People in a meeting

Presenters and actors are used extensively in the corporate world to entertain, inform, illustrate, surprise and educate. In fact there are so many uses of actors and presenters in business communication, training, marketing and promotion that it is hard to know where to start…

As well as traditional presenter roles and in training films, performers are also used to:

• Illustrate real life in dramatic live scenarios
• In roleplay and forum theatre workshops, to bring an experiential dimension to a corporate message
• Introduce and explore sensitive subjects
• Facilitate team build events to get people working together.

But why bother going to the expense of using professionals? Surely every organisation has staff or senior executives who could do the job as well as the highly paid television name or that team of actors…?

The truth is, that although there are many talented people within organisations, very few have the skills, the experience or indeed the time to give the sort of performance a professional can.

The professional uses all the techniques available to bring whatever effect is required to your production – be it gloss, glamour, reality or dramatic action. They can mean the difference between a good event and a fantastic event, effortlessly communicating your key messages in an entertaining and emotionally engaging way.

Finding the right professionals for your event however is the key. Consultancies and agencies that specialise in business actors, roleplayers and presenters are obviously the best places to go – but before you even consult with them, take a moment to think about what you need from them, as the type of professional offered and their fee will often be reflected in this. For example:

• For assessment, development or recruitment…
• Have you a brief to work with yet?
• Are the participants to be assessed?
• Do you have a preferred playing age, gender or communication style for your roleplayers?
• Will they need background info on your industry to help make the characters believable?

• For training videos…
• Will there be a long and complicated script to learn?
• Is there extensive preparation work?
• Is there autocue available for your video script?

• For live events…
• What is the intended the impact of the event?
• Is a dramatic approach wanted here, or something more light and entertaining?
• Is it to be informative or illustrative?
• With an interactive element perhaps?

• What about your presenter…
• Entertaining?
• Amusing?
• Authoritative?
• Do you want a familiar face, a television name, someone who represents the style of your organisation?

This information can help us to find you exactly the right people for your project. When you’re considering headshots and CV’s of potential roleplayers, actors or presenters, look for well rounded performers with solid, professional dramatic credits alongside relevant corporate experience.

Trends show a move towards a more technical approach to communications and training, with online and web based training and assessments. In our experience however, we see this slowly changing as organisations discover that the best way to inform, educate and entertain their people is by engaging them emotionally, not just telling and showing, but involving them in the process.

As the ancient Chinese philosopher says:

“I hear…and I forget      I see…and I remember      I do… and I understand”

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There are many different ways which roleplay can be used in the training room and the assessment arena – continue exploring to see how we can help.

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