A way with words: fitness presenters should exercise their creativity when drafting session information and be proactive when submitting it to event organizers

American Fitness, Sept-Oct, 2004 by Sharon Donaldson

Take advantage of the power of persuasive wording when writing your session titles, descriptions and biography for a convention brochure. Will the reaction be ho-hum or WOW!? The choice of whether to register for a given presenter's session often comes down to how interesting you make your topic sound.

Set it off with a bang!

An eye-catching title gets the attention of convention organizers and delegates alike. Why present "Abdominals 1-2-3" when you can dazzle them with "AB-racadabra! The Amazing Abdominal Training Program"? Would you rather sign up for "Understanding Lower- and Upper-Body Interaction for Maximizing Shoulder Training Programs" or "Shouldering the Load ... From the Ground Up"? The latter session, offered by Chuck Wolf, M.S., puts a twist on the topic and instantly shows personality and humor in the title. For example, Trish Muse presents "Do You 'Kneed' a Solution," while Michelle Cederburg offers "Barriers, Obstacles and Excuses. Oh MY! Understanding Exercise Adherence Issues." Create a title and session description that uses wit and clever writing to spark interest.

Get it right from the start

As a presenter, have you ever received a conference brochure in the mail and looked eagerly for your information, only to discover your session description wasn't published as you submitted? Sometimes event organizers need to edit biographies and descriptions for length, so if guidelines on word-count are given, stick to the number specified. Another good idea is to resubmit your biography and description when you return your signed contract. This ensures the event organizer has your most up-to-date information and gives you a better shot at having your materials published exactly how you want. Also, submitting your biography and description via e-mail is a real plus for organizers--it saves them the trouble of retyping from a hard copy. This may mean the difference between them recycling last year's incorrect biography and publishing a new blurb with your updated achievements.

It is important to send your biography and description to every event, every time. Be proactive and always send your latest material directly to the organizer. Don't leave it up to them to hunt for your current write-ups. First of all, it's your job, not theirs, to provide the right information. Secondly, you risk having inaccurate or outdated information printed about you and your session. As brochure deadlines loom and you don't respond to requests for your materials, event organizers will eventually stop asking for them and may look to other industry brochures for a recent biography. This is a risky tactic because if your biography was published incorrectly in ABC's convention brochure last year, it could get recycled into XYZ's event information this year.

When I was a convention director, I was often put in the unfortunate position of having to write session descriptions or edit biographies because presenters simply did not respond in a timely manner. Who gets on my "black list" when it comes to rehiring? Presenters who held up the print deadline! Keep in mind, mailing a brochure late delays registration dollars coming in. Of course, if you submit an attractive professional marketing package with all your current information at the beginning of the hiring process, you minimize the risk of event organizers having to get creative with your presentation information. But, it never hurts to resubmit the same information again--especially via e-mail.

Be an original!

Imitation is sincerest form of flattery, but it can also get you in trouble. Be aware of which fitness names have been trademarked. YogaFit is a great title, but it belongs to Beth Shaw's organization in California. BODYPUMP is sold around the world under the trademark owned by Les Mills International. Other copyrighted names include Spinning, Flexxation and Tae Bo. If you plan to take your idea into a video/book/TV program concept, it pays to do a trademark search. Type "trademark search" into an Internet search engine and you'll find dozens of companies that perform this service for you.

Words are powerful and, by being creative and organized as a fitness presenter, you can harness that power to portray yourself and your work in the best way possible.

Sharon Donaldson is the owner of Fitness Resume, a marketing consulting business to help new and established fitness presenters write workshop outlines as well as put together personal marketing packages for fitness conference applications. From 1995 to 2002, she was the convention and special events director for Can-Fit-Pro's six annual conferences. Donaldson's work with Fitness Resume has been featured in IDEA Source, Oxygen, ACE Faculty News, Canadian Fitness Trainer and Can-Fit-Pro magazine. She has also consulted to the Aerobic Attack convention series in Germany. For more information, visit www.fitnessresume.com.