If a question regarding the experience of a past event is raised, a majority of the event attendees would recollect some specific unique points of the event that they could relate to. Some of the points that they would remember would include the extravagance of the venue, quality of food and drinks served and the useful information that the keynote speakers deliver. Among these, the entity that makes the best impact is the keynote speaker and hence the job of choosing the best speaker lies in the hands of the event organizer.

How to select the best speaker?

• Inquire about their prior speaking experience

When you see a speaker perform live, you will be able to get a clearer view at all the nuances of the speaker and the response of the audience, and you will get the opportunity to watch both simultaneously as they interact with each other. The ability of a speaker to interact with the audience by reading their mind and by general telepathy gets the attendees glued to their seats and be more loyal towards attending your event from then onwards. Make sure the speaker is cognizant of the area of interest of the event and get to know his past experiences in delivering his knowledge about this field of interest.

• Evaluate his content

If a speaker renowned for his knowledge and ability to speak on topics related to archeology, it would be risible to invite him to speak at your event on computer science. Before the speaker delivers his lecture, make sure you evaluate his content. A germane content would grab more attendee attention and interest. Choose a speaker who is ready to share his content with you. This increases the reliability and confidence in yourself as an organizer and for the speaker when you have approved it because you liked the content.

• Choose the one who is ready to co-promote your event

For a new event or an event that has had a modicum of audience erstwhile, marketing becomes exacting for the organizer. This being the scenario, if your event keynote speaker is ready to help you promote your event along with you do not let him go. This is one avenue organizers often overlook. The speaker can also pitch in and market the event to their marketing list. Sometimes great speakers often have lists larger than the one on the organizer’s list. You may and if possible, you must try and negotiate this tactic into their contract, and may be later give incentives to market the event directly to their followers through a portion of any registrations that come from their side.

• Risks of high-profile speakers

High-priced, high-profile speakers or celebrities may easily be a huge attraction for attendees, and if you are well-equipped with monetary resources to afford them to speak at your event then it could be the best sell for your programme. But the paradox over here is that great price does not imply great quality. The usual qualms that pop up are: do the high profile speakers generate enough interest? Do they create enough satisfaction to cover their costs?

If the celebrity that you hire to speak at your event is not cognizant of the theme of your event then it is going to cost you attendees and obviously money that you spent on them. Concentrating on reasonably priced speakers who possess quality and the ability to connect to the masses will be a more deft approach.

Hence as a pre-requisite, perform extensive research on the speakers’ past experience, attend one or two of their speech sessions to know the quality of the information they impart to the audience. Ultimately you will retain your attendees and possibly get good reviews about the content delivered at your event through your speakers.