“How to Find, Interview, Select, and Coordinate the Right Professional Speaker for your Event” - Part 2: Interviewing and Selecting the Speakers

“How to Find, Interview, Select, and Coordinate the Right Professional Speaker for your Event” - Part 2: Interviewing and Selecting the Speakers
By: Milo Shapiro

On successfully dealing with a professional speaker - Part 2 of 3 (970 Words)

By Milo Shapiro, CEO of IMPROVentures.com


In our last issue, we looked at how one might find good speakers for an event on the topic of your interest. In step (a), we covered the pros and cons of using a speakers bureau. You can find speakers yourself through the National Speakers Association (www.NSAspeaker.org), through speaker alliance groups (like www.SouthernCaliforniaSpeakers.com), or by just searching the net for keywords like "professional speaker", your topic, and perhaps your city of interest.

Once you have a few candidates on a list, it's time to interview for selection and coordination with your choice.

b) INTERVIEWING AND SELECTING A SPEAKER

Once you have looked at a few sites and think you have found either the right speaker or a short list of candidates, it's time to pick up the phone.

If you get their voicemail or a staff person, be sure to leave more than your contact information. Also leave:

* the city of the event. This can greatly affect our availability depending
where we are the day before and after. If it's a lesser known city, it's nice to hear facts like "That's about two hours north of Seattle" or "By the way, Evansville does have its own airport."

* the date of the event and the approximate time. I almost said no to a company because I'd already booked that morning and then found out their meeting wasn't until 7pm in the same city.

* the type of service you are looking for. Many speakers are also consultants, trainers, coaches, teambuilders, performers, etc. so if you just say "event", we don't know what we're calling you back about doing.

* your time zone. It's easy to forget which zone a middle state is in. And if you're calling from Arizona, with your own unique take on Daylight Savings, always include this! (No one can remember what time it is in Arizona.)

Supplied with this information, we'll be better prepared when we call you back and get right to the information you need.

Once you are live on the phone with a speaker, ask him to tell you a little about the program you are interested in. Though you are bound to have specific questions, some may be answered in his response and it's your chance to hear the energy and personality of the speaker as he describes what he does. This may be far more valuable in giving you a good or bad feeling than the answer to any questions. Demo tapes become dated as soon as they are produced; this phone call may be your best example of what you will get from this person on stage.

Once he has described the program and you are still interested in this speaker, here is a good checklist for a few of the questions you will probably want answers to, in order to determine if this person is a good fit or not. Some you may already know from their website.

Regarding the body of the speech and their qualifications, consider asking these questions:

1. Is this program purely lecture, a little bit participatory, or highly interactive? The answer may please or turn off your boss, depending on the group type.

2. What percentage is story versus data? (The more speakers I hear, the more convinced I am that stories hold interest stronger, convey a point better, and affect an audience far longer than data can)

3. How will this program be different from those this group has heard in the past (particularly helpful if you can find out beforehand who has been used or, at least, what topics have been done before).

4. What types of audiences do they find they are most effective with? This can be an interesting qualifier.

5. Is the person a member of the National Speakers Association? If not, why not?

You don't want to hear that they don't qualify yet, though! If they say they used to be, some people may have legitimate personal reasons for having left, but at least you'll know they once met the standards.

Regarding the speaker's specific needs in running the event, find out...

6. Will he be needing PowerPoint? If so, who will be providing the laptop and other AV? (Typically, the speaker provides the laptop and the client provides the A/V, but I like to request, if possible, that the client provide the laptop. That way, it can be set up before I arrive and my laptop becomes the emergency backup, which has paid off twice already).

7. Will handouts be involved? If so, as reference tools or will writing be involved?

8. Would a lavaliere microphone (the hands-free clip-on type) greatly enhance the performance or is a handheld sufficient?

9. Does the speaker expect or appreciate the ability to sell books, tapes, etc. at the back of the room afterward? While this is a courtesy that usually costs the clients nothing, some clients strongly object and this is something you'll want to clarify immediately if that's the case.

With these questions answered, you can feel more confident trusting your gut reaction to whether you liked this speaker's style enough to choose him or her...if the budget is a match.

While I recommend finding out a few things about the speech before getting
into price (in particular, numbers one through five above), it's worthwhile to discuss fee before delving into the specifics of the speaker's needs. That way, even if the price is not a match this time, you've shown the speaker the respect of finding out about his material, in case it's ever a fit in the future. At the same time, you haven't delved so deeply that you waste more of each of your time if the price is out of the question.

In the third and final section, we'll look at coordinating with the person you finally choose.