How to engage the five senses at events
Engaging all five senses, sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch, is a great way for any event to leave a long-lasting impression on its guests. There is good evidence that including sensory stimulation in an event can subconsciously influence how guests felt about the overall experience.
While events should aim to stimulate all senses, events should give particular importance to taste and smell, as these are the two senses more related to subconscious memory and feelings. This is because the other senses (sight, hearing and touch) can become saturated in these environments and are less likely to leave a lasting impression.
So we’re going to explore some of the ways that you can engage the five senses at events.
Sight
For seeing individuals, sight is our most dominant sense. This is how we take in a majority of our information and will be a main factor when giving a good first impression at any event.
When trying to engage the sight sense, you’re going to want to focus on:
Lighting – The amount of lighting used should be dependent on the occasion and time of the event.
Spatial Design – Clear sections, space to move, clear egress routes
Decorations – Pleasing to the eyes and compliment the occasion or theme of the event.
Colours – Particularly colours that compliment each other and go with the theme or occasion on the event. Cohesion is key.
Smell
The smell sense is one of our two senses that is strongly related to our subconscious memory. Smell is effective at triggering memories because scents go straight to the brain's olfactory bulb which is directly connected to the amygdala and hippocampus which are responsible for memory and emotion processing. The other senses have to go through the thalamus before reaching the amygdala and hippocampus, smell bypasses the thalamus entirely and goes straight to where it needs to go. Strengthening its relationship with our memory and feelings.
You can engage the smell sense by:
Scented candles – Try to avoid candle scent that are already widely used such as vanilla, cinnamon, rose, etc.
Air diffusers – These are a great way to make a room smell like a particular scent
Flowers – These engage both the smell and sight sense
Perfume – Having all staff wear the same perfume is great for consistency
Food – This engages both the smell and taste sense
Hearing
Engaging the hearing sense is one of the best and easiest ways to evoke an emotion in your guests, whether that emotion is excitement, peace, sadness, etc. We all know that movies would be nothing without its soundtrack, the same goes for events.
When trying to engage the sight sense, you’re going to want to focus on:
Music – the type of music should be dependent on the occasion and the emotions you want your guests to feel. Upbeat music for excitement and dancing, softer music for sentimental events, such as wedding ceremonies.
Nature sounds – These can either be artificially produced, eg artificial waterfall sounds. Or these can be naturally produced dependent on your venue. eg the sound of birds if you are having an outdoor venue.
Touch
The touch sense can be one of the harder senses to engage at events, but it’s an important one to get right if you want your guests to have a meaningful experience.
When trying to engage the touch sense, you’re going to want to focus on:
Temperature – Make sure your venue is at a nice temperature for your guests
Live/living wall – Plant wall anyone?
Interactive displays – These act as opportunities for your guests to touch or interact with something at the event.
Textured fabrics – Think textured tables cloths, napkins, cushions, etc.
Games – Games such as various lawn games, sports, etc, is a great way to engage touch.
Taste
The taste sense is our other sense that is strongly connected to our subconscious memory for similar reasons as to why smell is also strongly connected to memory.
Something interesting about taste, is that not all tastes are made equal when it comes to memory. Sweet food and drinks can trigger a reward response in our brains and therefore a stronger reaction in the hippocampus, the place responsible for memory.
There are two mains ways to engage the taste sense:
Food – Try using types of food that is related to the theme or occasion of the event between this sense and the wider event.
Beverages – Try offering sweet beverages to trigger a reward response.
Conclusion
When planning your next event, take sometime to think about how you can engage the five senses. Incorporating sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch can create a fully immersive experience for your guests and can help to leave a long last impression.
Stimulation of the five senses is how the human body receives information, so it makes sense that you would want all of your senses to be taking in positive information while at an event to create a truly memorable experience.
Emma