Selecting the right speaker for your right event is one of the most significant, yet daunting tools for creating a successful meeting. Your speaker can make or break the event. If he/she bombs, your reputation not only takes a rigorous nose-dive, but you even have the happiness of dealing with the salvo of complaints from a disappointed audience. In case if he/she does well, you could walk away with many of the accolades, complements, and of course, the ramble reviews. By now, you possibly realize that this huge responsibility should not be taken lightly.

Following are few guidelines that should help you keep your focus and also keep you away from “failures".

Program objective

Before you start searching for a right speaker, you need to know your program objectives. Begin with having end in mind. What is that you are looking to achieve? Is this your annual meeting, a training program, an incentive program, an award celebration or any other type of event? This would probably be a management decision, rather than you who would have to make. But you would have to make an intangible concept tangible.

Audience need

Along with your program objectives, it is important to consider the needs of your audience. Does your audience require industry or technical information? Will a good mixture of motivation and humor serve your audience’s purpose? Today’s audience is generally pertains to youngsters, who are more educated, more diverse, and more sophisticated than in the past. They want more information. They want to learn with fun, so consider the audience needs and exactly what they expect.

Reputation

With countless speaker available today for your business, how could you possibly decide which speaker would be best suit your needs? Many motivational speaker produce highly professional or glitzy marketing materials to assist your selling requirements. You should look deeper than just scanning a few brochures and ask few specific questions to find the right fit, such as what experience does they posses? How familiar is this speaker with the speaking industry? And, who else had used this person?

Outline

You can ask prospective keynote speaker for an outline of the presentation to confirm that they would be covering the material as you discussed. This would clearly say out what’s expected as verbal communication is subject to being misinterpreted. Seeing exactly what your speaker plan to cover in the sessions must help to make sure that the material is tailored to your specific needs. You need to look for the maximum opportunities with your speaker. Discuss various ways they could add extra value and be an important resource to assist improving your meeting success.