How to Brief Event Staff: 8 Essential Tips | Emissaries

There are a LOT of line items in an event project plan.

Staffing is just one of those line items.

If you’ve got a good staffing agency, you can rely on good people turning up, ready to go.

Now we just need to give them what they need to do a great job.

Don’t be tempted by long decks. See point 1 below, they’re not effective.

Writing a good brief is muscle worth building. Get it right and you’ll get more out of your team, and a better experience for your audience.

Here are eight things to percolate on before writing your next event brief 👇

1. Your 47-slide event deck is a masterpiece. But just give us the useful bits.

Give staff the things they actually need to know about your brand, short and sharp. Use AI to help you condense it specifically for your staffing team.

2. Who are we talking to, and why should they care?

Describe the audience. What gets their attention? What do they want? What will make them stop walking and engage instead of pretending they’ve received an urgent text?

3. What are we actually trying to achieve here?

Awareness? Leads? Sales? Samples? Good vibes? Tell people what success looks like, preferably in terms that mean something on the event floor.

4. Walk us through the experience like we’re five.

Where do people enter? What happens next? Who does what? What happens when 30 people turn up simultaneously and the iPad decides to retire?

5. Give us something better than “be bubbly and engaging.”

What should staff say? What questions should they ask? What are the important messages? Provide some examples without writing a script that makes everyone sound like a hostage reading a ransom demand.

6. Tell us what can go wrong. Because something will.

Technology, queues, difficult customers, missing stock, unexpected weather. Who fixes what? Who gets called? What can staff decide for themselves?

7. Don’t make people guess the boring stuff.

Uniforms, parking, breaks, access instructions, facilities, safety, emergency contacts. Not glamorous. Extremely useful. Nobody wants six Brand Ambassadors circling a loading dock because the brief said “enter via rear.”

8. Let the agency do its actual job.

Share the brief early enough for the agency to ask questions, prepare the team and spot potential problems.

Of all the things that can go spectacularly wrong at an event, don’t let your people be one of them – writing a good brief goes along way to a smooth event day!

A great event starts long before the first guest arrives. From thoughtful staff briefings to seamless execution on the ground, it’s the people behind the activation who make the difference.

Want to see what that looks like in action? Follow Emissaries on LinkedIn for behind-the-scenes insights, event highlights and a closer look at the people bringing Australia’s biggest activations to life.