The power of the senses: incorporating smell into your next event
We often use our eyes and ears to understand our surroundings – yet smell is an underrated tool in an event planner's arsenal to help bring an event to life.
This is because our sense of smell is so strongly tied to our emotions – the smell of candy from a funfair visited as a child, the smell of a nostalgic family dish… Certain smells can trigger positive memories of a pastime, making them powerful when it comes to making events extra memorable.
But how can you incorporate the use of smell into your next event? Let’s explore…
Choosing the right scent
The magic of smell is that it can be used across a variety of different events – the key is to get creative with what scents to use and how you want to incorporate them.
If your event has an element of mindfulness or mental health attached to it, look for relaxing smells that can be incorporated across the event space. On the flip side, if it’s an event designed to get people thinking or getting creative, such as a team retreat or conference, consider smells that traditionally are used to invoke energy and excitement, such as citrus and mint.
Regardless of the scent used, you’ll want to focus on how to incorporate that scent into the event space you have. Having the scent across the entire venue may not be appropriate, so consider where you most want to incorporate the scent to achieve the desired effect – such as in the meeting rooms themselves for when you want your guests to get creative and brainstorm ideas.
It's important to note though that you don’t want the scent to be too overpowering – smell should be used to enhance the overall experience, not to be the entire experience itself.
Getting creative with smell
For more creative uses to incorporate smell in your event, consider having the scent be a physical object that can be passed among guests during a lecture or presentation during a meeting.
Not only does it help add some interaction throughout the presentation, but tying what is being said to a specific smell has long been known as an excellent way to ensure the information sticks. According to the Sense of Smell Institute, people only recall about 50% of the visual images they see after three months yet can recall more than 65% of what they smell even after a year has passed.
Smell can also be a great sense to utilise when you want to get your guests interacting and talking with one another. Using it as an icebreaker and asking guests to try and identify smells is a great way to get people talking with one another. Different smells may trigger certain memories for certain people, further opening up discussions between attendees.
Food & drink
If your event offers catering or if you're hosting a private dining event, then smell is naturally a powerful sense when it comes to making an event extra memorable – there’s a reason why so many scents recall memories associated with food and drink after all!
When it comes to food and drink at your own event, again it comes down to ensuring the smell of the food is complementary and not too overpowering.
Smell is also closely tied with our sense of taste, so combining great smelling food with great tasting food can help ensure the dish is not only extra tasty – but extra memorable too.
Here at the Royal Society of Chemistry at Burlington House, we are dedicated to helping you bring your event to life by incorporating smell into the event experience. We offer a variety of different rooms that can be catered to a variety of different event types, working to help make your event a truly special experience for all.
Download our brochure or get in touch to learn more about our venue and how we can help you create stunning events that will leave a lasting impression on delegates and guests.
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