Ritual and Ceremony

Ritual and Ceremony in Presentations
by Andrea Adler, author of
The Science of Spiritual Marketing and
Pushing Upward (novel)

Since the beginning of civilization, there has been a hunger for ceremony and rituals. The sanctity that emerges from the ceremony connects us with the highest expression of ourselves and creates a feeling of belonging. Rituals uplift the spirit and provide us with a sense of wholeness. Just as nature offers us balance and order, the quality inherent in ceremony brings substance and joy into our lives.
Usually, we associate the ceremony with a religious act or consecration. For instance: the bar mitzvah, the passage honoring the male adolescent into adulthood in the Jewish tradition, the christening of a newborn child in Christianity, the Native American rain dance and the Tea Ceremony in Japan.
There are also contemporary rituals: reading bedtime stories to our children, writing in our diaries, gardening performing hatha yoga asanas. These rituals, as common as they may seem, shape our lives and create a sense of safety, particularly during times of chaos and uncertainty, when we yearn for stability.
I have always been fascinated by the concept of rituals. Why they exist, why we choose one over another, why we derive so much pleasure participating in them. Quite simply, they give us solace, they make us feel good and they bring people of like minds together. Stemming from our primal need to connect with something greater, more significant than ourselves, rituals help us evolve into higher states of consciousness –– so that we become more of our selves. We participate in these events to activate our senses. Rituals simply become the catalyst.

SOULFUL MARKETING
The seminars and lectures I have attended that cling to my memory are the ones that contain this soulful resonance. They have touched my heart, elevated my spirit, and helped me walk away wiser than when I walked in. When a presentation connects me to this deeper part of myself, I am more apt to listen, as the information undoubtedly expands my present state of mind.
Isn’t this what we want to accomplish when we promote our service or product? To move people in a way where they want to learn more, ask for your card? Call you for an appointment? I am not suggesting we create a religious experience, but communicate our message in a way that connects us with our audience –– more intimately.
I have listened and watched hundreds of presenters throughout the years, and the way they present their material is as different as the cells in our bodies. There are presenters who stand in front of the room and hide behind a podium and, in a sense, hide their true essence. They do their dog and pony show, quote other authors, and reveal very little about themselves. They speak in a monotone pitch and use few if any, imaginative stories or props. Too many times, I have walked away feeling ripped off, energetically and financially.

Then, there are presenters who engage and embrace their audience. They activate our senses through participatory exercises, visuals that captivate us. They pull us into their world with colorful anecdotes and metaphors. Even if we’ve walked into their seminar feeling agitated or depressed –– minutes later, we feel a difference in our state of being. Whether these people are conscious of using ceremony and ritual or not, they have created a powerful, soulful experience. And, it usually becomes an event you never forget.
Think about your own presentations. Ask yourself if you are offering your audience information that is dry and empty, or if they experience a somatic, visceral response from your material and walk away with a heightened sense of reality. How do you want them to feel while listening to your talk and how do you want them to feel when they leave?