January 21st, 2012 
John As a sales professional, I spend a good deal of time at conventions, sales meetings and training seminars that require wearing name tags. Here are five easy ways to dramatically improve the traditional name tag:
- Make first names bigger. It can be difficult and awkward to squint at someone’s name tag when you’re first meeting them or pretending to remember them from a prior event.
- Buy shorter lanyards. Especially for a man speaking to a woman, it can become real awkward trying to decipher for a poorly placed name tag.
- Print on both sides. A rough estimate would guess that at least 40 percent of the time, a one-sided name tag is facing the wrong direction.
- Use color to for identification. Whether it’s speakers/listeners, vendors/attendees or by region (specifically for sales training meetings), buy different colored lanyards for quick identification.
- Avoid advertising on the name tag. The lanyard is fair game, but the real estate on the actual name tag is so precious that logos and such should be avoided where possible.
These five simple tips can dramatically reduce awkwardness and increase socialization at your next sales meeting, convention or training seminar.
Thank you flickr user theqspeaks for use of your photo.
