Doing IAPs? Give Audience Your Best!

An Investor Awareness Program (IAP) is a noble initiative taken by financial advisors, to spread knowledge and insight among people. Our goal is to make sure that the maximum of what we want to give outreaches them. This can be done simply by understanding the psychic and mindset of the attendees. To understand what and how to deliver, we must learn what they want, and what we have, which might add value to their lives. Our aim must be to give them the maximum out of the 60-90 minutes they have given us. Following are the seven ways to ensure the effectiveness of Investor Awareness Programs:

• Know your Audience: Knowing the kind of crowd you are addressing to, is the most important part of conducting any seminar or educational program. This is what determines the flow and content of the program.

• Address the PainPoints: Knowing your audience will help you understand what their pain points are. g. Tax saving would be a major concern for audience in the 30% tax bracket, while managing expenses and cash flows would be a point of concern for someone in a lower income category. Talking about what they want to know from you, will ensure that you have their undivided attention. This is where the content plays a major role. It must be in line with the understanding and concerns of the attendees.

• Be a Storyteller: We have been listening to stories from childhood. Stories have a lasting impression in our minds and it also leads to a deeper understanding of the concept. When one listens to a story he is able to relate better, as he can imagine himself to be a part of that story, and feel connected. One may use Graphs and charts to put across important concepts/ facts, but the takeaway must be in the form of a story to create an impact on the attendee’s mind. E.g., using the famous Chanakya, rice grain story to explain the Power of Compounding.

• Catch their Attention: Even though the session is in the story form, make it an interactive one, and try to ensure that each and every person present feels involved in the discussion. Playing an educational game or putting an open question to the crowd is a good way to ensure that. It has been said that if the listener has not responded/ reacted in the past 90 seconds, you have lost his attention.

• Connect with Audience: Since we are talking about Personal Finance, it is of utmost importance that the attendee introspects and thinks about what we are talking and finds a link to his personal life. He must be able to introspect and retrospect in the session itself to be able to act upon it later. To ensure this, a two-minute meditation activity can be done, where he is made to think about the situation in which he can see himself managing his finance. By doing this, you are now making the casual visit to the session, a thirst for knowledge, to resolve the situation he has just discovered.

• End with a ToDo List: It is mostly the end that plays a major role in determining the effectiveness of the session. One must try and end the session with a To-Do list for the attendee so that he knows what he must do when he walks out of the room. Otherwise, all the information he has just received will remain information, and will not be put to action.

• Open Discussion: This is like an ending after the Conclusion. You have just spoken about a lot of things and made people think. They will have Question and counter Questions for that. They will have a lot of queries, that must not go Unanswered. Give them the individual attention they desire and try to answer all that they have to ask. This small effort on your side will help create a lasting impression and a lot of credibility for the entire session, as you are willing to stand by and revisit your statements.

Combine IAPs with Other Activities

Plantrich had conducted a 4 Day workshop post the IAP called, ‘Stress Ball’. The Program focused on the Kinds of Stresses an individual has to deal with, in the workplace. And the workshop focused on the subsequent actions that could be taken to overcome the stress. For Example:

• Talk by a Psychology Medical Practitioner on dealing with Emotional and Mental Stress,

• Aerobics and Zumba Sessions to deal with Physical Stress,

• And, Personal Financial Planning Consultation to deal with Financial Stress.

This Program was a success and was well appreciated and liked by all the attendees. Also, we were able to deliver the intended message of Financial Planning being an important part of the entire Stress Management Process.

Post IAP Action & FollowUp

What we do after the IAP is more important than what is done during the IAP

‘Out of Sight is Out of Mind’. We must always end the session on a note, which we can come back to. For Example, Plantrich uses the a free Financial Health Checkup, as the turnaround point for the IAPs. Also, keep in mind, to take permissions for at least 4-5 days of additional follow-up desks while taking permission for the IAP.

In the words on Deuteronomy Rabbah, “In vain have you acquired knowledge, if you have not imparted it to others.” So, let’s impart the knowledge, and do it right!!

By: Shruti Kajaria (Financial Coach, PLANTRICH CONSULTANCY LLP) & Khyati Mashru (Founder & Chief Financial Coach, PLANTRICH CONSULTANCY LLP)

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