Event Preparation

What Planners Want from Speakers: Top 5 Requests

by Shawn · 3 comments

“People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.” — Samuel Johnson

Consider today’s message a reminder.

When I surveyed meeting planners a while back, I asked what speakers could do to impress them the most. I doubt you’ll be surprised by any of their top five requests, but I hope sharing this list will serve to affirm some things you’re already doing and perhaps remind you of some things that you should be doing more often (or better). Here we go:

  1. Know your audience and speak to them. By far, the top request from planners was for speakers to know their audiences and tailor their speeches accordingly (even if just slightly).
  2. Be friendly and cooperative. A smile, “please,” “no problem,” and “thank you” every now and then will go a long way.
  3. Don’t be prima donnas. Harsh words used by more than one planner. Even speakers with the best of intentions can become a bit self-absorbed at times, so be on alert for things that could be taken the wrong way.
  4. Be available for meet-and-greets and/or receptions. This allows the planner to deliver added value to their attendees, which brings kudos their way. And they’ll know they have you to thank.
  5. Call upon arrival at the hotel/venue. A planner’s greatest fear is that his/her speaker won’t show up. A simple phone call upon your arrival to say “I’m here safe and sound” will bring tremendous peace of mind to your client.

Now, here’s your chance to pat yourself on the back:

What have you done — or what do you routinely do — that gets the most praise from planners? Leave a comment below.

Tech Tools: WriteBoard for Client Collaboration

by Shawn · 0 comments

You want to “wow” your clients, right? How do you do it? With such an emphasis on ROI and lasting value these days, delivering customized content that is on-target with the event objectives is a good place to start. If you do everything else right but don’t deliver in those areas, you could be in trouble. As a case in point, I just had a speaker at a client event and he was very dynamic and funny — and highly recognizable — but he didn’t offer attendees any solid take-home value. As a result, he was outdone by a local no-name speaker whose presentation was packed with relevant material.

So, how do you make sure your presentation meets — and exceeds — client expectations? It’s all about communication leading up to the event. That’s where Writeboard comes in.

Writeboard is a nifty little tool that could hardly be more simple, but I believe it could be very valuable in your event preparation process. Think of it like a private message board, or, as you might guess from the name, an online whiteboard — between you, your client, and any other event stakeholders you’d like to invite to participate. You could post your questions or comments at your leisure, and your client could respond at his or her leisure — no need to play phone tag, and no need to keep track of dozens of emails back and forth.

Here’s what the home page of Writeboard.com looks like:

WriteBoard-Screenshot

All you need to do to get started is give your “Writeboard” a name, assign it a password, and enter your email address. You’ll then receive an email with a link to your Writeboard page, and from there, you can invite other participants. They’ll automatically be emailed the same link and the password so they can log in.

Once you and your client and any other participants are connected to your Writeboard page — you would have a unique page for each event if you opt to use it this way — then you can pose your questions and solicit input from the client. Maybe you would respond with some tidbits of content you’re thinking about using to make sure they’re on track.

It seems to me that this could create a very efficient, effective way to communicate with your clients to make sure you are completely on track with your presentation content.

Of course there are other ways a professional speaker could benefit from a tool like Writeboard, such as:

  • collaborating with a co-author on your next book
  • communicating with your web designer on some website enhancements
  • engaging with your office staff on a particular project while you’re traveling
  • or…

Writeboard is free, so if this sounds interesting, give it a try. Then come back and leave a comment and let us know if you found it useful.