I share my art and words with dozens of organizations each year as a professional speaker. I help meeting planners make their events, one everyone will remember. I have had the honor of working alongside some of the top event planners in the nation, as well as some big names in the speaking and entertainment industry. I know first hand how important it is to make a good decision when booking a speaker.
I believe there are some key areas to focus on, and important questions to ask when booking a speaker:
Presentation
- Will the speaker customize the presentation? If so, to what degree, and how?
- Is the speaker entertaining as well as informative?
- How will the speaker’s presentation be unique from those we have had in the past?
- Is the speaker appropriate for our audience?
- Where in our program will the speaker be most effective? At the beginning? Before a meal?
Too often people greet one another with a hearty, “How are you?” without any genuine concern, and when the recipient begins to inform them of exactly how they are doing, the greeter tunes them out. We have a sort of linguistic apathy or sterilization that takes place in our society. Our language undervalues the meaning of certain words and phrases over time.
