Speaking with Event Planners and Conferencing Planners almost daily is a pleasure.
To help you get the most out of your next event, I’ve compiled a list of some of the top marketing speakers.
Many speakers suggested to event organizers how they could improve events for speakers. The speakers also shared feedback on their favorite marketing events, gave tips to aspiring speakers, and offered advice to event sponsors.
I am honored and passionate about speaking at events. I want to encourage conference attendees to look at their challenges differently. They can also take home tips that they can use when they return to work.
The article offers tips from the best speakers on how to make your next event a success.
My top tips for event planners: If you hire me to speak at your event, I will do my best to make it an excellent experience for you and the audience. I’m willing to make a promotional video for the event. A Q&A on your blog regarding my topic. A “live” video of my post-speech promo for your next event or day. Books and signing of books. And more. So ask me how I can help you!
Some of the most common tips that speakers have shared include:
- Add music wherever you can to keep the energy high and the place rocking
- Better Speaker Introductions, Session descriptions
- Do not ask for your speaker’s slides far enough in advance
- Avoid forcing templates onto your speakers
- We need to know the theme of the conference so we can tailor our talk
- The best A/V people, better lighting, and confidence monitors
- More. . .
30 Ideas For Event Organisers To Rock Your Next Event
Douglas Burdett Do not “wing” your introduction. Create an accurate/factual one or read mine (or allow me to introduce myself).
Jay Acunzo: Make speaker introductions more lively and energetic! If you listened to the intros, you’d think the event organizers or their volunteers could have engaged more with the speaker. Start by ditching the list of previous accomplishments and customizing a speaker’s bio according to your audience, just as you would ask speakers to customize their message. The tech vendor’s event manager spoke to me for 60 seconds and then told her what she thought of me as a person, which article I wrote that resonated with both her and others in the room and my main message. She said, “Oh yeah, he worked at Google and HubSpot and in venture capitalism.” The audience became more engaged because they were interested in what THEY would get from the talk rather than what I had listed on LinkedIn.
Doug Kessler In general, I felt well taken care of. It was traumatizing to speak in an ample, almost empty space. (I wrote about it here “every speaker’s worst nightmare”). The event app still needed to include my session on the schedule. It happens.
A thing to note: I attended a marketing event where the only two speakers who spoke about content marketing shared the same slot. Joe Pulizzi and I (I kicked him in the**). (In my dreams). There are scheduling conflicts.
Also, I like seeing the next slide when I’m presenting — and even my notes. It’s a bad habit, but it can help you learn a new presentation. A confidence monitor that has this on it would be fantastic.
No GREEN M&Ms allowed in the speakers’ room! Dudes, for the love of god, READ THE RIDER. Sheesh.
Ardath Albee: I really enjoy having a confidence monitor on the stage to stay focused and attentive to my audience. One glance at the monitor reminds me which slide is next and what my audience behind me is looking at. Another thing to avoid is requesting presentation decks two months before the event. I am usually working on another presentation deck at that time. I’m always looking to offer the most current, freshest session possible.
Samantha Stone: I am so glad you asked. In most cases, we must find out what others present at a conference. This can be a big challenge when preparing for a presentation. Knowing the main messages of the event in advance is extremely useful. As speakers, we can reinforce these messages by providing how-to tips, case studies, or other perspectives, which may be helpful to participants in their quest to implement new ideas into their businesses.
Melissa Breker Event organizers: Let speakers know more about their audience. Share your research about the audience’s questions, desires or needs, or results of the previous event. This helps presenters better target their presentations and align them with what the audience wants to learn or be inspired about.
Kerry O’Shea Gorgone: Select good speakers and then trust us to deliver. You can request slide decks in advance, but I will make changes until the last minute. I like to provide a plan for my presentation, including the desired action/main point, key insights, and data points for each. So they can see that I have prepared. So there is no versioning issue with my slides.
Robert Rose The first tip is to pay attention to lighting, sound, and the room’s setup. You should KNOW the lighting in hotel meeting rooms could be better if you plan an event there. These fluorescents will damage the screens when you are presenting. Set up the room with a good sound system, and invest in good lighting. Twenty-five people filling a space that can hold 50 people makes it look empty. A room that can hold 25 people is packed with 30. Move them up close. It’s not good to have a gap of 30 feet between you and your front row.