Speak up: Selecting the right keynote speaker for your meeting type

Different events require different types of keynote speakers. Yet with literally thousands of options at your fingertips, how do you know you’ve hit paydirt?

Toronto-based speaker Nina Spencer, author of Getting Passion Out of Your Profession, offers a couple tips on how to match the right speaker with the right type of event.

– First, identify your meeting’s theme. “Why are these attendees coming together? What are our objectives? What do we want these people to walk away with?” asks Spencer. Get clear about your meeting’s themes and objectives to help you narrow down your guest speaker search.

– What kind of guest presentation will work best for your event? Audiences enjoy events that are framed with universal topics, which help bring the energy together, or point the way ahead with enthusiasm.

– What type of speaker would work best for your needs? There’s a difference between a professional speaker and a celebrity speaker, a Canadian speaker and an American. Each brings their own “magic” to a conference, says Spencer. Ask yourself, what is our primary focus? Do we want this guest speaker to provide content or entertainment? Motivation and inspiration? Some of these points or all of them?”

– Make a list of the personality and character traits you would like your speaker to demonstrate. Forthright and brass tax? Humorous? Content heavy? Inspirational and motivational? Consider how the message will be portrayed and the type of event that is being hosted.

Courtesy of www.ninaspencer.com

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