When hiring a speaker for your event, it is important to know your return on investment (ROI) to maximize the value of professional keynote speakers. When planning an event, there are many things a motivational speaker can assist with to add value to the event. Many speakers have unique ways they can engage audience members to attend the event and to offer value to engage attendees at the event. Take a look at some unique and interesting ways that many event planning teams are unaware of to create more value in working with the speaker to maximize your investment and create more impact for attendees.

DISCOVER THE SPEAKER’S FULL OFFERINGS AND WAYS THEY CAN ADD VALUE TO PROMOTE THE EVENT

As a first step, it is always great to ask the speaker if they have any insights or ideas on how to bring more attendees to the session or to engage the audience before, during or after the presentation. Professional speakers have attended a variety of events in Canada and will be able to share ideas other conferences or event planning teams have implemented to create a buzz about the event before or after it takes place.

PROMOTIONAL VIDEO INVITING GUESTS TO THE EVENT

Event promo videos are a terrific way for delegates to meet the speaker before the event to create excitement. Professional speakers will often include messaging from the organizing team about the event, location, and venue and incorporate the event theme into the content of the video. The audience members will learn a little about their keynote speaker and a teaser video can be posted on all social media channels and the event’s website so that participants can familiarize themselves with the guest keynote speaker.

CROSS-POSTING OR SHARING CONTENT TO PROMOTE THE EVENT

Speakers will often have a large following on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Once you hire the keynote speaker, requesting them to share a post or two or create a post which tags and references the event website or where to purchase tickets will attract more attendees to the conference or engage employees to the session. It is recommended to have the social media content creator to draft scripts for videos or to create the post for the speaker before sharing, so that it is simple for the speaker to post it to their followers.

DOES THE SPEAKER HAVE A CANADIAN BEST-SELLING BOOK THAT PARTICIPANTS CAN BENEFIT FROM READING?

Many motivational speakers have International best sellers or have become Canadian bestselling authors. The speaker will often want the opportunity to sell books at the event or market them to participants with a discount code or online purchase. Especially if the speaking topic is addressed in their book, coordinating a bulk order purchase is an excellent way to engage audience members to who the speaker is and what they speak about before the event or can be utilized in a gift bag or as door prizes at or after the engagement. Speakers can usually include 3-10 free books when booked as the keynote speaker, and it is common for any participant that reads the book to internalize and implement learning outcomes from the speakers presentation and the book.

DOES THE SPEAKER OFFER ONLINE TRAINING?

Many keynotes speakers & workshop speakers are experts in researching and delivering practical solutions through online training platforms. In developing their online training, they have the audience in mind and will often focus the content to build off their motivational presentations. Just like with a speaker’s book, it is widespread practice for speakers with online training to offer bulk order discounts or compensate 3-10 free access to their online training for door prizes at each event, and any participant that takes the online training will experience a higher understanding of the topics to build their skillsets within the organization.

CAN I REQUEST THE SPEAKER TO ATTEND A MEET & GREET SESSIONS WITH ATTENDEES AFTER THE PRESENTATION?

Especially if you are working with a motivational celebrity speaker or a popular keynote speaker in Canada, it is common for participants to want to meet and greet with the speaker after their presentation. Make sure you have someone to assist with the line and to keep it moving to support the speaker at this session and inform the audience members to have their cameras ready to take a photo with the speaker. If a speaker has a book or if you auction off any memorabilia, you can also include an autograph session at the meet & greet session.

FACILITATED Q&A BREAKOUT SESSIONS VS STANDARD Q&A

We have all participated in a standard Q&A session after the presentation with the speaker. They can sometimes take some time for audience members to engage with and ask questions depending on the speaker. Our virtual keynote speakers were able to guide our bureau with some innovative presentation formats which are also applicable to in person events. One of the ideas that is successful is to have the motivational keynote speaker deliver a powerful presentation, and to directly break into a Q&A format, have the speaker attend a 20–30-minute interactive, intimate and informative Question & Answer with a host or moderator.

This presentation format enables all event contributors and the organizations decision makers to include important questions they hope for the speaker to address for the audience which can build off the content of the presentation or speak to what the leaders hope for the attendees to achieve at the event. Decision makers, leadership teams & departments heads can also request the speaker if they have any questions that participants may be too timid to ask or that are specific to expand the learning outcomes from the keynote presentation.

ASK THE SPEAKER HOW MUCH THEY CHARGE FOR AN ADDITIONAL SESSION AT THE EVENT? CAN THE SPEAKER DELIVER A KEYNOTE FOLLOWED BY A WORKSHOP/BREAKOUT SESSION? CAN THEY PARTICIPATE IN A PANEL AFTER THEIR KEYNOTE PRESENTATION?

Motivational Speakers will often charge a small portion of the speaker fee for an additional session at each event. Most of the costs associated with hiring a speaker is determined on how much research and preparation time they spend to align the content of the presentation for the audience. If a speaker facilitates and additional breakout session on the same topic, a workshop on a separate topic, or an executive leadership round table discussion, adding an additional session for a small fee is one of the best ways to learn and implement strategy offered by the speaker.

Brining a professional speaker in can be costly, but since you have already paid for their travel and the speaker fee, additional sessions by the same speaker creates the highest value return for organizations and the attendees. Once you have hired a keynote speaker, since they will already be researching the topic themes that will resonate with the audience, having the speaker deliver an additional session fills the program and often leads to a higher engagement, gives the opportunity for the speaker to expand on what they discussed in the keynote presentation and enables the audience members to interact with the speaker for an extended period of time. Participants can ask questions based on their everyday experiences at work, which brings higher engagement and accelerates their ability to implement the strategies and insights shared by the speaker.

CAN THE SPEAKER STAY FOR A RECEPTION OR ATTEND OTHER SESSION IN THE PROGRAM?

Asking the speaker to attend a meal or reception or to attend other sessions at the event before or after the presentation makes them available to leadership teams, event organizers, production companies and participants in their session. Since popular motivational keynote speakers often travel between events, this option is not always available however if the speaker is available, requesting the speaker to attend meals or to attend other sessions at the event brings will usually bring more interaction and engagement for the audience and give the opportunity for the speaker to have some one-on-one conversations. Another benefit is that the speaker will be able to analyze and take the programming, which they will often build into the content of their presentation.

CAN THE SPEAKER PROVIDE OR DELIVER A FOLLOW UP WEBINAR OR VIRTUAL PRESENTATION?

Some speakers may charge a small fee or provide a free interactive webinar or virtual presentation which can be utilized as a follow up session for attendees after the event. One of the advantages to this format is that the delegates and attendees who participated in the session can have the opportunity to implement the insights learned from the speaker and ask questions regarding the challenges they face related to the topic. Professional speakers will establish a connection with the audience and follow up webinar presentations usually run more smoothly than a virtual keynote presentation since the participants already know the speaker and are engaged to the learning.