Pay attention to the following key elements to find the best business keynote speakers:
1. Start Planning Early
Start your planning process well in advance of your meeting date.
Locations should be secured at least one year in advance. Keynote speakers often get booked well in advance. You’ll find the most dynamic keynote speakers can be hard to book at short notice and the most popular speakers are not available even if you request them on a different date.
2. Have A Focus
Know your goal for having the event or meeting you are planning in the first place. Knowing what the goal is will help you zero-in on what speaking topics are the most relevant. This is where evaluations and surveys from previous events can be helpful.
3. Know Your Audience
The better you know your audience the more effective you will be in making the right choice when it comes to choosing keynote speakers and/or entertainment acts and program topics.
4. What Topic do you want the speaker to address?
Determine whether you want a motivational speaker, business keynote speaker, sales speaker or something different. Try to be specific. Is the topic you have chosen best suited to an opening or closing keynote, luncheon presentation or breakout session? You could also consider a keynote address with a breakout session offered to those participants who want to learn more about that particular subject.
5. Determine Your Speaker Budget
Are the speaker’s fees and travel expenses paid out of the same budget?
Finding speakers who are located in the same town where you are holding your meeting or corporate event can save you money. When speakers do not have to get on a plane to travel to a venue they often offer “local fees” and there are either no, or very low travel expenses.
Most professional keynote speakers not only want to give an effective, memorable presentation that has substance but they want to give value or can provide value-added services.
In order to keep a cap on associated travel expenses you can request an estimate of the travel expenses i.e. round trip airfare, ground transportation & per diem, then have these expenses written into the contract or come up with a total amount i.e. $1500.00 to cover all associated travel expenses. Note: The client always provides accommodation in the venue city.
6. Request Promotional Videos, DVD’s or Online Video Links
Viewing speaker videos will give you an idea of a speaker’s presentation style and delivery and help to determine whether they have a style that fits well with your audience and the tone of your meeting.
7. Ask for References
If you are interested in a keynote speaker who does not have a promotional video or can’t provide links to online video clips, ask for 3 or 4 references from clients they have spoken for in the past twelve months.
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