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Although it was flattering to receive an invitation to speak on his specialist subject, David Johnson had never presented to a large audience before. He was nervous, not only about the reception his ideas would receive but also about his under-developed presentation skills. The invitation provided him with no help on either topic and asked only for a written version of the talk on disk in advance of the event.

Some seminars are simply a list of guest speakers following one another onto the stage to describe their experiences or to stimulate controversy with a new theory. Other events will invite a single guest speaker to add authority to the subject matter and to give the audience a change of face and a change of pace.

In order to get the best possible performance from your speakers, they need to be cosseted, spoiled and micro-managed. Those with a top reputation in their field will be expensive and in high demand so make your booking really far in advance; twelve months is not uncommon. You may get lucky with a late cancellation but don't put money on it!

Treat your speakers like the honored guests that they are. Take care of their travel arrangements, accommodation and rehearsal with enormous attention to detail. Brief them thoroughly about the event, listen carefully to their needs, act quickly and appropriately to solve problems and collect feedback from the audience specifically for them.

When using a series of speakers talking on a specific subject, it helps if the audience is not exposed to excessive repetition. Take care to produce a brief for each speaker that considers the subject from different angles and check that they are not straying too far from their given viewpoint as they develop their presentations.

To achieve maximum value from their presentations, especially where the event has scientific or technical merit, it is fairly customary to publish the proceedings of the event as a complete volume. However to acquire the narrative of a 30-minute talk may need one or two month's notice to your speakers followed by a series of regular reminders. Remember that they will almost all have a real job to do as well as preparing for your event.

Much better to video record the seminar and make the DVD available to delegates a week or two later.

The largest assumption and therefore the largest mistake that an event organizer can make is to presuppose that all speakers have highly developed presentation skills. Many theoretical experts do not have the flair to make a talk stimulating, however your event would lose the necessary balance if some opinions were unrepresented.

For David Johnson, his nervousness was eased greatly by the event organizers. They called him regularly to check progress and, through informal discussion, discovered his apprehension about speaking to a large audience. By recommending a voice and presentation coach who was able to improve his capability and confidence, the organizers guaranteed success not only for themselves, but for David too.

 

Copyright 2006 - MyBookingManager.com



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| Article Keywords: Professional Speaker

A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Professional Speaker... What Makes a Successful Speaker? Successful speakers do not necessarily do all the right things all the time. They often take risks and risk bombing. But all highly successful speakers take action, mostly daily, to move toward their goals with lots of course adjustments. They connect with their audience quickly; usually in the first sixty seconds. To connect is spiritual. It’s the core. They speak with E’s. They educate, entertain, and provide their audience with an interactive experience. They speak with influence, not control or to engender guilt. They know that with the privilege of the platform comes the awesome responsibility of motivating and influencing the audience to feel, think, and act differently. They get the audience involved through group exercises, role-playing and simple questions and answers. When people interact, they get it better and retain it longer. They give the audience the facts laced with a good dose of humor. Adults learn better when they are lightening up! Here’s the place for some magic tricks, handwriting analysis, or a song. They vary their tone of voice, smile often, and show passion for their subject matter. Their body language reflects their comments. They hold themselves accountable for excellence. They help each person in the audience be accountable and live up to his or her potential. They give audiences what they need, not just what they want. They are the speaker who motivates the audience to admire and respect them. They know they have succeeded when people say, I want to be like him or her. They are supportive of their audience. They believe in them. They say, I did that. And so can you. They stand and accept their applause. New! Do you want to learn how to give a compelling speech? ...