the next chapter meeting and tunes were playing? Would it change the energy of the meeting? What if there was music playing for a half hour before your student government meeting? What about your next staff meeting. Let's see how your vice president responds to Soulja Boy.
I am consistently amazed at how many higher ed conference planners totally forget about this simple strategy for motivating the crowds. If you go to a NACA conference, they understand the importance of cranking the tunes in the room before a program. Greek conferences, some yes, some no. Frankly, I think there should be fun music playing over the sound system before every keynote speaker.
One little caution – be careful that the music isn't too crazy. Funny story... Kelly Jo Karnes is a friend of mine, a Greek Advisor type, and part of the leadership team for the MGCA conference in Chicago. I will always remember her vetoing the music selection that was playing as they were preparing to open the doors for my keynote. The tech guys were playing Kanye West's "Golddigger." I had heard the song, thought it was fun and catchy, but I had never listened to the words. Kelly Jo shouted to them, "Unless you have the edited version of that song, turn it off!"
I just love that Kelly Jo knew the words to "Golddigger." So cool, that woman.
And, I'm glad she was paying attention. Not sure if a song with the "n-word" would have been a great way to warm the crowd up prior to my speech. Maybe they would have loved it. In any case, better safe than sorry when choosing your songs. The clean version of a song is always a better way to go.
