The 20-Minute Booth Staff Huddle: A Pre-Show Training Script

by | Oct 27, 2026 | Lead Follow-Up, Staffing

Run a 20-minute huddle before the doors open. Spend five minutes on today's goal and target accounts, five on your one-line message and two opening questions, five on how to qualify and log a lead, and five on booth rules, breaks and handoffs. Have everyone say the opener out loud before the first visitor walks up.

I've helped companies exhibit since 2006, and I've worked with hundreds of them. The script below is the structure I recommend. It's short on purpose, so your team can actually run it on show morning.

Why 20 minutes on show morning beats a two-hour training nobody remembers

A long training the week before the show has its place, but in my experience, by the time the hall opens, most of it has faded. The briefing people remember is the one they heard right before the first visitor walked up. Twenty minutes is long enough to cover what matters and short enough that nobody skips it.

Many exhibitors are also sending fewer people. The Exhibitor Advocate's May 2026 survey release cites companion research with EVOLIO Marketing, "The Evolving Landscape of Event Marketing," which found that 55% of exhibitors are limiting onsite staff attendance (The Exhibitor Advocate). With fewer people in the booth, every person has to know the plan.

Michael's Tip

Hold the huddle in the booth, 20 minutes before the doors open, with everyone working that day. If someone's shift starts later, have your booth lead give them the same points when they arrive. Nobody should start a shift without hearing the day's goal and target accounts.

The huddle script, minute by minute

Here's the script. The lines in quotes are what the booth lead says.

Minutes 0-5: Today's goal, target accounts and booked meetings

  1. "Our goal today is [number] qualified conversations." Pick one number everyone can remember.
  2. "These are the target accounts we expect today: [names]. If you see one of these badges, find [name]."
  3. "Here are today's booked meetings, and here's who's covering each one."

Most booked meetings come from the invitations you sent before the show. My pre-show email templates cover those.

Minutes 5-10: One-line message and two openers

  1. "The one thing we want every visitor to remember today is [one line]."
  2. "Here are our two opening questions." Pick questions about the visitor's work, like "What are you working on this year?" or "What brought you to the show?"
  3. "Everyone say your opener out loud, once." Go around the circle.

Michael's Tip

Ban "Can I help you?" from the booth, because the easy answer is "Just looking." Open with a question about the visitor's work instead. Have each person say their opener out loud in the huddle, so it sounds natural by the first visitor.

Minutes 10-15: Qualify and log every lead

  1. "We ask three questions: what problem they're trying to solve, what their role is in buying, and when they expect to decide."
  2. "We grade every lead. A means real need, a say in buying and timing in the next quarter. B means real interest, but later timing. C means they want information only."
  3. "Scan this test badge now and check that the app works." Do it with every phone or scanner.
  4. "In the notes, write what they asked for, the next step you promised and who owns it."

The lead follow-up section explains what happens to those grades after the show.

Minutes 15-20: Rules, roles, breaks and handoffs

  1. "We work from inside our booth. No prospecting in the aisles and no handing out flyers there."
  2. "Demos and any line for them stay inside our footprint, and we keep the volume down."
  3. "Phones and food stay out of the booth."
  4. "[Name] is our product expert. If a question goes past what you know, bring them over."
  5. "Here's the break schedule, and here's who covers for whom."

Show rules back this up. IDDBA defines suitcasing as "soliciting business in the aisles during the exhibition or in other public spaces, including another company's booth or a hotel lobby," and doesn't allow it (IDDBA). The International Roofing Expo bans promotion outside your contracted space, including handing out flyers and product information in the aisles, and sends exhibitors who do it back to their booth (IRE). IAEE's 2023 display guidelines say demos and their queue lines should stay inside the booth. They also say sound generally shouldn't go over 85 decibels measured from the aisle, and if someone within 10 feet can't hold a normal conversation, it's too loud (IAEE guidelines, PDF). Each show sets its own rules from these guidelines, so check your exhibitor manual. For demo space, see booth design and graphics.

Michael's Tip

The rule I'd enforce hardest is staying inside your own space. Shows like IRE send exhibitors back to their booth for promoting in the aisle, and it's an easy way to annoy show management and your neighbors. Stand at the front edge of your booth instead, where people walking by can see you.

Shift planning for longer shows is its own topic, and I'll cover it in a later post.

Pre-show training agenda

The 20-minute huddle is a refresher, and it works best when your team has already practiced. That's why I'd also hold one training session a few days before you travel. The agenda I recommend starts with openers and qualifying questions and finishes with role-plays.

If you still need to make the case for spending on training, I covered that in why booth staff training deserves a bigger share of the budget. This section is about running the session itself.

Who comes and what to bring. Everyone who will work the booth should attend, including leaders and product experts. Bring the lead app or scanners, a few test badges and a photo or drawing of the booth layout.

The agenda, about 60 minutes

  1. 0 to 10 minutes, the show and the goal. Talk through who attends this show, which accounts you want to see and the one number you'll track each day. Then walk through the booth layout so everyone knows where demos and meetings happen.
  2. 10 to 25 minutes, openers. Everyone writes a few and says them out loud, and the team picks two.
  3. 25 to 40 minutes, qualifying questions. Practice the three questions, grade sample visitors and log a test lead.
  4. 40 to 60 minutes, role-plays. Run short scenarios in small groups, then swap roles.

Michael's Tip

I keep pre-show training to about an hour, a few days before we travel, so it's fresh and there's still time to fix gaps. A video call works fine when the team is spread out, as long as cameras are on and everyone practices out loud. Record it, so anyone who joins the booth late can watch it before their first shift.

Writing and practicing openers

Ask each person to write two or three opening questions about the visitor's work. Then go around the room and have everyone read theirs out loud. Keep the ones that sound like a real person talking, and settle on two the whole team will use.

A few openers to start from:

  • "What are you working on this year?"
  • "What brought you to the show?"
  • "What's the one thing you're hoping to find here?"
  • "How are you handling [the problem you solve] right now?"

Retire any opener that invites a yes or no, like "Can I help you?" or "How are you today?" Then practice what comes after the opener. The staffer listens and asks one follow-up question before saying anything about the product.

Michael's Tip

For someone walking past without slowing down, ask about their work, not about you. Something like, what brings you to the show this year? It's easy to answer while they keep walking, and if they stop, you're already in a conversation. Skip yes-or-no questions like asking whether they need help.

Making the qualifying questions sound like conversation

The huddle script uses three questions, covering the problem, the visitor's role in buying and the timing. In training, practice asking them so they come across as conversation rather than a form.

  • Problem: "What's prompting you to look at this now?"
  • Role: "Who else would be part of a decision like this?"
  • Timing: "Is this something you're planning for the next quarter, or further out?"

After that, run two quick drills.

  1. Grading drill. Read out a few short visitor descriptions and have the team grade each one A, B or C and explain why. Use the same grades as the huddle. A means a real need, a say in buying and timing in the next quarter. B means real interest with later timing. C means they want information only.
  2. Logging drill. Everyone scans a test badge and writes a note covering what the visitor asked for, the next step you promised and who owns it. Then swap phones and read each other's notes. If you can't tell what to do next, rewrite the note.

What happens to those grades after the show is covered in lead follow-up.

Michael's Tip

The question I rely on most is: what are you hoping to find at this show? A buyer usually gives a specific answer tied to a project or a problem. A browser tends to say they're just looking around. Either way, you've learned where to take the conversation next.

Running role-plays in short rounds

Role-plays feel awkward at first, but they're a good way to find out who freezes before the show starts instead of during it.

How to run them

  1. Split into groups of three, with a visitor, a staffer and an observer.
  2. Give the visitor a card with one scenario. The staffer doesn't see it.
  3. Run the conversation from the opener to the badge scan or a polite goodbye.
  4. The observer names one thing that worked and one thing to change.
  5. Swap roles and run the next card.

Scenarios to put on the cards

  • "Just looking." The visitor gives a short answer and keeps walking.
  • Good fit, short on time. The visitor has two minutes before a session. Get the key facts and book a follow-up.
  • The question you can't answer. Hand the visitor to your product expert by name.
  • An existing customer with a problem. Listen, take notes and promise a follow-up from the right person.
  • Not a fit. End the conversation politely so the staffer is free for the next visitor.
  • "We already use someone else." Ask what they like about their current setup before you say anything about yours.

Give your team one line they can use to wrap up any conversation: "I don't want to keep you. Can I scan your badge and send you [the thing they asked for]?"

Close the session by having one pair run a full conversation in front of the group, from opener to scan. After that, the morning huddle only has to refresh what the team already practiced.

Michael's Tip

The scenario new booth staff struggle with most is ending a conversation with someone who isn't a fit. Teach a polite exit: thank the person, offer something useful like a card or a link, and step back toward the aisle. Practice it out loud until it feels natural, because a long chat with the wrong person costs you the next right one.

The printable card below puts this agenda and the 20-minute huddle on one page.

Put the right people in the booth

I'd make sure at least one person in the booth can answer detailed questions about how your product works, not just people who are good at starting conversations.

Most companies staff their booths with their own people. EXHIBITOR magazine's 2025 budget survey of nearly 200 event marketers puts "talent" (paid booth staff, speakers and presenters) at about 3% of exhibit budgets, which it says "suggests most exhibitors rely on internal staff" (EXHIBITOR). That makes the huddle more important, not less. More on booth staffing is in the Staffing section.

Michael's Tip

Put at least one person in the booth who can answer the hard technical questions. Pair that person with someone who's good at starting conversations and logging leads. That way your expert spends their time on the questions only they can answer.

Badge and access basics to settle before show day

Badge rules differ by show, so settle them before anyone travels. CES 2027 is a good example of how strict they can be. Per CES's registration information:

  • Booth workers register as Exhibitor Personnel through their company's Registration Coordinator.
  • They must use the exact email address the invitation went to. Otherwise they're registered as attendees and lose move-in and move-out access.
  • All exhibitor personnel must be 18 or older.
  • Badges are never mailed. Each person picks up their own badge with a government-issued photo ID, and badges won't print without a photo.

Check your own show's exhibitor registration rules for the same details. If you're exhibiting at a Las Vegas show like CES, our Las Vegas convention center guide covers the building.

Day two and beyond: the five-minute recap

After the first day, the huddle gets shorter. Spend five minutes each morning on four things:

  1. What worked yesterday, and what didn't.
  2. Which target accounts you still haven't seen.
  3. Any changes to demo times or booked meetings.
  4. Who stands where today.

Michael's Tip

At the end of each day, ask which target accounts you still haven't seen. Put those names at the top of the next morning's huddle and decide who will reach out to each one. The answer also tells you whether your pre-show invites reached the right people.

Printable training and huddle card

Print this one-page card for the training session, then bring it back out for the show-morning huddle.

BOOTH STAFF TRAINING AND HUDDLE CARD
tradeshowtips.com/booth-staff-huddle/

PART 1: PRE-SHOW TRAINING
A few days before you travel. About 60 minutes. Everyone who works the booth.

[ ] 0 to 10 min    The show, target accounts, today's number, booth layout
[ ] 10 to 25 min   Openers: write, say out loud, pick two
[ ] 25 to 40 min   Qualify: three questions, grade A/B/C, test scan, notes
[ ] 40 to 60 min   Role-plays in threes: visitor, staffer, observer. Swap.

OUR TWO OPENERS
1. ______________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________
Never: "Can I help you?"

THREE QUESTIONS
Problem: "What's prompting you to look at this now?"
Role:    "Who else would be part of a decision like this?"
Timing:  "Is this for the next quarter, or further out?"

GRADES
A = real need, a say in buying, timing in the next quarter
B = real interest, later timing
C = information only

ROLE-PLAY CARDS
[ ] "Just looking"          [ ] Good fit, short on time
[ ] Question for our expert [ ] Customer with a problem
[ ] Not a fit               [ ] "We already use someone else"

TO END A CONVERSATION
"I don't want to keep you. Can I scan your badge and send you ________?"

PART 2: SHOW-MORNING HUDDLE
20 minutes, in the booth, before the doors open.

[ ] 0 to 5     Goal: ____ qualified conversations
               Target accounts: ______________________
               Booked meetings and who covers each: ______________________
[ ] 5 to 10    Our one line: ______________________
               Everyone says their opener out loud
[ ] 10 to 15   Three questions. Grade every lead. Scan a test badge.
               Notes: what they asked for, next step, who owns it
[ ] 15 to 20   Stay inside the booth. Demos inside our space.
               Volume down. No phones or food in the booth.

Product expert: ____________   Breaks: ____________
Emergency contact: ____________________________

Days 2 and up: 5 minutes. What worked, accounts not seen yet,
schedule changes, who stands where.

Questions? tradeshowtips.com/contact/

Two big fall 2027 shows to plan for are IAAPA Expo 2027 in Orlando, with education Nov. 15 to 18 and the show floor Nov. 16 to 19, 2027 (IAAPA), and RSNA 2027 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Nov. 14 to 18, 2027, with technical exhibits closing Nov. 17 (RSNA). See our Orlando guide, our Chicago guide and the show guides, or find more trade shows. The 25 most common trade show mistakes is worth a read before you go.

Booth staff huddle FAQs

What should a pre-show booth staff meeting cover?

Today's goal and target accounts, your one-line message, two opening questions, how to qualify and log leads, booth rules, breaks and who handles which visitors. Twenty minutes is enough if it's tight.

How do you run role-plays for booth staff training?

Split into groups of three: a visitor, a staffer and an observer. Give the visitor a card with one scenario, like "just looking" or "not a fit." Run the conversation from opener to badge scan, have the observer name one thing that worked and one to change, then swap roles.

How should booth staff approach visitors?

Stand at the front of the booth, make eye contact and open with a question about the visitor's work rather than "Can I help you?" Then listen and qualify before you pitch.

Can booth staff talk to people in the aisle?

Generally, work from inside your booth. Many shows ban soliciting in the aisles. IDDBA calls it suitcasing and doesn't allow it on convention center grounds.

Who should work a trade show booth?

People who can answer real questions. Bring at least one product expert who can handle detailed technical questions, and pair them with someone who's good at starting conversations and logging leads.

How loud can a booth demo be?

Follow your show's rules. IAEE's guidelines say sound generally shouldn't exceed 85 decibels at the aisle, and if someone within 10 feet of your booth can't hold a normal conversation, it's too loud.

Do we need a huddle every day of the show?

Yes, a short one. After day one, spend five minutes on what worked, which target accounts you still haven't seen and any schedule changes.

Want me to run your team's huddle?

Have a show coming up? Ask me how I'd brief your team.

Ask Michael

Written by Michael Flavin, a trade show pro since 2006.

Sources

All checked Oct. 19, 2026.

  1. IAEE, Guidelines for Display Rules and Regulations, 2023 North American Update (PDF): https://worldworkplace.ifma.org/hubfs/Expo%20Advertising/Exhibitor%20Resources/IAEE%20-%202023%20Guidelines%20for%20Display%20Rules%20and%20Regulations.pdf
  2. IDDBA, Reserve an Exhibit Space: https://www.iddba.org/iddba-show/exhibits-sponsorships/reserve-an-exhibit-space
  3. International Roofing Expo, Show Policies: https://www.theroofingexpo.com/show-policies/
  4. CES, Registration Information: https://www.ces.tech/attendee-guides/registration-information/
  5. The Exhibitor Advocate, 2025 Annual Survey of Exhibition Rates release (May 12, 2026), citing "The Evolving Landscape of Event Marketing" (Jan. 2026): https://www.exhibitoradvocacy.com/blog/the-exhibitor-advocate-releases-2025-annual-survey-of-exhibition-rates
  6. EXHIBITOR magazine, "Budget Breakdown: How the Exhibiting Dollar Is Spent," Emily Olson (Aug./Sept. 2025 issue): https://www.exhibitoronline.com/topics/article.asp?ID=3680
  7. IAAPA, Payment Deadlines for IAAPA Expos (IAAPA Expo 2027 dates): https://iaapa.org/expos-and-events/payment-deadlines
  8. RSNA, Future and Past Meetings: https://www.rsna.org/annual-meeting/future-and-past-meetings