Top 10 Best Practice Tips for Hosting a Speaker

I’ve read many an article on becoming a public speaker, but I don’t recall reading one on how to host a public speaker. Having been a public speaker now for more than seven years, I feel like I’ve been treated both quite well and quite poorly. The kinds of things I would take for granted as common sense are often overlooked, many times because the event planner is harried or inexperienced, especially for small groups. I decided I’d share my own speaker’s perspective on how to do it right (and how it can go wrong).

1. Requesting the Speaking Engagement

If I’m not submitting myself to a speaker’s bureau or directly to a conference, the most common ways I receive requests to speak are by email or by phone. In that instance, I obviously want to know the basics:

• to whom will I be speaking
• on what date & where
• on what topic
• in what format (solo, panel, roundtable, hands-on workshop, other) & for what length of time
• how will I be compensated

Oftentimes I am asked to speak but the topic has not been defined or chosen for me – I’m just being asked to share my expertise and to develop the topic on my own. In this instance, it’s helpful for me to understand the intended audience as much as possible: who they are, what is their level of understanding for my subject matter, what would they like to get out of listening to me speak, what have previous successful speakers done in the past to engage this group, etc.

2. Compensating the Speaker

In my business, time is money so obviously, if I’m going to take time out of my day to both prepare a presentation, travel and speak to a group, I expect some level of compensation. As the speaker, I do not feel it should be my role to bring up compensation and instead much prefer when the person requesting my speaking services bring it up. Personally, I do both paid and unpaid speaking engagements at my discretion, and I base my decision on a number of factors:

• how great is the speaking opportunity to get myself in front of a large qualified audience of prospective buyers for my company’s services
• how high-profile is the event at which I’m speaking
• how much customized work needs to go into the presentation I’m being ask to give
• how far will I have to travel and how much time will I be out of the office
• how busy am I
• how many other speaking engagements have I previously committed to around that time

If I’m going to speak in an unpaid arrangement, at the very least the host should expect to pay for my travel, lodging and expenses.

3. Prepping the Speaker

After I commit to a speaking engagement, the host should do all s/he can to prepare me. This helps give me ammunition to create the best, most appropriate presentation for the group, but also can save me a lot of time and headache. For example, you can help by:

• describing/giving me a copy of the agenda as it relates to my speaking engagement
• telling me what type of timetable to expect, including by when you might need my presentation materials
• sharing the registration database
• reviewing the registration database with me to let me know what industry type the attendee is
• describing the set-up of the room in which I’ll be speaking
• asking for my A/V and other presentation needs or describe what will be available to me
  • knowing how the A/V system works before I am to speak (or having a A/V tech on hand instead)

4. Promoting the Speaker & Event

If you’ve gone through the trouble of booking me to speak, please promote my appearance and your event as heavily as possible. Nothing’s worse for a speaker, even a paid one, then to have a small crowd when you’ve prepared for a larger one.

In this day and age, online promotion of the event should be de rigueur (as should be online registration). Provide the speaker with the URL to his/her event so the speaker can help you promote the event as well. The Search Engine Strategies conference at which I spoke recently had a terrific idea, providing its speakers with a “Hear Me Speak” button graphic to use along with a unique anchor link to my appearance on their online conference agenda. I embedded the graphic in my email signature file and on visible places throughout my web site. You can still see it on my Speaking Engagements web page.

5. Coordinating the Speaker’s Travel Arrangements

Though many organizations leave booking travel arrangements up to the speaker, offering to simply reimburse him or her for their travel expenses, I find it’s far more courteous to take care of the arrangements for me or, at the very least, to offer me the services of a travel agent to do so. If you do not have a travel agent working with your event or organization, definitely make recommendations to the speaker about conveniently located, quality hotels.

Bottom line: I need to know logistics to plan as best as possible, the earlier the better.

6. Greeting the Speaker

The most gracious of hosts will offer to pick me up at the airport or train station or will make arrangements in advance for transportation to my destination. If I’m checking into the hotel on my own, having a small token or even just a note thanking me for coming out is always appreciated.

If I’m making an overnight trip, the best hosts will take me out to dinner with a small group. Kudos to the Business Marketing Association of Indianapolis, which welcomed me in great style and had their chapter’s executive board join me for dinner and lively conversation.

7. Introducing & Assisting the Speaker

If you have not already done so ahead of time in your event’s promotional materials, it’s good etiquette to have the speaker’s bio in printed format for event attendees. When introducing the speaker, rather than reading directly from the printed bio in front of the audience, it’s more interesting to pepper the intro with additional facts or trivia about the speaker. The best Masters of Ceremony have interviewed me or picked my brain ahead of time to get factoids for their introduction and have read my bio enough not to sound as if all they’re doing is reading off a teleprompter.

Use this pre-interview time to also review any props or assistance the speaker might require during her presentation. For example, collecting forms, signal time remaining, how to handle question and answer periods, etc. The more well-coordinated the parties are, the better the speaker’s session will flow.

8. Thanking the Speaker

Speakers are not greedy. We’re not looking for extravagant gifts or lavish praise. We do appreciate, however, being recognized for our time and effort, especially if speaking is not our full-time job. At the very least, you should verbally and publicly thank your speaker in front of the audience. Don’t let the Question & Answer period end and allow the speaker to simply walk off-stage. Reiterate the speaker’s contact information, especially if the speaker is not being compensated for the event.

The most gracious hosts usually honor their speaker with a small token of appreciation. If the speaker is from out of town and you are providing a small gift, however, keep their suitcase space in mind. Big plaques or bulky statuettes could be replaced by desktop items or gift cards. You can be extra courteous by sending your speaker a thank you email or note after the event.

9. Giving Speaker Feedback

Speakers really care about audience feedback. My best hosts share their evaluation form results with me. I find that input like how the content of my presentation met the attendees’ expectation and if it was above, below or just right for their knowledge level especially helpful. Without this kind of feedback, as a speaker I cannot improve. It’s also helpful to know what attendees liked best about my presentation so I can incorporate this content again into future presentations.

Other useful feedback to provide? How about a testimonial quote that I can use to secure future engagements? And if you plan to distribute my presentation to your group, if I’m not being compensated for the engagement, the least you can do is give me the contact information for those recipients as well.

10. Cancelling the Speaker’s Engagement

In the rare instance that you have to cancel your speaker’s engagement last minute, the proper thing to do is to swiftly reimburse her for event-related expenses already incurred. For uncompensated speakers, it’s a good idea to establish a drop-dead date by which you will cancel your speaker due to poor registration – or at least give her the choice. It’s actually best not to go forward with an event generating lackluster interest – it’s a waste of the speaker’s valuable time and oftentimes the audience is less stimulated by a weak turnout as well.
About Hollis Thomases

Hollis Thomases, president and founder of WebAdvantage.net has an extensive 18-year background in sales and marketing.

Ms. Thomases, a regarded expert and bi-weekly contributing columnist for top Internet marketing resource, ClickZ, is a dynamic speaker at conferences and training seminars. She uses a combination of hands-on knowledge, down-to-earth language and humor to capture the attention of her audience. Thomases’ speaking objective is for attendees to leave her presentation with the confidence to immediately put to use what they have learned.

Ms. Thomases is open to discussion with conference planners, event and association coordinators about appropriate topics for each speaking or training engagement. Below is a partial list of popular speaking topics. Please contact us for a customized proposal for your engagement at marketing@webadvantage.net or 410-942-0488.

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