How to Choose the Right Guest Speaker for Your Next Event 

What is the value of a great guest speaker? Consider that the median views for a TED Talk are around 1.1 million online. Can you imagine the good that many eyeballs on your company or organization could mean? 

In this article, we go over some tips for choosing the right guest speaker the next time you host an event. Be sure to implement some of these to get the most value for your time.

Know Your Audience

The first step to choosing the right keynote speaker has nothing to do with the speaker. It entails knowing your audience. Are you needing a personality to entertain your customers or motivate your employees?

The audience’s specific needs will set you on the right path to finding the appropriate speaker. Once you know them, you have a better idea of the type of speaker to reach them.

Determine Purpose

A business will likely have a specific reason for wanting to draw an audience to that next event. Is it to bring awareness to a new product or service? Maybe they’re having issues with employee retention?

Purpose can influence where you look for a guest speaker. For instance, when you learn more on engagement speakers, you’ll see that they tend to serve businesses or organizations that are looking to energize (or re-energize) employees. The perfect speaker could be an industry leader or a celebrity that most people in your industry can relate to somehow. 

Pick More Than One Option

Planning a corporate event can be a real challenge when you have people traveling from different areas to engage with your organization. You don’t want its success to hinge on one person without exploring every option.

What if they’re unavailable or out of your budget range? Culling from a number of potential speakers will get you the best value and assurance.

Check Reviews and References

A truly effective motivational speaker has likely proven themselves on more than one occasion. Follow their trail.

To do so, you’ll want to speak with individuals or groups that have hired them before. How did they like the experience? What was the reaction of employees or customers afterward?

These are just a few things you’ll want to know. You can also check reviews from other business owners and see what they’re saying about potential candidates.

Dig Deeper

Watch uploads on YouTube or other websites. Don’t just seek out any appearance of the speaker either. See if you can watch something that’s almost akin to what you will be expecting from them for your audience.

After you’ve done your homework, see about arranging some time to speak to them. This is how to book a guest speaker 101. Make that connection so you both have a clear understanding of the content that will hold the most value.

Do Not Wait

Corporate event planning is very structured, but so are the schedules and the availabilities of the people you’re considering. (That’s at least the case if they’re worth hiring.)

You can’t afford to wait until the last minute. Otherwise, you’ll end up missing a great opportunity and having to settle for speakers you’re not as enthused about.

The Right Guest Speaker Can Create an Event Worth Remembering

An experienced and appropriate guest speaker for your next event can have reverberations that go beyond the 30-90 minutes they speak. They can reenergize your employees or excite an entire market about your products and services.

Choose wisely, and best of luck! For more corporate marketing tips and advice, check out some of our additional posts.