One of the best ways to get potential attendees to hit that “register now” button is by having an excellent choice of guest speakers. Here are a few tips to help choose your next guest speakers for your event, and how we can assist you in this process.
1. Determine the needs and wants of your audience
A simple and easy way to do this would be to setup a box on your registration site to ask them what topics attendees are interested in. Or if the event has been hosted in the past, review the feedback from attendees who filled out the post-event survey to help guide you.
If you are unable to have your guests provide feedback directly, research trending topics within your industry to give you a starting point.
2. Ensure they are both content driven and engaging
Now that you have determined the type of content to provide based on your audience’s needs and wants, ensure that the content is going to be presented in a way that keeps their attention.
If your speaker is not engaging, the audience is more likely to tune them out even if the content is there. The most memorable sessions are the ones where the speaker made them feel engaged.
3. Meet the speaker before selecting them
Speaking with the person you are considering as your speaker (in person or virtually) is a great opportunity for you both.
You can explain the conference and convey your guests’ needs and wants. This will give the potential speaker an opportunity to explain how they could tailor their content to your audience.
It is a win, win, win, because you find a great speaker, the speaker books another engagement, and your guests will be treated to a lecture that truly meets or even exceeds their expectations.
4. Watch videos of past talks they have given
Even if the content in past videos is not what you are planning to share at your conference, these videos will give you the opportunity to see how the speaker delivers a speech. You will be able to determine if they are engaging and keep the audience’s attention, which is especially important during virtual events.
5. Use a survey following the event
While this one may not help you choose your speaker for this conference, it will certainly help you when planning for the years after. Since you are tailoring your choice to your audience’s needs and wants, who better to ask what they want to see than the audience itself?
Send a brief survey a day or two after your event to thank people for attending and ask them to rate the different sessions delivered. Provide a feedback section requesting future topics.
6. Choose a Conference Coordinator that can work with your speakers directly
We pride ourselves in assisting our clients in every step of the way when booking with us. Often guest speakers have specific requirements in order to deliver their content, such as AV requirements, stage settings, and screen share capabilities.
We can work directly with your guest speakers to ensure they have what they need and do a test run through the virtual platform or in-person with the equipment when it’s safe to do so.
Let us pair you with the perfect Coordinator for your needs today!
For more tips from our Brock University Conference and Events team email conference@brocku.ca
Happy Planning!