Keynote speakers are often selected to raise the interest and profile of an event or conference, and can help to increase attendance especially if they are well known for their expertise in a particular field. Speakers are also used in the industry to motivate, inspire and entertain delegates.
IMEX Group, organiser of IMEX America in Las Vegas in October, says its 2012 exit survey shows 31 per cent of hosted buyers attending the show specifically came to take part in the educational events, so sourcing speakers is an important part of the pre-show preparation.
“At both of our shows [US and Frankfurt] we’re always looking for change and variety,” says Knowledge and Events Director at IMEX Group, Dale Hudson. “It’s important not to repeat the programme in its entirety each year as participants come to the show specifically to seek out new education and new suppliers.”
Hudson says that when choosing a speaker relevance, topicality, interesting content, expertise and competency are the main criteria, as well as finding someone who is able, and willing, to prepare a session ahead of time. “Aside from being able to deliver an entertaining and insightful session, it’s important that the speakers we work with can be well-prepared in advance. It’s important for us to
work with speakers who know what they want to present, how they want to present it and also what the title of their presentation is going to be,” he says.
Hudson acknowledges this can sometimes be a challenge with many speakers so busy that pinning them down to some detail in advance can be tricky.
“In a busy world it’s always tempting to leave pre-show preparation to the last minute (for the speakers at least), but we are dependent on publishing education information on our website and particularly in print items, such as the show catalogue, well in advance, so we need detailed and confirmed information several months beforehand, which isn’t always easy to come by no matter how professional the speaker might be,” Hudson says.
The costs of speakers can vary greatly with Hudson citing the organisation, type of speaker and
the format of the education programme as key influencers on cost. “The most expensive speakers tend to be the higher profile keynote speakers who often command high fees, plus expenses,” he says. These speakers can offer a significant return on investment, however, if they pull in bigger crowds.
When dealing with speakers at its shows, IMEX puts aside a special room where they can rest up, review their notes and have a moment of calm before speaking, but “other than that we rely on goodwill and strong relationships, plus consistently good communication so that expectations are clear and well managed on both sides”, says Hudson.
Sourcing speakers
The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) has used famous speakers such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Funky Business author Kjell Nordstrom in the past, but CEO Martin Sirk says some of the great speakers aren’t necessarily famous among the general public.
“Our keynote ‘Copehnhagen-Denmark lecture’ always features a great speaker, even if they aren’t famous. We try to find a strong business-related angle for this slot in our programme rather than just a famous face with a motivational message,” he says.
ICCA builds its Congress programme from scratch each year, with a typical Congress three-day education programme involving over 100 speakers, panellists and moderators.
“We aim for a balance between experienced ICCA members, clients (mainly from the international association sector, but some corporate or governmental planners as well),
and ‘outside planners’, who in theory come from any business sector or academic background,” he says.
About 60-70 per cent of the speakers at the Congress come from within the ICCA membership, and 30-40 per cent from the clients and outside expert fields.
“While we try to select speakers with good presentation skills where possible, it is more important to us that the speakers have something genuinely new and interesting to say,” says Sirk. “With members in almost 90 countries it is vital that we bring in perspectives and experiences from beyond the native-English speaking countries, so wherever we hold the Congress you will find a good mix of speakers from Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Americas and Africa/Middle East,” he adds.
When sourcing speakers, ICCA obtains feedback and ideas from its members as well as undertaking a widespread reading of business and scientific journals. “We also draw on the local knowledge of the hosts of our Congress each year, and often their original bids will include suggestions for top level speakers we can invite, or locations we can use for our experiential ‘Outside the Box’ educational sessions, where we take up to 40 delegates offsite to hear a business or meetings related story in a local setting,” Sirk says.
At last year’s Congress in Puerto Rico, Bacardi gave a presentation on brand-building at its distillery, and in Leipzig in 2011 one group got to experience a live heart operation while hearing about how doctors are being educated in the new generation of teaching hospitals.
Like ICCA, the Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia (EEAA) sources the majority of its speakers from its own membership. These are professionals who lead best practice in their field of expertise. “They are not paid speakers but they have high levels of strategic thinking or achievements in the exhibition and events industry,” says General Manager, Joyce DiMascio.
“We also showcase young talent from within our member organisations, and this is a new trend designed to engage younger audiences and deepen the reach of our connection with our member organisations,” she adds.
Speaker topics
The most popular speaker topics are changeable, and Sirk says it is never easy to predict which subjects at the ICCA Congress will bring in the crowds. “Last year we ran a session on doing business in Russia or with Russians, which ended up as standing room only, but sometimes it’s the least popular sessions which achieve the highest delegate evaluations, so attendance is never the key criterion of success,” he says.
Hudson says popular topics with delegates at IMEX include leadership, which he says has been extremely popular for the last two years, and hybrid events. “Hybrid or ‘blended’ events and anything to do with technology-planning is still a big subject, be it how to plan and budget or which technologies are worth embracing or trialling,” he says.
EIBTM 2012 in Barcelona featured the first EIBTM Hybrid Conference which streamed keynote panel discussions and educational seminars for a full day. According to Tweet Reach #EIBTMHybrid reached over 26,800 accounts and had over 71,000 impressions.
Engagement
ICCA is actively working towards achieving a higher degree of interactivity and engagement from delegates during its congress.
“This can be difficult to achieve with sessions involving more than 120 delegates, so we are offering a range of simultaneous options throughout the programme, and we’ve reduced the number of plenary sessions considerably. Delegates typically rate those sessions which are genuinely interactive far higher than those where they are a passive audience,” says Sirk.
As well as allowing more interactivity Hudson says the growth of social media has transformed the way in which speakers can build their reputations, and platforms such as blogs, YouTube and Technology Entertainment and Design (TED), a global set of conferences, are new ways of finding speakers and also checking on the quality and fit of others.
What makes a good speaker?
According to international behaviour and communication expert, Jamie Smart, a speaker who has presence, clarity and connection will have all the skills needed to be able to
deliver a powerful speech.
“Presence, clarity and connection are the keys to connecting with an audience and delivering a memorable message. The good news is that everyone is born with these abilities,” he says.
Smart’s advice for speakers is to clear your mind of ‘junk thoughts’.
“Ask a confident speaker what they are thinking about on stage and the answer is always the same: ‘Nothing. My head is clear.’ The same is true in every field of high-performance, from the boardroom to the sports stadium. When you’ve got nothing on your mind, you’re free to give your best,” Smart adds.
Philip Hesketh’s advice for organisers working with speakers is to make sure they know their ABC. “Being memorable as a speaker for the right reasons rather than the wrong ones is actually very easy. Where A stands for Action, B stands for Benefit and C stands for Consequences,”
he says. According to Hesketh, speakers need to make sure presentations make clear what action they want the audience to take, what benefits there is for them taking it and what the positive consequences will be if they do.
“Conferences are too expensive in terms of man-hours and the organising costs to waste time with speakers who don’t know their ABC,” he says.
Another tip from Hesketh is to steer clear of Power Point to avoid the dreaded ‘death by Power Point’. “Power Point has become so ubiquitous at conferences that it has lost much of its sex appeal,” he says. “It may be easy to create, cost effective to produce and looks professional, but it’s all a bit predictable. And it can actually reduce the effectiveness of a presentation rather than enhance it.”
Getting the big speech right at a conference or event can make worthwhile all the sourcing
and putting together of speaker programmes. The results speak for themselves.
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Speaker view
Philip Hesketh, a professional speaker on the psychology of persuasion and influence, tells CMW about one of his more challenging speaker experiences:
“I was once hired to speak at a conference with the specific brief of ‘motivating the troops’; Nothing unusual there as I’m a professional speaker. A few well chosen and relevant anecdotes and hopefully leave everyone with some simple techniques and beliefs to do more and be better.
“I had been warned that the audience of a hundred or so senior managers would possibly be in the initial stages of comatose following a 90-minute death-by-PowerPoint session. But they failed to tell me the content of his presentation and the size of the task ahead. Here, in a précised form, is a summary of what they had been told:
“So, ladies and gentlemen, if you are going to remain with the company and be part of the buy-out it will cost you £10,000. There will be no more swanning around in Business Class Lounges and you can forget First-Class travel. And, remember, we may need to upscale our out-placement programme so stay on your toes. Now please welcome our motivational speaker, Philip Hesketh.”
“You can imagine the sight that greeted me. A hundred grown men and women with eyes wide open, jaws to the floor and ears firmly closed. I didn’t know whether to try to cheer them up or just go around with tissues. Normally it takes me 15 minutes to get tears running down an audience’s cheeks but the CEO had managed it in one devastating summary. One guy in the front row tried to throw himself under a passing tea trolley; he wasn’t killed but his suit was ruined. I can’t remember what I spoke about, and the point is, neither would they.
“If you are going to ‘upscale your out-placement programme’ among the people in the audience don’t have a speaker after that session because the audience will be in shock. Give them a cup of tea and a biscuit.”
This was first published in Issue 70 of CMW. Any comments? Email sarah@mashmedia.net
