How To Pick a Great Speaker For Your Next Meeting

What sounds do you hear most often from the audience when you’ve hired a speaker?  Applause ---laughter --- or snoring?

After the event , will you find a letter on your desk from senior management thanking you for a fantastic meeting – or a memo from HR about the dozen or so policies your speaker violated with his inappropriate remarks?

Whether your meeting is purely smooth sailing – or the voyage of the Titanic – depends largely on how you select (and prepare for) your speaker.

Here’s a list of the 12 most common mistakes meeting planners make – and how to avoid them -- to make certain you don’t hit any icebergs along the way:

12 Mistakes Meeting Planners Make:

1.  You hire a famous person without watching their tape.

There are many celebrities who are hilarious on a sitcom – but dull in person.  There are athletes who are amazing to watch in their sport -- but lifeless at a podium.  And there are authors who are incredible writers, but put them in front of an audience – and they’ll be begging for the Cliff Notes.  You might have loved their sitcom, book, or jump shot -- but be sure to watch a video of them speaking to make sure you also love them as a speaker.

2.  You forget to tell the speaker that the audience is very conservative. 

What’s acceptable in a Blue state might be embarrassing to a Red state.  Make sure your speaker understands the audience they are speaking to and maybe substitute, “Oh heck!”  for “Oh, hell!”

3. You don’t get references from other meeting planners. 

Don’t be fooled by a snappy sales pitch and a fancy demo video – after all, you’re not hiring their marketing manager.  Talk to someone that’s hired him or her before and find out if their marketing material matches their talent.

4. You give up on your ideal speaker because you’re just under budget. 

If you find a speaker you really like and can’t meet their price, see if you can turn one of your vendors into a sponsor to cover the difference.  Just make sure your vendors would make appropriate sponsors… you wouldn’t want your retirement meeting sponsored by a funeral home.

5. You go for the least expensive speaker to cut cost. 

An audience will not complain if their center piece is missing a couple roses, but if their speaker has a couple of screws loose – they won’t ever let you forget it. 

6.  You surprise your audience by not letting them know your speaker is a humorist. 

It might seem like a good idea to let them figure it out on their own, but it never is.  The audience needs to know that it’s now OK to relax, be entertained,  turn off their “work brain” and laugh.

7.  You don’t have a stage for your speaker. 

This seems obvious but occasionally an event planner will think that the speaker will warrant enough attention simply because they have the microphone.  Not true.  A stage will help the audience differentiate between the speaker and the waiters.

8. You have your main speaker going on while dinner is being served.   

You could have The President of the United States speaking at your event, but if he has to compete with a sirloin steak and a baked potato – he’s bound to lose.  Serve up the food, let them chat and digest – and when they’re full and happy – bring in the speaker.

9. You forget to check on the basics.

Good lighting, a reliable audio system, and working audio-visual equipment are vital for a successful presentation -- but many meeting planners fail to make certain these essentials are in place and working as they should.  A speaker might have a wonderful message --- but if they’re shouting over the microphone feedback from a dimly lit stage, the only message the audience will hear is, “Our meeting planner is an idiot!”

10. You choose the wrong venue

An enormous civic center with 100-foot high ceilings is great for a basketball game or a tractor pull (after all, those exhaust fumes have to go somewhere).  Unfortunately, the Grand Canyon echo acoustics are terrible for speakers.  Try really putting some thought into what is an appropriate venue.  Make sure the acoustics, seating, stage height and size, and amount of space match up with your (and your speaker’s) needs.

11  You introduce the speaker to an audience who’s still standing and talking.

Don’t just assume people will settle down when the speaker starts.  Do things to make sure everyone is seated – and quiet – before your speaker hits the platform.  An announcement like, “If everyone will sit down, we’ll announce the winner of the $10,000 door prize,” will probably do the trick.

12.  You fail to follow up with the speaker

Many meeting planners think they are through dealing with a speaker after the presentation is over, and so they miss out on a great opportunity.  The speaker you just hired is an expert, who now also has the benefit of hindsight as to how to make a speech for your group run as smoothly as possible.  Why not follow up to get as many tips as possible to make sure your next event runs even better than the one you just held?!

As you hold more meetings, and talk to other event planners, you’ll no doubt have more items to add to this list (i.e. – have an emergency plan in case your speaker gets laryngitis!)  – but these are the basics.  Follow these simple rules -- and you’re well on your way to a successful event.

Judy Carter is a motivational-humorist who does Customized Corporate Comedy and is the author of “The Comedy Bible,” which was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, and Larry King Live.