Avoid the Duds: 10 Strategies for Selecting "The Perfect Speaker"Written by Susan Friedmann
Today, more than ever, success of meetings relies heavily on strength of program content and presentation. Nothing can spoil a meeting more than hiring wrong speaker. That’s because speakers do more than just convey overall meeting message. You look to them to provide insights, awareness, and cutting-edge information in an energetic, motivational, entertaining, and professional manner. What more could you ask for? Well, right speaker can emphasize an important message, offer inspiration, help people cope with new assignments, and lead way towards change. Selecting right speaker for your event is one of most important, yet daunting elements for creating a successful meeting. Your speaker can often make or break event. If he bombs, your reputation not only takes a severe nose-dive, but you also have pleasure of dealing with barrage of complaints from a disappointed audience. Yet, if he does well, you can walk away with many of accolades, compliments, and of course, rave reviews. By now, you probably realize that this massive responsibility is not to be taken lightly. Raise Your ExpectationsThe skill to selecting a great speaker is determining what combination of education, motivation, and entertainment best fits your function. Then set out to find a perfect match. But keep your expectations high, since nothing can spoil a meeting faster than booking wrong speaker. The following 10 guidelines should help you keep your focus and also keep you away from “duds.” 1. Know program objectives. Before you can start looking for right speaker, you must know program objectives. Begin with end in mind. What are you looking to achieve? Is this an annual meeting, a training program, an incentive get-together, an awards celebration, or another type of event? This will probably be a committee or management decision, rather than one you will have to make. But you may have to make an intangible concept tangible. 2. Understand audience’s needs. Along with program objectives, consider needs of your audience. Does your group need industry-specific or technical information? Will a mix of motivation and entertainment serve your group’s purpose? Today’s audiences are generally younger, more educated, more diverse, and more sophisticated than in past. They want content. They want to learn, but they also want it to be fun, so consider audience needs and exactly what they expect. Consider surveying your audience. Ask them what they want or what skills would most help them in their jobs. For example, sales people may ask for advanced selling skills, but managers may request teambuilding programs. 3. Check for reputation. With countless speakers out there vying for your business, how can you possibly determine which one best meets your needs? Many speakers produce highly professional or glitzy marketing materials to help sell their services. You must look deeper than simply scanning a few brochures and ask pointed questions to find right fit, such as What experience does this speaker have? How familiar is this speaker with this industry? and, Who else has used this person? 4. “Test drive” your prospects. If you don’t have opportunity to preview a speaker in person, then next best thing is to request a video or audio recording of a previous presentation. A session that was recorded before a live audience gives you a better sense of a person’s real ability. Watch or listen carefully to how speaker builds rapport and interacts with audience. Ask yourself if this person would be right for your group. Is combination of education, motivation, and entertainment appropriate for your needs? Does speaker have a message that is appropriate, timely, and relevant to theme or purpose of your event? Does it conform to your company’s philosophy and policy? Do you feel speaker is genuine and has expertise to deliver a solid presentation? 5. Don’t be star-struck. If you are considering celebrity speakers, make sure they can speak! TV personalities do a great job on air, but sometimes have little public speaking expertise, and you should be aware that skills needed for being on TV and for speaking live are very different. However, many well-known personalities make excellent speakers and can add enormous value and clout to your event. Politicians and sports, media, or entertainment celebrities often share life experiences, offer advice, or have an inspirational message to impart. 6. Be wary of grandiose claims. Speakers who claim to be all things to all people are probably desperate for work. Avoid them. True professional speakers, on other hand, usually have certain areas or topics of expertise. They would much rather refer potential business to a true expert than jeopardize their reputation by trying to do a program outside of their knowledge zone. Also, beware of charismatic and fluffy speaker as your audience wants good, solid take-away value. 7. Provide and ask for good information. Reputable speakers want to find out as much as possible about meeting objectives, audience, industry challenges, and so on in order to tailor their presentation to group. Share information on your organization and audience to help speaker design a program to fit your specific needs. provide them with newsletters, catalogs, or any other publications that highlight industry trends, key people, industry jargon or buzz words, and insider news and views.
| | Test Your Professional BehaviorWritten by Gerri D Smith
TEST YOUR PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR by Gerri D Smith Copyright 2004 Word Count - 821“Professionalism is a skill that must be practiced to be mastered; it does not need to be explained to yourself or others – it just is.” It’s natural not to be understood all time, and it’s natural for you to not understand others all time. When you set yourself up to understand everything that’s said or done to you, most of time you will be disappointed. There isn’t any way you can accurately predict and interpret another person’s words, feelings and emotions, or their deepest thoughts, simply because no two people think alike. Learn to overlook some things that you don’t fully understand. For instance, when you interact with someone whose attitude or behavior is irritating to you, learn to ignore behavior. If action toward you is not harmful, then ignore it. Then you won’t become a victim of unpleasant behavior. Or, if you choose to, and can handle conflict, you can seek an explanation from person whose behavior is distasteful to you. Also, you can test your professionalism when placed in an unpleasant or an offensive situation by either walking away or, quietly commanding yourself to smile. This deflects hurt, and erases need to feel that you’ve been treated unfairly. This is a good test to practice and master. In many business transactions, there may be times when you won’t approve of a customer’s behavior or language. Most of time, rude behavior has nothing to do with you. So, you can disregard it. Otherwise, you’ll see your emotional strings getting pulled every time. Observe your own behavior as you interact with others. Make certain you are not guilty of any of unprofessional habits listed below: * ARGUING – Disagreeing, quarrelling, or being in conflict with another. Arguments begin when there is a misunderstanding. Whenever your words or actions cause another to experience feelings of embarrassment or humiliation, or when you participate in an argument that leads to other person being treated unfairly, you are acting in an unprofessional manner. Arguments are not normal behaviors. They are self-defeating attitudes that may elevate your blood pressure and your stress level. Arguments tend to upset both participants. Instead of arguing, try to help and/or support other person’s view. Agree to disagree – you keep your opinion, and let other person keep theirs. * LYING – Being deceitful, dishonest, and insincere. How many people do you know who tell truth all of time and at all costs? Take a look at yourself, your associates, your family, and anyone you interact with – even your not-so-favorite people. In some situations, this unprofessional behavior may be very narrowly defined and may depend upon circumstances.
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