How To Hire A Texas Motivational Speaker

Here's a couple more tips to smooth your way when trying to hire a Texas motivational speaker.

Number 1: Is your prospective motivational speaker able to clearly outline what presentations he or she has to offer? Speech titles and program descriptions can be extremely beneficial to you when deciding on an inspirational speaker. That said, don't make the big mistake of rejecting an outstanding speaker because his/her speech title doesn't immediately fit with your meeting theme - titles can be customized, the core of what the speaker talks about should be the primary focus.

Number 2: Does the keynote speaker have his/her inspirational speaking fees on their website? Reasonably, one of the major issues that worries people looking for a professional speaker online is the feeling they might get ripped off. The answer is ridiculously simple Are you ready? Only contact speakers who list their fees online.

Mull this over, would you wish to be dealing with someone who chooses not give you their fee beforehand? Don't throw away hours of your time describing the needs of your audience...blah, blah! Find out, right off the bat, if the inspirational speaker is in your price range. When it comes to speaker fees, don't be shy. Let's be honest, one of the chief considerations you have is booking a talented speaker that's relevant to your audience and within your budget.

I hope these reality checks help you find the perfect motivational speaker for your Texas event.

I want to add to my thoughts regarding a choice of motivational speaker. More specifically, a few things to pay attention to when reviewing a motivational speaker's (or any other kind of professional speaker's) website.

FYI: I'm extremely reticent to suggest any specific Texas motivational speaker. Mainly because (even though some motivational speakers have very wide appeal) it's still extremely important to match the inspirational speaker to your specific audience.

Motivational Speaker - Websites

Video

If you're looking for a motivational speaker, it's easy to get fooled by a slick website. My advice, ignore the hype and immediately look for the video. That's the best way to see if a speaker will work for your group. It answers the question: How will this guy/gal actually be on the platform?

FYI: Be on the lookout for "fake" laughter (much like those old-style sitcoms). If you're looking at a motivational speaker's website video and you hear people laughing hysterically at something you don't find the slightest bit funny, show the video to a couple of your colleagues. (After all, maybe it's you who doesn't have a sense of humor :-) )

You can also be on the lookout for shots of the audience. (If you can actually see people in the audience laughing - like on Comedy Central - that's good evidence that the laughter is real)

Testimonials

The other thing people don't do anywhere near enough is actually check out the testimonials. This is really important. Anyone can say that everyone thinks that they're great. (Although the FTC is looking into changing the rules about testimonials to keep motivational speakers - and every other online marketer - more honest.)

So, ask the speaker for a couple of people (preferably in your industry) who you can call to verify the speaker's claims.

In my experience, when I talk to referees given to me by motivational speakers, their response falls into one of two distinct camps. People either love the speaker (and I mean think he or she is fantastic) or they make comments like: "She was okay". The latter often means that they weren't impressed but don't want to be mean.

So, get specific. Ask about the evaluation form results. Was the motivational speaker ranked highest? Let's face it, he or she should be. After all, they're supposed to be the professionals! (If they can't get better scores than an industry educator, something is wrong!)

Also, ask about any specific negative comments on the forms. Did anyone find the speaker rude or condescending? Don't put too much store by each individual comment but, if there's a trend, watch out!

If you show the speaker's online video around and follow up on references, you won't go too far wrong.

PS: If you need to hire a business motivational speaker and want more advice, bookmark this website...And visit again soon.

For attendees, a conference can be a motivating experience or a grindingly dull, mandatory drudge-fest. Most folks organizing an event want it to be the former—unfortunately, inexperience, politics and conflicting notions of what's needed can destroy what would have been a perfectly good conference.

The right inspirational speaker can provide an ideal (and massively energizing) start to a conference. Unfortunately, hiring the wrong motivational speaker (and there are quite a few of those) can completely mess up the rest of your meeting!

And so, I have a few simple observations on hiring a motivational speaker (and human nature) to share that will serve you well…

Motivational Speaker – Yes Or No?

The motivational and keynote speakers you bring in are like the battery of a car - they can energize and keep everyone moving happily along through the day or they can suck the life right out of an otherwise cleverly designed and well-oiled machine.

A great opening speech not only motivates, it also has the benefit of providing everyone with something to talk about—a conversation icebreaker. When your motivational speaker's great—people will immediately be talking to each other—at length. If the speaker is ineffectual, all they'll be able to say are bad things and conversations will stop dead. The energy around the meeting will be flat.

Three points of view

So, here are the three different points of view you need to bear in mind when selecting your speaker—and, you're probably in one of them. Understanding how they differ will assist you in knowing how to approach the marketplace.

• Meeting Planner
• Conference Planning Committee
• Attendee

The Meeting Planner

I'll start with the Meeting Planner point of view. At the end of the day, I’m looking for functionality. I want someone who's going to be fun, easy to work with, prompt, professional and has simple, straightforward technical requirements. Quick tip, when looking for a motivational speaker, get clear on the audio-visual requirements up front…

It can be a nasty shock (for a planner and her budget) to find out that the speaker needs an extra five microphones scattered throughout the room for an unexpected “Question and Answer” session. (Incidentally, it’s my experience that a question and answer sessions immediately after a motivational speech can kill the “buzz”. I would advise against it.)

The Attendee

A motivational speaker can provide true life-changing experiences for Attendees. Sometimes it's just a matter of one word or phrase that suddenly brings the puzzle pieces together for them. This can be a dramatic and emotional situation. Others will assimilate the information more slowly—it'll be the story the speaker told that keeps going through their mind on the drive to work that eventually sets the ball rolling for change. Finally, the tough one…

The Planning Committee

In their defense, a planning committee often gets stuck with a cheesy (and arbitrary) meeting theme that somebody else picked 18 months ago. Be warned, this pitfall can really kill a meeting. This is because instead of looking at a potential speaker's overall topic, the committee with end up playing a game of “match the motivational speech title to the meeting theme.” This is a huge mistake that I see made way too often.

What's critical is the worldview that the motivational speaker has and is able to effectively communicate to the audience. In what way does this unique point of view effect your group? If the speaker has an intriguing topic and can relate it to your industry, a title can be written. Don't let the tail wag the dog here.

In summary

Hiring the right motivational speaker is like the battery in your car—you absolutely need it to provide the energetic start to get you going. The point of getting a group of people together is what takes place in the car along the journey—those pearls of wisdom that get passed from one person to another in a conversation over coffee, drinks in the evening or even on the flight home.

It is possible to have a meeting with a dead battery by shoving it down a hill—have the association president do the opening session, the chaplain bless everybody or a free vendor 'speaker' do a sales pitch. And when its over everyone will just want to flee.

Or, by doing some good research you can take your group on a powerhouse of a ride! Take the scenic route, get the work done, charge the individual batteries and let the conference momentum drive them to new levels of achievement and personal success.

Don't forget that before anything else you must settle on what type of motivational speaker you're searching for--do you want someone who's going to give your sales people a pep rally or someone fun with a specialty message all their own that will motivate your audience members in new ways? There are many experts in the speaking industry who were previously lawyers, CPAs, scientists, judges, astronauts, etc. These folks are a treasure trove of experience and usually have very engaging stories, lessons and insights to impart to your staff members.

Another quick tip: Talking to speakers you've seen before is a very good place to begin your search. Having the opportunity to show off their industry savvy by helping a past client is very welcome by the professionals. They know this will help to further their relationship with you and, hopefully, lead to another engagement at some time in the future, either by you or someone you refer them to. Another area to research is the company or association meeting planner; while they don't always deal with speakers directly other than organizing the a/v needs, many have years of experience and may be able to recommend a motivational speaker who'll be tremendous.

First off, the motivational speaker is likely to have his or her audio-visual requirements. Asking for their audio-visual requirements document is a great place to start.

Then, follow the golden rule. If they can be seen and heard, most motivational speakers are good to go.

Here are some specific points to consider:

Tip 1: Don’t put the stage in the corner of the room, so that the speaker has to speak diagonally across the audience. Sometimes meeting planners get in the habit of doing this because they are used to putting a PowerPoint screen in the middle of the room. This is okay for most industry educators but, if you’re expecting a motivational keynote speaker to “rock the room’” don’t put obstacles in their path.

Tip 2: Keep the audience close to the front of the stage. Imagine having a conversation with someone from across a ballroom floor. It would be tough, wouldn’t it? In a similar way, if a meeting planner puts a row of chairs miles away from the front of the stage (and often for no good reason) it’s difficult for the inspirational speaker to connect with the audience.

Tip 3: Ensure there are new batteries in the microphone transmitter. If you can, actually watch the hotel staff put new batteries in the transmitter. (Sometimes the hotel audio-visual staff will say they’ve replaced the batteries just to shut you up!)

Tip 4: Give the motivational speaker a dedicated microphone (one that only he or she uses) and insist that the speaker does a sound check. Frankly, it’s unprofessional for a speaker to show up at the last minute and expect everything to be set up perfectly. (Someone who cares about their motivational speech is going to show up in good time as a matter of course.)

Tip 5: Do a last minute check to make sure you’ve met the speaker’s needs. It’s very unnerving for a speaker to arrive at the venue to find that the flip-chart they requested six months ago (and verified the week before) has been forgotten. It makes the meeting planner look like an amateur.

I hope these ideas help you work with your next professional speaker give a wonderful motivational speech.