Furthermore, you want the attendees to leave with a long-lasting favourable impression of your business. In turn, they will remember your company's name and will be more likely to attend future events. You might even win over new clients and customers, which is crucial for achieving success in the business world. One of the most critical components of any event is the take-away message that the audience brings home. Hiring an experienced, professional guest speaker will help you do just that.
A good speaker provides many benefits. The right person, in essence, functions as the icing on the cake of your company's conference. He knows how to reach, engage, and entertain the audience effectively to create a memorable, informative and enjoyable experience. Keynote speakers often specialise in one area of speechmaking and have perfected their skills to connect with their audience members effectively. Furthermore, while hiring a professional to make the signature speech does cost money, it saves you or your employees the stress and nervousness of delivering the keynote speech yourself.
When you are searching for the right speaker for your event, you will have to do a bit of research and brainstorming to narrow down your pool of potential candidates. Asking friends and corporate allies for personal recommendations is a good place to start, as they are most likely going to give you reliable and honest advice and suggestions.
In addition to finding a person with a good reputation, you will need to play a little matching game. Consider what the primary purpose of your conference is and what the emotional atmosphere will be. If your goal is to entertain your audience members, hire a spokesman who specialises in delivering comedic performances. Likewise, if your conference is designed to persuade a group of high-level industry leaders and CEOs, you will want to find a speaker with expertise in your topic area. If your conference is intended to motivate and inspire your audience members, select a keynote speaker who has experience in delivering motivating and compelling performances.
You should also consider demographics. Will your audience consist primarily of men or women? Will attendees be newly hired, entry-level employees or CEOs and presidents? Taking the average age of your audience members into consideration is another key decision-making factor, as is the depth of your company's relationship with them.
Once you have determined what qualities you want in a spokesman, and have an idea of what your ideal match will be, it is time to start looking for candidates. Some spokesmen are self-employed, while others are members of agencies and organisations. If you have a personal recommendation for a speaker or know exactly what kind of person you are looking for, you may want to choose someone who works for himself. However, most organisations choose to consult a speaker bureau.
Large agencies typically employ larger numbers of speakers. They often have spokesmen who specialise in different kinds of speeches, such as motivational, entertaining, and educational. Additionally, many bureaus solicit feedback from clients following speaking engagements. They use that information to perform routine quality checks on their speakers to ensure they maintain a high level of professionalism and quality. Speaker bureaux, just like your own company, want others to look favourably upon them, and hold their spokesmen to high standards.
On a practical note, hiring a spokesman from an agency gives you some protection against last-minute surprises and cancellations. If you recruit a speechmaker from a bureau, you are more likely to quickly find a back-up or replacement keynote speaker in the event of an emergency. Finally, another benefit, particularly for small organisations or those with tight budgets, is that spokesmen employed through agencies and bureaux generally charge less per hour or event than those who are self-employed.
If you have a large corporate event looming on the horizon, you are probably putting quite a bit of time and effort into planning and preparing for the big day to make sure it goes as smoothly and effortlessly as possible. A high-quality, well-matched speaker can have a powerful and transformative effect on your audience. He can make the difference between a conference the audience would rather forget, or make it an experience that is unforgettable. If you are just beginning the search process, your best bet is to look for a spokesman from a reputable agency or bureau.
