We understand the challenge of creating an event that resonates with your audience. Beyond planning your event and staying organized, the event speaker is essential to creating a lasting impression of your message on attendees. At every event, you want your audience to react with speaker reviews such as:
“She was fun and exciting, energetic, enthusiastic and has great energy and very passionate.”
“Well prepared presentation, good and proper amount of analogies/real-life experiences. Strong voice inflections, kept me interested.”
“Samantha knocked it out of the park. Our attendees LOVED her. She is truly a gifted speaker. You can be sure we will be reaching out to her very soon regarding additional speaking opportunities.”
“We evaluate over 90-100 of the best speakers there are each year. Your content was exceptional and your slides were in the top 3% of any presentation I’ve seen in the last two years. Relevant, clean, crisp, easy to read, and professional. So impressed.”
We are proud to have Samantha Toth, ABOC as our Marketing Rockstar and primary speaker. We don’t hide it! It takes a lot of passion and inspiration to be a good speaker, and Samantha has it!
Researching & Finding An Event Speaker
Before you research, answer these questions.
A lot of event planning has to happen before finding or researching a speaker. Before starting your speaker research and outreach, we recommend asking yourself these questions.
- When is the event? You should begin to find a speaker about 6-12 months before the event.
- Who is my audience?
- How big is this event?
- Is the event in-person, online or is it a hybrid format?
- Do you want a leadership speaker, a motivational speaker, a celebrity, or an industry expert?
- What personality are you looking for?
- Is there a specific tone are you trying to set for your audience?
- What message are you trying to convey?
- What’s your speaker budget? You’ll need to consider not only their honorarium but be able to cover their travel, too.
Then research and reach out!
Armed with an event outline, you are now ready to start your speaker research! We know from experience this is not an easy task. If you need help, our team can find and contract a speaker perfect for your brand and message. Ready to tackle research on your own? Here are our recommendations of where to look and what to do once you find an interested speaker.
- Review speakers’ LinkedIn profiles & join speaker groups
- Check online forums
- Look into other industry events & who they’re hiring
- Have a speaker in mind? Check out their website
- Watch speaker videos
- Take word-of-mouth recommendations from partners, vendors and clients
- Scout them in-person, when possible
- Interview them
Our pro tip: After doing some homework, keep a speaker library for future use, including the speaker’s contact information, website, video samples, survey results, and testimonials.
I found my speaker, now what?
Once you’ve found your perfect speaker, thoroughly review and sign a contract. Next, dive into all event details with your speaker so they know what to expect and what your expectations are. Having a conversation about the message, audience, and the event environment is helpful to make sure your speaker is as successful as they can be.
Collect Feedback
Finally, don’t forget to collect attendee feedback following your event to determine how successful your speaker was!
Researching speakers can be challenging and overwhelming, but we can take that responsibility off your shoulders. Reach out now and we’ll put you in touch with a 5-star rated speaker to knock it out of the park and engage your event audience.