by Patrick Morley

Men will come to your events for the same reasons you go to events. Here are five reasons that I can personally relate to:

1. THE SPEAKER: To hear a speaker they’ve heard about, admired, respected, and think would be interesting to hear–probably works once, and only for speakers of a certain notoriety. For example, Eugene Peterson, author of The Message paraphrase of the Bible, which I have read, spoke last week at a lecture series sponsored by Reformed Theological Seminary, my alma mater. I was intrigued about the prospect of hearing and meeting him. I was not disappointed!

2. A SOLUTION: They have a significant problem screaming for an immediate solution, and they believe that problem will be addressed if they attend, and they will get valuable knowledge they lack. That’s why it is good to market events to solve real problems men or leaders are facing. Even if you want to “end up” talking about grace, for example, you will have a much better turn out if the topic is more felt need. For example, “Why Money Doesn’t Satisfy,” the segue to the unmerited favor of God.

3. A RELATIONSHIP: Someone they really respect is going and has invited them to come along. There are a handful of people who, if they personally invite me to attend an event, I’ll go. I stress “personally invite” because I’m inoculated to emails, mail, even engraved invitations (I got one today and it meant nothing to me). Anything less than the sound of their voice, by phone or in person, will fail.

4. A STANDING EVENT: It’s an event that they regularly attend anyway because it has been so meaningful to them. For example, we have 150 men who attend the Friday morning Man in the Mirror Bible Study here in Orlando. Men keep coming because they find value over doing something else.

5. THE PASTOR: Churched men will come because the pastor invites them. Dr. Adrian Rogers held up the registration cards for a seminar I taught at his church during the worship service, filled it out as his men watched, dropped it in the offering plate, and then encouraged his men to do the same. A whopping 600 men did!

In practice, a combination of factors will have the greatest impact–a man hears the pastor mention from the pulpit that he’s personally going to attend, the speaker is someone the man has always wanted to hear, and then someone he knows and respects personally invites him to come.

Tags: Mens

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.