Monika Graf Event-Regie, Ablauf-Regie und Show-Regie

Event directing is a bit like conducting an orchestra: the director makes sure that all involved persons in a big show deliver their individual skills in such a way that a coherent, harmonious and emotionally charged work is created. Apart from well-founded marketing knowledge, an event director needs to address these three essential skills: art, logistics and psychology.

Art

A show is only successful when it creates emotions. Five seconds, a quick mood lighting, a couple of beats, an image can make the difference between rapture and the audience drifting off. Therefore, an event director needs to assemble all show-relevant elements precisely and carefully to build and push suspense, to bring it to its climax and dissolve it. To achieve this, time and time again, really is a feat!

Logistics

As a rule, shows are immensely elaborate in terms of material and staff: there are numerous contributors from various departments, giga- or even terabyte of media data, innumerable cases full of technical equipment. Let’s not forget the time factor: it always seems too short. This is a great logistical challenge during preparation, but particularly in the rehearsals. All involved parties need to be standby, detailed schedules must be forecast and the director must be aware of all required show elements – to finally deploy the respective element at exactly the right time!

Psychology

A show can only be successful when all stakeholders give their personal best at the essential moment. Some people think that pressure improves the result – in reality this is hardly the case, as it is much more complex. All involved parties, from the main speaker to the technician, are humans – with all their individuality! While some need lots of positive critique to feel well-prepared, others may only need support, motivation and preferably no irritations. One might need several rounds of rehearsal to feel “safe”, other people get nervous and lose their focus of they are pressured into repeating their set. The agency would rather like to repeat the staging of the highlights, while the client prefers to see the keynote once again. Whereas some prefer a step-by-step debriefing, others just need a moment of calm and focus: all stakeholders’ needs must be considered, prioritised and weighed – and more often than not this is a complex and conflicting turmoil! Yet one thing is always needed by all involved parties: confident, precise, and calm leadership. This creates trust and security – and therefore the basis for successful teamwork.

To create memorable “goose bump moments”, all show elements – music, media, lighting, artists and all other stakeholders – need to symbiotically act in concert. Monika Graf designs, creates and manages exactly this kind of symbiosis that make grand brand stagings: either by creating and delivering the complete show including all required elements and performances with her own team, or by assuming overall control of the pre-defined partners.

Successful Shows (excerpt)

• Olympic Winter Games 2014 in Sochi – Medal Count Shows
• BMW Product and Brand Experience – Opening and Dinner Show, Amsterdam
• BMW SIA Award 2014, Amsterdam
• Mazda MX5 Press Launch, Barcelona
• BMW Product and Brand Experience – Opening Show, Munich
• Skoda World Dealer Conference 2016 – Dinner Show, Prague
• Skoda World Dealer Conference 2017 – Dinner Show, Bilbao
• INFINITI Press Show 2017 – Shanghai
• Sport 1 Screenforce Day 2018 - Cologne

The first big stage appearance or the first press interview in the new management position is always a challenge. “What can I say, what do I have to avoid? How to position myself and what the heck am I supposed to do with my hands?” For more than ten years Monika Graf has been coaching board members, CEOs and top managers in preparation for important stage and media appearances. While stage coachings put the emphasis on onstage presence, facial expressions and gestures, as well as a memorable content delivery, media trainings focus on dealing with cameras as well as statement and answering strategies.

Crisis Communication Speaker Coaching

The stakes are high when it comes to crisis communication: the quality of the communication is an essential factor in the resulting magnitude of a crisis. Quick and precise reactions are called for. On one hand, Monika Graf offers preventive coachings to ensure the communicative preparedness in case of crises. On the other hand she provides counsel and support when the crisis has become reality. She is available 24/7 to tackle the challenge in the most professional way.

How to plan and prepare a live staging? No matter if it is a congress, an award ceremony or the grand staging of a brand: the preparation and implementation always involves eight steps, during which one can only do some things right, yet one can do many things wrong. During the two-day workshop, you learn how to turn a stage show into a success – including tricks, ruses, and takeaways from 20 years’ experience. In addition, the workshop provides important insights into event technology, the psychology of effect, intercultural differences as well as leadership skills.

The workshop addresses groups of 6 – 20 persons from event agencies, companies’ event departments as well as associations from the fields of live communication and event administration.

Book your workshop here.

In 2018 Monika Graf published the book Event-Regie: der spannende Weg vom ersten Konzept zur finalen Show in the Springer Gabler Verlag. In it she explains the implementation of a live staging, from the initial rough draft to the various planning, design and decision stages up to the rehearsals and the final show – including everything that can and will go wrong. In addition you’ll find essential basic knowledge about marketing, leadership event technology and the psychology of effect.

Get the book from your favourite book store (ISBN 978-3-658-20349-8) – or simply order here.