Here are THE 10 Questions

Meeting Planners, Corporate Communication Directors and Marketing Managers are usually in charge of hiring the keynote speaker for an association or company address. And while I have been asked many interesting questions about my keynotes (including “Is it okay to leave the bar open?”), I thought a recent call with an group interested in hiring me was most unusual. They asked me three questions. That was it. And NONE of them were about the outcome or objectives of the keynote speech.

Now, I don’t fault them for this. Possibly, they’ve never been in the situation before. Many times the group hiring the keynote speaker is a committee for the event for the upcoming year. They may be volunteers or simply drew the short straw and thrown into the mix. HOWEVER, that mix will totally set the energy, engagement and memorability of that conference. Choosing your keynote speaker is a an important decision.

I didn’t want to take this post on my own, so I thought I might tap on the shoulders of my esteemed National Speaker Association colleagues for  additional insight.

If you’re planning your first conference or 50th, here are some questions you might find helpful to ask your motivational speaker or keynote speaker.

#10: What is your experience with our specific industry?

You probably wouldn’t hire a childhood education trainer to speak at scientific conference. Or a doctor to present at a quilters association. Make sure the speakers experience, message and passion are relevant with your audience members. Don’t expect a keynote to be an expert in your industry on all occasions, but expect them to take the time to learn about key factors that drive your business, your challenges and your industry.

#9: How does your message relate to what our industry or association is going through right now?

Again, knowing the trends, challenges and questions your audience is serving makes for a much more valuable keynote address. What information can you provide to them, to help them

#8: How will you engage my audience with real-time learning?

It is vital that the keynote address be something attendees can learn about and take back to their office today. Going out into the audience, bringing members on stage and even allowing them to text or tweet questions to the keynote can help draw them into the address. Talking heads with a power-point deck behind a lectern are certain to send your keynote into a never-be-remembered downward spiral.

#7: Can you send me a copy of your slide deck?

If the answer is no. That is OK! You may even pursue it a little further because some of the best presenters I know DON’T USE POWERPOINT. Or they use it like perfume; very sparingly. So, if the answer is yes, by all means examine and learn from it. Is Are they using the PowerPoint as the presentation or are THEY the presentation? As mentioned above, we’ve had enough bullet points, give us the real stuff.

#6: Are you going to customize materials to my audience?

If the answer is no, move on. Even minor tweaks in stories, phrases, jargon or acronyms will make a big difference to increase relevancy. To sustain your initiative and gain the ROI you want, keynotes need to be customized for your audience. Also keep in mind that most keynote speakers do have an expertise in their message.  Don’t expect them to write an entirely new program, unless willing to spend exponentially more for their services.

#5: What can you do to help me increase attendance?

I don’t get asked this very often, but I am always willing to help in ways that I can. It may be writing a guest blog post, create a sizzle video or helping the client with a social linking it to my YouTube channel (as an example). I listen and ask pertinent questions –  trying to understand what drives value for their attendees and how we can maximize that impact as part of the keynote.

#4: What was your worst and best keynote address and tell me what you learned from each experience?

Funny and awesome stories come to mind. From the highs of standing ovations and the CEO telling me he couldn’t stay for the presentation . . . then afterwards telling me. “I’m sorry, I just couldn’t leave. It was amazing – exactly what we needed.” On the flip side you have situations in which clients serve food during the keynote which is disastrous for everyone. Poor audio so no one can hear and even finding yourself in front of an entirely different audience demographic from which you were told.

#3: Can you describe yourself as a keynote speaker in one word?

#2: Are you willing to meet with some of our audience members before or after your keynote?

Willingness to go the extra mile and meet with a select group of VIPs for a more in depth discussion about the keynote address shows both flexibility and the ability to go deeper.

#1: When you finish the address, how do you anticipate the audience will think and feel about who they are, what they do and how they do it?

Hopefully words like: engaged, energized, inspired, purposeful or impactful may come to mind, as well as, the ability to take the message and use it their everyday life.

Many thanks to my fellow NSA colleagues who contributed to this piece: Jeff Nischwitz, Katherine Miracle, Lisa Ryan, Kordell Norton and Mark Zust.