At professional conferences, speakers are responsible for delivering informative and entertaining presentations. As a result, they often make or break an event.
“When retaining speakers to present at their conference or convention, meeting planners must tread very carefully,” said professional speaker Jeff Davidson on the Plan Your Meetings blog. “Picking the wrong speaker for an event can have disastrous consequences.”
What are meeting planners looking for in the right speaker? For starters, a veteran who has presented to dozens, or even hundreds, of groups—someone who knows how to present with impact, Davidson said. Beyond that, someone who can tailor a presentation for a specific audience.
In addition, planners want speakers who can engage with that audience by asking questions, posing dilemmas, and encouraging participation. “Interaction can be a notable, even memorable factor for audience members, who have sat in front of one staid delivery after another,” Davidson said.
An effective speaker is also succinct, Davidson added. Event speakers should be able to stay on time and on topic, even when plans change.
“The seasoned speaker, on the fly, knows how to convert what was scheduled to be a 45-minute presentation into what now has to be a 32-minute presentation, and has the ability to do so without the audience knowing the difference,” Davidson said.
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