My Dad once told me, “Darren, never fall in love with a tennis player. Love means nothing to them”.

He also once told me, “Darren, please stop making up stories about me telling you things that I never actually said”.

But, whilst I learnt a lot from fictional conversations with my father, I’m also always on the lookout for lessons in other parts of my life. And, over the past fortnight, I found the Australian Open tennis tournament offered some key takeaways for all of us in the events industry.

Here are the Top 4:

1. SHOULD ROWDY CROWDS BE ALLOWED?

Famously, in Daniil Medvedev’s second-round match against Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, the crowd’s behaviour was either fantastically energising or incredibly boorish and rude – depending on where you stood on traditional tennis-watching etiquette (or which player you were supporting).

But it also offered an incredibly important lesson for us in the events industry: All audiences react to what they’re watching … and sometimes those reactions are nice … and sometimes they’re not.

Interestingly, conference audiences are amongst the world’s best at concealing these reactions. Whether they think the speaker is changing their world or wasting their time, they sit politely silent throughout.

Now, is that entirely a good thing? I don’t think it 100% is.

Of course, I don’t want to walk onto a stage at a conference and have the audience boo me as soon as I start speaking. I can get that reaction at home.

Corporate audiences NEVER really tell you when they’re bored or not learning. I guarantee they are not engaged a lot more than we’d be comfortable admitting. They’re just experts at hiding it.

To minimise these moments of disengagement, try ensure that:

You include opportunities for your audience to be happy, positive and interact with each other throughout your agenda (preferably NOT at the end of the day, when there is no longer a need to refresh them).
Your speakers are briefed accurately (including given guidance on what NOT to cover) and well-trained in their presentation and PowerPoint skills
You employ a variety of education-delivery techniques throughout the program (ie. interspersing panels, presentations, interviews, video pieces etc)

2. WHEN THE SPECIAL K’S ACT LIKE FROOT LOOPS CAN THINGS BE JUST RIGHT?

Yes. Yes. I apologise for the breakfast-themed wordplay in the title of this point. But I can’t help it. I’m a cereal punner.

The ‘Special K’s … a/k/a renegade Aussies Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis … claimed the Men’s Doubles Title, which was a fantastic result, but along the way, they rankled feathers with their on and off-court behaviour.

Yet, here’s the interesting thing: For the first time in decades, Australians were now paying attention to the Men’s Doubles Competition. Considering this was happening while Ash Barty was making her historic run, it’s even more remarkable.

The Special K’s sometimes rude and antagonistic behaviour is NOT the full reason they created such engagement with tennis fans.

It was mainly because they were DIFFERENT. Yes, they were outrageous … but they were noticeable … and, therefore, memorable.

There were many other teams in the tournament who were also outstanding … they just weren’t standing out.

In our world of work, it is important to not only be outstanding. In the events industry, in particular, we need to make our events, our conference atmospheres, our programs and our speakers stand out as well.

There are many ways you can make things stand out (apart from being rude, like the Special Ks).

What are you doing to make the conference experience you provide your delegates, sponsors and speakers STAND OUT?

3. HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY YOUR CHAMPIONS?

In case you have been INCREDIBLY self-isolated over the past fortnight, I should tell you that Ash Barty won the Women’s Singles Title … the first time an Australian had done so since before the Sony Walkman, Michael Jackson’s Off The Wall or The Muppet Movie existed.

Watching her throughout the tournament … and particularly in the final … it was a great reminder that, to be a champion, you don’t need to be the biggest, the loudest, the brashest or even the strongest.

You just need to be able to deliver the goods, every time, without exception. Especially when the pressure is on.

Interestingly, Ash Barty would never tell anyone that she was a champion. We only know she is by paying attention to her results.

Other players are noisier … talk themselves up more … and probably have more followers on Instagram. But, despite telling us they are great, they’re simply not as good as Ash.

So, this begs the third question: Who are your industry champions - the providers who are dependable, drama-free and darned good – and how are you discovering and selecting them?

Are you basing it on the noise they make or the results they produce?

More importantly, are YOU an industry champion to anyone?

4. DO WE REALLY NEED THE RICHARD DJOKOVIC’S OF THE WORLD?

Prior to the Australian Open commencing, there was a lot of controversy about Men’s World Number One, Richard Djokovic.

What?

His name’s Novak?

Oh. My mistake. It’s just that he really seems like he’s a Dick to me.

There were grave concerns at the time that Novak being a No-Show would lessen the tournament.

But his absence became less of an issue as the event actually got underway.

His would-be first round opponent – fellow Serb Miomir Kecmanovic - had his best Grand Slam tournament result ever, reaching the fourth round and winning more than 10% of his career prizemoney in the process.

By the time Rafa Nadal and Daniil Medvedev completed their classic five-set final, I doubt very few people cared that Novak wasn’t there.

So, what is the business-related point of this rant?

Most of the people we deal with in our work world are reasonable folk, with many of them being even better than that. But, every so often, we do come across a Dick. And sometimes they’re a VIP, like Djokovic.

We pander to them because we worry about what life would be like if we didn’t.

So, here’s my advice. Don’t.

Don’t put up with the Dicks of the world. There’s plenty of Toms and Harrys (and Rachels and Kirstys) who will fill their place beautifully.

Just like the 2022 Australian Open went beautifully without Djokovic, your business will likely be better without any Dicks.

Well, that’s Game, Set and Match for this article. It’s time for me to take my racquet and ball and go home. Thanks so much for reading this tennis-related serve on the … er … net.

Darren Isenberg is one of Australia’s most booked and re-booked Corporate MC’s and Presenters. He also speaks to groups on how to improve their Positive Influence and the Presentation Skills.

You can learn more about him by heading to www.dipresents.com.au or by asking his kids. But don’t talk to his mother. She still has no idea … but thinks he’s great at what it is anyway.