How to Get the Most Out of a Dental Conference

 A dental conference can be so incredibly exciting and ALSO so incredibly overwhelming. It is such an investment of time, money, and energy. So, it is critical to get an excellent return on your investment. In this episode, Bethany gives a specific strategy to ensure that every course attendee (includes ALL team members) gets the most out of the conference. In this episode, she tells course participants to set aside a couple of hours to organize course content into actionable items with specific timelines. If you have had or are going to a dental conference, this episode is a MUST listen!!

Previous Episodes Worth Revisiting: 

Setting Your Course for Education in 2025

CE Solution – Best Education Course! 

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Transcript

Are you looking for a podcast where you

can hear from real people regarding

their real dental drama? If so, then

you've come to the right place. Join

hosts Bethany Penny and Dr. Reena Kuba

as we dive into the solutions we've

created and the mistakes we've made

while managing dental

drama. Let's get started. Happy Memorial

Day everybody. I hope you are enjoying a

wonderful day off to rest, relax, and of

course reflect on all that we have to be

thankful for. Speaking of all that we

have to be thankful for, I am coming off

of a few amazing days at the AAPD

conference. I met so many amazing people

and had such a fun time. I was lucky

enough to have my oldest daughter with

me who helped to get the word out about

the podcast and the subscription and it

was just so fun to be there and I had so

many great conversations and as I sat

and watched that exhibit hall floor I

thought of this subject for today

because a conference can be overwhelming

in so many ways. You're in good ways.

1:17

You're meeting new people. You're

1:20

interacting

1:21

with representatives and teachers and

1:25

trainers that you've never met before.

1:28

You might be hearing some repeated ideas

1:31

that you already knew but you were

1:33

reminded of. Or you might be hearing

1:35

brand new ideas and it can be

1:38

overwhelming.

1:40

But a conference or a CE course is such

1:44

an investment of not only money but time

1:48

and energy that you want to make sure

1:50

that when you come back from a

1:53

conference you are doing your very best

1:56

to get a good return on that investment

1:58

of time and money. So, I wanted to talk

2:01

about the subject matter today so that

2:03

those of you that I were was able to

2:05

meet at the AAPD conference, hopefully

2:08

this will help you to

2:11

really just focus in, just rein it all

2:14

in, focus and make some very practical

2:17

steps. And for those of you that were

2:20

not at the AAPD conference and are our

2:23

regular listeners, this is the season of

2:26

seminars and conferences and CE uh

2:30

spring through fall are kind of the big

2:32

the big months for all of those. So if

2:34

you've got a conference or a seminar on

2:37

your schedule, I hope these tips will

2:40

help you as well. So, I want you guys to

2:44

take a minute and get ready to focus

2:47

because I'm going to ask you to do

2:49

something that's very simple and yet is

2:52

going to take a little bit of your time.

2:54

I know you're just coming off of a

2:57

conference or for those of you who have

2:59

conferences scheduled in the future,

3:02

when you come home, you want to just

3:03

kind of get back to normal life and move

3:06

move forward. But I'm going to ask you

3:09

to invest just a little bit more time to

3:12

make sure that you really get a return

3:14

on your investment. So schedule some

3:17

time today, this

3:19

week. You probably need a couple hours

3:22

to do this activity and I think it's

3:25

going to be very very helpful for you.

3:28

So, what I want you to do is schedule

3:30

some time and then we are going to

3:32

organize the information that you

3:34

received into three categories. You're

3:38

going to go through these three

3:40

categories multiple times. Okay? This is

3:43

a way of prioritizing the information

3:46

that you received, but you're going to

3:49

prioritize it by what's most important.

3:52

Second, third, fourth. You're going to

3:54

get through all of these things, but I

3:57

want you to really rein it in to

4:00

organize into three categories, okay?

4:04

And of course, they're alliterated to

4:06

make it easy for you, but you are going

4:09

to organize the information that you've

4:11

received into.

4:14

Tip is the first

4:17

category. Tool is the second

4:22

category. Touch point is the third

4:25

category. Okay? So, tip, tool, touch

4:30

point. You're going to bring all of your

4:33

notes, all the information that you

4:35

received either via u powerpoints or

4:39

notes that you received. You're going to

4:42

take your exhibit hall bag and you're

4:44

going to pull all the information out of

4:47

that. I would recommend laying

4:50

everything out into one space. That

4:52

could be your living room floor, that

4:54

could be your kitchen table, that could

4:55

be your office desk, but you're going to

4:58

lay it all out. And I want you do to do

5:01

a brief overview of everything. As

5:03

you've got it all laid out on your

5:05

kitchen table, you're just scanning and

5:07

you're trying to remember from your

5:10

notes or from the handout or from the

5:13

exhibit hall. You're just browsing

5:15

through everything again. And you want

5:19

to start to organize it into kind of

5:22

your top category, your middle category,

5:25

and your last category. So when you do

5:28

your first sweep through, you may be

5:30

looking at notes that you took from your

5:33

seminar from one of the classes that you

5:35

were in and you are scanning back over

5:39

your notes or scanning back over that

5:40

handout, you need to have a highlighter

5:42

in hand and you're just highlighting in

5:46

a certain color the things that really

5:48

stood out to you. It may have been one

5:52

treatment presentation technique that

5:54

you were like, "Oo, that was really

5:55

good." Okay, go back to that that slide

5:58

on your handouts or go back to that note

6:01

that you took and highlight that. Okay,

6:03

so you're going back through your notes,

6:04

highlighting the most important things.

6:07

You're going through the stuff from your

6:09

exhibit hall and you're pulling out the

6:11

flyers or the name of the company that

6:14

you knew you were interested in and

6:16

you're organizing that into a pile.

6:19

Honestly, I would take the tangible

6:22

piles of things and put it into your

6:25

most important category.

6:27

Okay, the notes that you have, they're

6:30

the most important category should be

6:32

highlighted in a certain color. So maybe

6:34

that's blue. Maybe that's your favorite

6:35

color. You're like, "Okay, these are my

6:37

most important notes." So organize your

6:40

notes with highlight and organize the

6:42

things from the exhibit hall into a top

6:45

priority pile.

6:48

Then you're going to go back through and

6:50

you're going to do the same thing into

6:52

your second most important pile. Okay?

6:55

So maybe you've got an orange

6:56

highlighter. This time you're going back

6:58

through your notes. You're highlighting

7:00

things that were still important but

7:01

maybe not as important as the first

7:03

things you highlighted. And you're

7:04

highlighting those in orange. And then

7:07

you're going back through all of your

7:08

exhibit hall things and you're all the

7:10

samples that you got and you're

7:11

prioritizing those into a second

7:14

category, your medium priority category.

7:17

Then you're going to go back through one

7:20

last time. You're going to do this three

7:22

times. And maybe you take a yellow

7:23

highlighter this time and you're

7:25

highlighting the third most important

7:27

things from your notes or from your

7:28

handouts from the classes. You're

7:30

highlighting those in yellow. You're

7:32

going through your exhibit hall items

7:34

and you're putting those into a pile.

7:37

You're literally taking the cards and

7:39

putting those into a pile for your third

7:42

category.

7:44

Now, at this point, you have a high

7:48

priority pile or highlight. You have a

7:50

medium priority pile or highlight. And

7:52

you have a low priority pile or

7:55

highlight. Everything at this point

7:57

should be organized into one of three

8:01

piles or one of three highlights. Okay.

8:05

What we're going to do is we're going to

8:07

take that third category and we're going

8:11

to act like it never existed. It's low

8:14

priority. Chances are we're never going

8:16

to get to those things. So, you can take

8:19

your uh yellow highlights and you can

8:21

completely ignore them. You can take

8:24

your pile from the exhibit hall that was

8:26

third priority, the lowest priority. You

8:29

can gather all that stuff up and throw

8:31

it away. And then we are going to do our

8:34

hard work in those top two categories.

8:37

Okay? Starting with your top category.

8:40

That was the blue highlight and your

8:43

first priority from the exhibit hall.

8:45

You're going to go back through these

8:47

items and you're going to arrange them

8:49

into those three categories. A tip, a

8:55

tool, and a touch point. Let's talk

8:58

about those three. A tip is some kind of

9:02

information that you gained, some kind

9:05

of technique that you might want to try

9:07

in your practice. That could be

9:10

something clinically that just captured

9:12

your attention and you're like, "Ooh, I

9:14

really want to try that technique." Uh

9:18

maybe you went all in and bought a laser

9:22

at the conference and you're like,

9:23

"Okay, that's my obviously my top

9:25

priority. that is a tip that I really

9:28

want to incorporate into the practice.

9:31

So, let me figure out now how I'm going

9:33

to do that. Maybe it's not something

9:36

huge like that. It could be that you

9:38

were in a insurance class and you

9:42

learned a narrative that works really

9:45

well and you want to try that narrative

9:48

in your next batch of claims. Okay, then

9:50

prioritize that. It's some type of

9:53

practical technique that you want to now

9:56

apply into your practice or onto your

9:59

team. Okay, so that's

10:01

tip. The second thing is a tool. a tool.

10:06

And one of the great things about not

10:09

only the exhibit hall, but even the

10:10

seminars that you sit in, sometimes they

10:13

are promoting a

10:18

particular fluoride varnish or proy

10:21

paste or proy angle or maybe it's a

10:27

website design that can be a tool that's

10:30

in your hands now to utilize. It could

10:32

be that you saw a I heard about a remote

10:37

business

10:39

team business that you were interested

10:41

in and you've had trouble staffing and

10:43

so that's a tool that you could really

10:45

use in your practice. So, the tool is

10:48

some something tangible, some kind

10:52

of need that you know you have or maybe

10:56

you didn't even know that you had until

10:57

you heard that seminar seminar or

11:00

entered that exhibit hall or as you were

11:02

sitting and having lunch with a random

11:04

stranger, you learned about something

11:05

that they use that you think would be

11:08

very helpful. So, tool is your second

11:12

category. Touch point is your third

11:15

category. touch point is somebody at the

11:18

conference that you met. Um maybe it was

11:21

a speaker that you heard and you were

11:23

able to ask him or her some questions

11:25

afterwards and it was a great touch

11:27

point and you want to uh foster that

11:31

relationship or or even just thank them

11:33

for the information that they provided

11:35

in their class. Maybe it was somebody

11:37

that you met randomly in one of your

11:40

classes and they were a really great

11:42

resource of information and you were

11:44

able to collect their contact

11:46

information. Maybe it was somebody in

11:48

the exhibit hall that you met that was a

11:50

wealth of information or you had a great

11:54

conversation but didn't get to finish

11:55

it. So a person a touch point is related

11:59

to a person. So tip is some kind of

12:02

practical implementation. A tool is a

12:05

tool, something that you want to bring

12:08

into your practice, whether it's

12:11

technology, an actual piece of

12:13

equipment, or um some type

12:17

of service product out there. And then a

12:20

touch point is a person that you'd like

12:23

to either thank or continue the

12:25

conversation with. Okay, so those are

12:27

your three categories. Now you're going

12:29

to go through your high priority pile

12:32

and your medium priority pile and you're

12:35

going to organize into those three

12:37

things. Which things in your top

12:41

priority pile are tip related, which

12:45

ones are tool related, and which ones

12:48

are touchpoint related. So within that

12:51

top pile, you're going to organize those

12:53

into three smaller piles. Okay? And then

12:57

you'll do the same thing for your medium

12:59

priority list of things. You're going to

13:02

organize them into tip, tool, and touch

13:04

point. Now you'll shift back over and

13:07

you're going to go to your high priority

13:09

pile. And you are going to go to your

13:12

tip category first. Within that tip

13:17

category, I want you to organize those

13:20

tips from top to bottom. What if you

13:23

could only pick one tip that you would

13:25

take away from that high priority tip

13:28

pile? What would it be? What's the

13:30

second most important thing, third most

13:32

important thing, etc. Okay, so within

13:35

your high priority pile, you're now

13:38

looking at your tip pile and you're

13:40

organizing those from one to 50. I don't

13:44

care how many you have. You're going to

13:46

organize them top to bottom. You're

13:48

going to do the same thing with the tool

13:50

category. You're going to organize those

13:52

from the most important tool to the

13:55

least important tool. And then same

13:57

thing with your touch point. All of

13:59

these do not have to have the same

14:01

amount in them. You might have six tips.

14:04

You might have two tools and you might

14:07

have four touch points and that's

14:09

totally okay. Or you might

14:12

have 19 tips and four tools and two

14:16

touch points and that's okay. So these

14:18

don't have to be even. You're just

14:20

organizing them into what's most

14:22

important. You'll do the same thing for

14:25

your medium priority pile. You'll go to

14:27

your tips organized from 1 to 10. Your

14:30

tools organized from 1 to 10 or 1 to 20,

14:33

whatever. And then your touch points.

14:35

Then you go and your focus is going to

14:38

be in that high priority

14:41

pile. You're going to put a timeline to

14:44

each of those things. So, you're going

14:47

to look at your tips and go,

14:49

practically, how long might it take for

14:52

me to implement tip number one? And then

14:56

you set yourself a

14:57

deadline. Practically, how long is it

15:00

going to take for me to implement tip

15:01

number two? And then once again, you set

15:03

yourself a deadline. I would say you

15:05

want to really balance those deadlines.

15:08

If you set them too far into the future,

15:10

you're never going to get it done. If

15:12

you set them too soon, you're going to

15:14

get frustrated because you're never

15:16

accomplishing things. So, it depends on

15:19

the tip, but most times you want to aim

15:21

for 1 to 3 weeks is usually a reasonable

15:25

timeline, but not everything can have

15:27

the same timeline. Keep in mind, you

15:29

organize these into 1 to 10 for a

15:31

reason. So, tip number one might have a

15:35

1 to 3 week timeline, but tip number two

15:38

might have a 2 to 5 week timeline. Tip

15:40

number three might have a 4 to six week

15:42

timeline. So you want to lengthen it as

15:45

you go down the list. You'll do the same

15:48

thing for the tool. And then you'll also

15:51

do the same thing for the touch point.

15:52

Now sometimes the touch point can have a

15:54

shorter timeline. You might uh realize

15:58

that it's a just a quick email that you

16:00

want to send or you want to arrange a

16:03

lunch date with this person or whatever

16:05

the case may be. Sometimes that touch

16:07

point is an easier technique that you

16:10

can get done or an easier task that you

16:12

can get done. Um, so you'll organize

16:15

your high priority into that 1 to 10 and

16:18

you'll set deadlines and then you'll do

16:19

the same thing with the moderate

16:21

category. If when you get to the end of

16:24

your high

16:25

priority tips, tools, and touch points,

16:28

you're like, "Oh my gosh, this is enough

16:31

to get me through the next 6 months."

16:33

Then just gather up all your medium

16:35

priorities and get to it later. There's

16:37

no rush on that. You'll get to it, but

16:40

keep it in an organized folder, either

16:42

an electronic folder or a actual folder

16:46

and put it all together and make

16:49

yourself a deadline 6 months from now.

16:51

We're going to come back around to this

16:52

in November and I'm going to re-evaluate

16:55

my medium priority. If your high

16:57

priority is only two or three things

16:59

that you wanted to implement, then

17:01

absolutely do the same level of

17:02

organization with your medium category.

17:05

The main thing is you do need to give

17:07

yourself time to get through this

17:10

activity. Don't rush through it. Going

17:13

back and looking at all the information

17:16

that you absorbed over these last few

17:18

days is critical to retaining that

17:21

information. If you just drop back into

17:25

busy life and don't go back and really

17:28

reflect and think through things, you're

17:30

going to lose a lot of what you learned

17:32

during these few days. So, it is highly

17:37

important that you give yourself the

17:39

time to do this organizational activity.

17:41

Okay. So, for those of you at the AAPD,

17:45

hopefully these will be some good

17:46

organizational tips to kind of get

17:48

through. For those of you that went to

17:51

the TAPD or you've got some other

17:53

conferences coming up this summer, go

17:55

ahead and plan your time. Uh when you

17:58

come back from the conference, you're

17:59

like, "Okay, I get back from the

18:01

conference on Saturday. I'm going to

18:03

plan from noon to 2 on Sunday to go

18:06

through and organize or I'm going to

18:08

give myself a few days and on Wednesday

18:10

I'm going to extend my lunch and I'm

18:12

going to organize it all." Then you can

18:15

encourage your team members. Uh this is

18:17

not just for doctors and and providers.

18:20

This is for everybody that attended the

18:23

conference. In fact, it's almost more

18:25

important team members for you guys to

18:27

do this because your doctor or your

18:30

practice invested in you. So make sure

18:33

that you're really bringing back some

18:35

great information. Okay. Now, I do want

18:38

to talk to our guests that met us at the

18:42

AAPD. We have a fantastic AAPD special

18:47

that is still going on through the end

18:50

of this week. So, it's Memorial Day

18:52

today. On Saturday is when this offer

18:56

expires. So, this is for um anybody that

18:59

we met at the AAPD conference. And fun

19:02

fact for our listeners, we can't tell if

19:05

you were at the AAPD conference or not.

19:08

So, you can get on this in on this

19:10

opportunity as well. And you can thank

19:12

the AAPD for giving you the chance to

19:15

have this opportunity. But we had a

19:18

conference special that we talked about

19:20

with so many of you that we met with,

19:22

which is our level two

19:25

subscription. We have a buy one get one

19:28

free. So you can buy one month and get

19:31

the second month completely free. So, in

19:35

order to take advantage of that

19:36

opportunity, whether you were at the

19:39

AAPD or not, I would encourage you to go

19:43

and subscribe to level two through

19:46

Patreon. Go to our show notes today.

19:49

You'll be able to click straight through

19:50

to Patreon and you'll want to look at

19:53

the various membership options and

19:55

select level two or the practice pro.

19:59

It's $49.99 a month and you can get two

20:03

months for the price of one uh if you

20:06

subscribe by Saturday. So, Saturday is

20:08

the deadline. Make sure that you get on

20:10

it. Um once you subscribe, all anybody

20:13

that sub subscribes this week will get a

20:15

special code that that is sent out to

20:18

them and that code will get them the

20:20

opportunity for a second month free. So,

20:23

I want everybody to take advantage of

20:25

that. And again, it was such a pleasure

20:27

to meet all of you from the AAPD. We had

20:30

a blast. I am just thrilled with so many

20:34

conversations that I had and so many

20:36

amazing people that I had the

20:38

opportunity to meet. So, thank you AAPD

20:41

for giving me the opportunity to meet

20:42

you guys and thank you listeners for

20:46

again your constant support. It's just

20:48

so nice to meet so many of you in

20:50

person. Uh it was just phenomenal. Y'all

20:53

have a great rest of your Memorial

20:54

Memorial Day and a wonderful week and

20:57

don't forget to subscribe. Thanks for

20:59

joining the conversation today. We hope

21:02

that you are comforted in knowing that

21:04

you are not alone, but we also hope that

21:06

you're walking away with some really

21:08

great tips and tricks to try in your

21:11

practice. We value your feedback. So,

21:14

please take a few moments to rate and

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21:35

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