Engaging Speakers Who Resonate With The Community

🎤 How to Match the Right Speaker with the Right Audience One of the biggest challenges event planners face is finding a speaker who delivers great content and connects with the audience. So, how do you make the perfect match? Here’s a quick guide to help: 1️⃣ Understand Your Audience – Who’s in the room? Are they corporate professionals, entrepreneurs, or students? Knowing their background helps in choosing a speaker with the right tone and message. 2️⃣ Define the Event’s Purpose – Is the goal to inspire, educate, or entertain? A speaker’s style and delivery should align with the event's goals to maximize impact. 3️⃣ Evaluate Speaking Style – Some speakers are motivational, while others are more informational. The energy a speaker brings needs to resonate with your audience's preferences and event atmosphere. 4️⃣ Review Their Past Performances – Watch clips of previous talks to see how they engage different types of audiences. Are they interactive? Humorous? Do they adapt to different crowd sizes? 5️⃣ Check Alignment with Your Theme – A speaker should complement the theme of your event, not clash with it. Make sure their message supports the overarching goals of your conference or gathering. 🔑 The right speaker isn’t just about expertise—it’s about creating a connection that resonates long after the event. Need help making the perfect match? I’ve got you covered. #EventSuccess #MeetingPlanners  #EventManagement #Leadership

Last week I had a great call with an event organizer who shared some behind-the-scenes insights. Both the cringe-worthy missteps and the winning strategies that help speakers stand out 👇 🚫 Pet peeves: • Applying to speak, confirming, then backing out—or worse, asking to swap yourself for someone else on your team. • Recycling the same exact topic across multiple events (audiences notice!). ✅ What works: • Proposing multiple timely, relevant topics that align with the event’s focus. • Taking the time to talk with the organizer. Ask what topics they’re prioritizing this year. Find out how you can contribute to their event’s success and their audience’s experience. The human element makes all the difference. A genuine conversation not only helps you tailor your pitch but also builds trust—a must in any professional relationship. Thoughtful, personalized communication and positioning yourself as a resource versus merely being a taker goes a long way.

Except for some anecdotes, it's not the speakers to blame for boring sessions. It's the organizers who miss that: 📌 Speakers need a briefing on brain-friendly presentations. Let's not go overboard; not every 'standard' presentation is bad, even with the changed behaviors of recent years. And if you prep them about things like attention dynamics, inclusive slides, emotional involvement, language techniques and more - even a lecture style can be engaging. 📌 Content delivery should start long before the scheduled session, whatever its format. Ask your audience what they want to hear from a speaker, offer a 15-min Q&A online, do a podcast before or after. Plenty of ways to get creative and make it work better. 📌 Trying new ways is risky but is a must. Whether it's length or format, do it differently. Do it even if others are not sure. A colleague recently shared how they reduced the length of the sessions, and a lot of people were not happy about it BEFORE the event - but changed their minds when they experienced it. Are you in a similar situation and need a starting point or a convincing argument? Resources for #EventPsychology are out there for you. 📌 Giving a speaker more details, like MORE, about the audience is a surefire way to improve outcomes and content efficiency. I ask every time and rarely get an answer other than a vague description a-la 'it's event planners and marketers'/ 'it's IT folks' / 'It's medical professionals'. Really? Tell me what they talk about on their forums, what social causes they support, if they're local or international, what formats worked or didn't work for them in the past, what you want them to feel, and so on. The content will be much more likely to resonate then. Agree or disagree? What would you add here? #speakermanagement #contentdesign