As a meeting planner, there are times when hiring a speaker is your responsibility. There are many things to consider as you begin the process. The first three things that I find out for the event is subject matter, goals and budget.
Subject Matter
The subject matter to be covered whether it is motivational, technical, legal or technology to name a just a few, must be decided to begin the process. Speakers today are constantly competing with the audiences’ cell phones. Emails, texting and surfing the web are just a few of the distractions that your speaker will be dealing with your delegates for their attention. Your speaker should be knowledgeable, confident, commanding, clear and encourage audience participation. The days of speakers lecturing to a “classroom” of delegates and keeping them engaged are over.
Goals
Deciding your goals for the speaker is an important aspect to consider in your speaker finding process. Your speaker must first be able to connect to the audience. Making sure the potential speakers have a clear understanding of who the audience is and their demographic will provide the speaker an overview of the attendees. Next your speaker should be informative and an expert on the topic that will be presented. Your group will be able to evaluate the speaker within the first five minutes on whether they are worthy of their attention. Finally, the speaker should be somewhat persuasive or at least provide the audience the opportunity to think or look at things differently.
Budget
As with most responsibilities in our job as meeting planners, the budget plays an important role. You must meet with your client and stakeholders to decide on the goals, subject matter and budget. Speakers price range from complimentary or a small honorarium up to over $100,000+ for a top or high end keynote speaker. Speaking fees are sometimes negotiable and are based on the variety of items you request. Many speakers are willing to do an extra session or moderate a gathering in lieu of reducing their fee.
Additional Things to Consider
Finding the right speaker is still difficult after completing the first phase of your checklist of subject matter, goals and budget. The best evaluation of the speaker during the search is obviously first hand hearing the speaker in person, but rarely practical.
Do not hesitate to contact the many friends and networking contacts you have in the meeting industry for speaker references. Professional speaking bureau lists speakers by budget and subject matter on their websites for easy reference. Once you pare down your selections, speakers’ websites and YouTube videos are also great sources for seeing and hearing your potential speaker.
Once you have hired your speaker reach out to them and discuss in detail your goals and topics that they need to cover during their presentation. The more information you provide, the more engaged your speaker will be and your audience will thank you for it.
Joe Cappuzzello is responsible for locating host cities for the annual Small Market Meetings Conference, as well as for Select Traveler, African American Travel, Going on Faith and Boomers in Groups travel conferences. He is the president and CEO for each of these organizations. He can be reached at 330-337-1027 or atjcappuzzello@grouptravelfamily.com.
