Touched Wins – Why Emotion Is the Strongest Currency in Communication
Hand on heart: What do you remember from the last conference? The Excel slide with the 2027 revenue forecast, the ill-fitting toupee of the second keynote speaker – or rather that one moment that truly touched you? Maybe it was the spontaneous story of a colleague, the crazy location, or the moment when suddenly a pianist appeared between the tables.
The secret of successful events is simple: Touched wins.
Predictability Kills Emotion
Many events follow a script that is as exciting as a rerun of a 2004 reality show on late-night TV. Welcome, presentation, PowerPoint, coffee break, presentation, dinner, the end. Convenient, yes – but it’s like black-and-white TV: functional, yet without pull. Your audience knows after five minutes exactly what’s coming – and that’s the problem. They get bored.
Imagine going to the theater and the director hands you the final page with the ending beforehand. Would you still engage with the story? Hardly.
What Emotion Really Does
Neuroscience is clear: without emotion, there is no memory. John Medina sums it up in Brain Rules: we remember 10 percent of what we hear, 20 percent of what we see – but 65 percent when we both see and hear¹. And if an emotional impulse is added, the impact doubles.
Emotion is not a nice extra – it is the glue that makes messages stick in the mind.
Examples That Stay With You
The stage comes alive: Instead of presenting the new strategy in a 40-minute speech, it’s performed as a short scene – with actors exaggerating the conflicts. Laughter, surprise, insight – suddenly the topic is tangible.
Symbolic location: A company that wants to reinvent itself doesn’t meet in a standard hotel, but in a former train station. A symbol of departure, change, movement. Every guest feels the message before a single word has been spoken.
Interaction beats one-way communication: At a U.S. conference, participants were divided into groups of ten to develop a mini-project. The result: eight times more collaborations than in classic formats².
Why It’s Becoming Harder
We are all overstimulated. Push notifications, social media, emails – our sensory memory is like a bouncer at an overcrowded club. Normal content doesn’t get in anymore. Only what surprises, moves, and touches makes it through.
For you as a planner and communication professional this means: you must stage, not just organize.
Three Tips to Bring Emotion Into Your Event
Surprise! – Add something nobody expects. An unusual opening, a spontaneous guest, a break from the format. (that’s what you’ll experience in my talk)
Engage all senses! – Why not integrate scent, music, or touch? I’ll show you their effect and value.
Tell stories! – Numbers are important, but stories touch. “We had 5% growth” sounds dry. “We brought 200 families into work” evokes emotion.
Conclusion
Events are not an end in themselves. They are stage, encounter, and message all at once. Those who dare to use emotion remain in memory. Those who deliver only numbers sink into oblivion. Daring is a fascinating subject – especially when many people today hardly dare leave the house with only 20% battery left on their phone.
And that’s exactly what my talk “Touched Wins – Why Emotion Is the Strongest Currency” on October 17, 2025, at the Kongresshalle Böblingen is about. There I will show live how to bring emotion into conferences and communication – and I will push boundaries together with the participants. Believe me, get up a little earlier and don’t miss my talk.
Because one thing is certain: those who touch people, win.
Your Event Doctor
Günter Mainka
Sources:
¹ Medina, J. (2008): Brain Rules
² Zajdela et al. (2021): Catalyzing collaborations: Prescribed interactions at conferences determine team formation