A Comprehensive Guide To Picking A Motivational Keynote Speaker

By Frances Smith


A few things come to the mind of any conference participant upon receiving the invitation. They include the venue or setting, food, guests and social interactions with other participants. Food and venue are fairly straight forward. You have little control over social interactions. Meeting expectations on the motivational keynote speaker is one of the biggest challenges. How do you surmount it?

Conducting background research will help differentiate good speakers from amateurs and hyped imposters. Attending an event where the person is speaking will give you valuable fast hand experience. Where this is not possible, watch videos or follow the person through the media. The issues to look for are audience engagement, mastery of content, delivery style and general presentation skills. Your decision will be based on hard evidence.

Good speakers involve their hosts in preparation of their speeches. This will ensure inclusion of vital information about the participants and organization. Understanding them and sticking to the theme keeps the participants engaged. This calls for a guest who is ready to research thoroughly and pick relevant examples and words that the audience can relate to. This is a way of assimilating to the lives of participants thus generating a feeling of comfort.

It helps to have a person who commits substantial time to your gathering. This means readiness to engage and interact with participants before and after his presentation. It shows disinterest and pure commercial interest to pop in a few minutes before you hit the podium and then out immediately you are done. It is necessary to build up to the presentation and later engage on one-on-one basis afterwards. These personal encounters leave an impression in the minds of participants.

Consider a referral from other organizations that have held similar functions. Peers recommend speakers who delivered to their expectations. Further more, some speakers can perform well for one audience and not the other. With a referral, your target guest is already tested. This enables you to know details that are impossible to get from the media or their publicity pamphlets.

Valuable speakers agree to co-promote events they are participating in. This taps into their fame or networks ensuring that you get the publicity you need to host a successful conference. It works best for new events or where you do not have a definite list of participants. People who admire the guest will be ready to attend because of his presence. Negotiate such details when signing a contract.

Some speakers carry wares to conferences for promotion purposes. Clarify such issues to ensure that your event or wares are not overshadowed. While it offers a memorable takeaway to participants, it risks altering your theme. You must own the event instead of the speaker.

Prominent speakers are risky because their style or message easily overshadows yours. Some people could have encountered them in other forums. The impact in such a scenario might not be as intended. Guest who are proactive to understand the audience, their journey, mission and vision will produce better results.




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