How and why you should incorporate all five senses at your next event
A successful event is one that remains in the minds of its attendees long after – but how can you ensure a memorable experience for all in attendance?
The science suggests it’s all down to the senses. Multi-sensory events – events that aim to incorporate all five senses into one cohesive experience – have blown-up in popularity in recent years, and isn’t difficult to see why.
According to the London & Partners and CWT Meetings & Events survey, 78% of meeting planners say that a multi-sensory event creates a more memorable experience for event participants and 42% believed multi-sensory events help make their company stand out from the competition.
Put simply, when all senses are tied into an event properly, it can keep guests thinking about a brand for weeks or even months afterward.
Creating a cohesive multi-sensory event can be challenging though, especially when it comes to finding the right ways to incorporate the different senses. After all, 24% of those surveyed said they found it difficult to find the right sensory content for their client or event.
The importance of incorporating all five senses at your event shouldn’t be underestimated, so here’s how you can do so for your next event.
Sight
Arguably the most important sense of all, what your attendees see while attending your event defines the vast majority of their overall experience.
Sight is also the most important sense when it comes to nailing that first impression – consider what you want people to see when they first enter your event and how you can ensure attention is drawn to it.
Lighting is also key when it comes to sight, as it can help create the correct ambiance for the event depending on its intensity. The colour of the lighting used, as well as the use of colour in general, also plays an important role in helping attendees feel specific emotions, so ensure it complements the type of event you are hosting.
Smell
Smell can often be the most difficult sense to utilise, but it can also be the most powerful. According to the Sense of Smell Institute, people only recall about 50% of the visual images they see after three months yet can recall more than 65% of what they smell even after a year has passed.
You want to incorporate smells subtly to help add to the overall feel of your event. Too little and the smell will get lost, but too strong and it can overwhelm attendees and end up being distracting.
If your event has multiple areas, it can help to only utilise smells in specific spaces to help elevate the experience for that specific area, rather than trying to incorporate one smell across the entire event.
If your event offers catering, the food on offer is also a great way to utilise smell, with the food’s distinct smells helping to add to the overall experience.
Taste
Speaking of food, it’s the obvious way to ensure you’re incorporating taste into your multi-sensory event.
Alongside ensuring the food tastes as good as it looks and offers enough variety for all in attendance, it can be helpful to try and subvert expectations when it comes to taste for a truly memorable experience.
One such way is to change how something looks compared to how you would typically expect it to taste. Changing the colours of the food or adding differing flavours than one may expect can help make the food-tasting experience even more exciting, and importantly, even more memorable. Don’t be afraid to work with your catering team to help ensure the food on offer helps add to the overall multi-sensory experience.
Hearing
What you hear at an event can be just as important as what you see, so you want to look for ways to incorporate sound to help enhance the event experience.
Incorporating background music throughout the event can help add to the overall mood and ambiance of your surroundings, but you want to make sure it fits the theme of your event. It’s also important to get the sound right – too loud and it can distract attendees and make networking difficult, too quiet and it won’t be heard amongst the hustle and bustle of the event. Ensure the sounds used contribute to the event, not detract from it.
Touch
Event attendees want more than just a standard sit down and listen affair at an event, with more and more looking for interactive elements when attending.
From quizzes on smartphones to interactive booth games, there are many ways touch can be incorporated to help make your event memorable.
Touch extends beyond just the interactive though – think about the flooring at your event, is it carpeted, wooden or something else entirely? If you have breakout areas you might also have furniture throughout the event, so you want to ensure these feel comfortable to use and don’t detract from the experience.
For more information on hosting events and how we can help ensure it’s memorable for all in attendance, view our venue pack, or get in touch with a member of our team.
Host an event at Burlington House
In the heart of London’s Piccadilly, the Royal Society of Chemistry at Burlington House is a prestigious event venue full of discovery, offering stories around every corner.
