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How Hiring a Speaker is a lot Like Ordering Products from a Late Night Infomercial!

Apr 27, 2016 | Articles, Life Lessons

Like most people, I’ve done my share of being amazed at how the solutions to life’s day problems are solved by middle-of-the-night infomercials. Having been a professional speaker for almost 14 years – I’ve often mused at how hiring a speaker is frightening similar to buying the cure to baldness in the form of a spray from some excited guy on the television. Let me explain. Below I have outlined some of the parallels and how to avoid getting burned if you do
in fact hire speakers.

Marketing is Better than the Actual Product

Have you ever bought a product where this was the case? It looked so good in the ad! People changed their lives by using this widget! In the speaking industry it is often said that good marketing will get you hired. However, it is a good program that will get you rehired and lead to repeat business. If you want to ensure that the speaker you are hiring is as good as or better than his or her marketing materials, ask for a list of repeat clients and follow up with them to see why they hired this speaker more than once. If a speaker can’t provide repeat clients, there is probably a really good reason why, there marketing material may be better than they are.

One Solutions Fits All Problems

I remember an infomercial from the 80s for a knife that bragged it could slice through tomatoes effortlessly, then it cut through a tin can. That’s a product that everyone needs! It probably didn’t do either one well – but it could do both! If a speaker ever suggests they are the perfect fit for your group without even asking about your group, approach with caution. Specialists will ask specific questions to learn about your group to provide top value. And the real professionals, will turn your business down if there isn’t a fit. He or she realizes that matching up with the wrong fit is bad for the speaker and the client.

Credibility and Fame

Just because someone is famous, it doesn’t mean that the produce they are selling is good. Do your homework. There are some great celebrity endorsed products and presenters. The best way to kill the energy on a program is give the microphone to a celebrity that doesn’t know how to control a crowd. If you are fortunate enough to have a speaker with a great draw that can’t hold the crowd, use them accordingly. Try having them do a welcome (10-15min), do some Q&A and then sign autographs. This will create the draw and still allow you to offer top programming. Whether they are selling you exercise equipment or leadership programming, use other peoples’ credibility to enhance your program, not bore your audience.

“It was the kind of experience which stays with you for a lifetime. I am still riding on the energy you have instilled in me since then.”

– Welsh Looky, Project Manager