Before I start, it’s important to take a moment to acknowledge that I’m privileged to work with some fantastic experts. 

Immersive’s Crisis Sim lead, JonPaulGabriele​, is our very own Daedalus, for any Greek mythology fans. That might make me Ariadne, helping people to navigate the labyrinth. I don’t know who the minotaur is – Greek analogies may not be my forte!

JonPaulGabriele​ builds some fiendishly difficult scenarios that start out with a seemingly everyday occurrence, which quickly spirals out of control. It could involve coordinating a global response to an unprecedented disaster, dealing with a nation-state threat actor who’s holding your data to ransom, or even tracking down the missing Santa Claus.

Whatever the situation, the principle behind every Crisis Sim is the same: to help people develop decision-making muscle memory and the ability to act with confidence when rapid decisions are required.

I’m sure you’re already familiar with the importance of regular exercises, but it’s not you that we need to convince – it’s your chosen audience. We need to be able to capture their attention and get them to put their phones down. If they’re not present in the room and genuinely engaged with the exercise and its outputs and findings, you’re doomed to fail.

 So, how do we go about achieving this?

Use storytelling

I’m a big believer in the power of both storytelling and humour to pique people’s interest. Storytelling is an incredibly powerful technique to connect, persuade, and inspire people to act by tapping into shared experiences and emotions. 

In the words of Simon Sinek: “Stories allow us to visualize, empathize, and connect in ways that statistics never could.” 

I use stories when I’m setting the scene or outlining the details of the exercise we’re about to go through. Hopefully I’ll get an initial laugh, or an eye roll – those are just as good, quite frankly!

Challenge echo chambers

Making sure all voices and opinions are treated equally is critical to support learning and drive genuine change.  

Echo chambers don’t make for robust environments to test processes and decision-making abilities. It’s important to involve everyone as much as possible and avoid immediately ruling anything out – explore the ideas that people bring to the table in an open way. 

Creating a safe environment

Being able to fail in a safe environment is essential to help people feel like they can speak up. I like to reference this somehow in my introduction to the exercise, just to let people know the kind of environment they’re entering, but you have to actually follow through.

It can be small things, like observing who the big voices in the room are and making sure they don’t dominate. These voices are your friends when you need someone to speak up, but don’t let them take over. 

For quieter people, I try to notice when it looks like they have something to share and make some space in the room for them. 

It could be as simple as saying to someone: “It looked like you wanted to say something earlier. Would you like to share it with us now?”. A slightly more challenging approach might be something like: “Does anyone disagree with the previous statement?”. Or, you could soften this to: “Does anyone have a different view?”. 

You’ll need to gauge your audience and determine which approach is right for the room. Of course, this is harder to do online, but cut yourself some slack, too. You also need to be able to fail in a safe environment! 

Giving people space to speak up should make them feel more comfortable doing so – it’s a win-win.

Set expectations 

The next thing I like to do in my introduction is some housekeeping. I’m an ex-project manager, and old habits die hard. Set expectations and provide clarity on what’s about to happen by outlining any specific rules, items, or actions that you want people to be aware of. 

If you’re doing something unusual or unexpected during the exercise, like with our recent Flip Reversal session, you’ll want to avoid any confusion, as this can lead to frustration and reduced engagement.

Be kind to yourself

Finally, remember that even people who regularly go on stage in front of large audiences are slaves to their body’s own systems and reactions. 

I always get nervous before doing anything like this, but since I know it’s going to happen, I can prepare for it. I write a script that I can practice out loud multiple times beforehand. It means I can read from it on the day and not rely on memory to make sure I’ve said all the things I want to cover. 

I know that it’s okay to feel nervous or anxious. It’s okay for my breathing to increase slightly or my hands to shake, or any of the other common reactions to being nervous. I don’t try and fight it – I know that as long as I’m prepared and can follow the steps I’ve mentioned above, the session will be a success.  

Bonus ideas

• Know who your experts in the room are. If it’s not you, don’t try and fill that role – it’ll be terrible for your credibility and confidence!
• Leverage the new AI Scenario Builder to uplift your exercise’s content.
• Get a colleague or friend to join you and present as a double act. You can bounce off each other and share the presenting load.

Share your thoughts

What are your tips for keeping people present and engaged during sessions like this? How do you overcome the nerves of presenting? Drop a comment below and let us know.