Conferences and events – picking a business speaker

Choosing the right business speaker for an event or conference can be a daunting task, particularly when you are organising an event for hundreds, if not thousands of people. Picking the right business speaker can be the difference between an event being a disaster or massive success.

The audience and your business speaker need to match

It is of the utmost important that your business speaker matches your audience. A professional message and image is important to broadcast to a business audience. Thus the speaker needs to tailor their speech accordingly. Beneficial to both event organiser and audience, a targeted speech is vital for the success of an event. A sales team will find a sales speaker particularly useful. On the other hand, a sales speaker won’t have the same effect for a tech team.

Always keep your audience interested

Most audiences wont walk out half way through a speech out of politeness. They will sit and suffer if the speech is uninspiring. And at half time, they will probably walk out! Keeping an audience interested is vital. While they may nod their heads during a boring speech, are they taking in what is being said? If you are trying to motivate tired staff, or sell your product, keeping the audience’s concentration is particularly important. Keeping them interested with a good speech and good visual aids will keep their concentration levels up. A tricky one is audience participation. Ever been at a speech where you are terrified of being called on stage? However done in a proper way it will keep the audience on their toes, and ingaged in the speech.

Research your speaker

As above, a good keynote speaker will be worth their salt in that they will keep most audiences captivated. Different types of business speakers include those specialising in for example sales, or marketing. Complimenting their work, most speakers will have had an attempt at writing a book. Read it- what are they like? You may also wish to consider approaching a professional speakers agency Speakers Associates. Professional speakers agencies like Speakers Associates should be able to help further.

Profit from the message you broadcast

Business speakers are not at all cheap, so getting a return is very important. If you are training staff, or trying to get a message across, follow up with visual and written materials. Ask your staff what they have learnt from the event. Action plans, setting three points from the speech with deadlines will have a very positive effect on employees. Progress only will be made if deadlines are set. Follow upa nd call business if you used your event to sell. Always ask for honest feedback.

Look for feedback on your business speaker

It’s absolutely vital to compile feedback on your business speaker. You don’t want to repeat the same mistakes if you are putting on a series of events or conferences. Which sections of the speech came across well?  Which bits were boring or uninteresting? Posting anonymous surveys is likely to gain more honest feedback.