When it comes to finding a motivational speaker for you event, there’s several things you can do to make sure you get the most out of their services.
The biggest reason people end up being disappointed by the motivational speaker they hire is lack of communication. Speakers, especially ones who advertise as motivational speaker are, by nature, excellent at communication, they have to be. In order to do their job properly they have an innate sense of human nature and have learned what makes certain types of people click. However, if aren’t very clear about the expectations you have regarding the person’s service, they will be acting blindly.
When you contact a motivational speaker, you need to be very clear about the type of event your organizing and the type of people who will be in the audience. You can’t expect the person you’ve hired for the event to be ready with an appropriate talk if you failed to mention they will be speaking to a group of high school students who have expressed interest in sales, but the orator was under the impression the crowd was going to consist of seasoned sales teams.
If you’re experiencing a specific problem, for example if you’ve been having a difficult time convincing your sales team to work as a team, or if you’ve notice employee morale seems to be slipping, you will want to make this very clear to the individual you have hired. Based on this information they will look for specific anedotes and exercise they can incorporate into their appearance which will help your employees work through the problem.
Some motivational orators do more than create pretty lectures. Some also double as life coaches. If you want to make use of this skill you need to make this clear. It’s not fair to expect someone you have hired to deliver a keynote address to also work one on one with people if you haven’t given them advanced warning.
You can’t expect last minute miracles. Too, often people put hiring a motivational speaker off until the very last minute. Not only does this decrease the chances of you getting a good orator, the best in the business can sometimes be booked for a year in advance, but it also doesn’t give them time to prepare. Instead of delivering a polished and helpful lecture, they will be improving the whole time and might skip important pieces of information the audience would have benefited from.
When you’re working with the orator, you need to be respectful and polite. The circle of motivational speakers is very close knit, and if you develop a reputation as being difficult to work with, it’s possible you will have a difficult time finding any professionals willing to speak at your future events.
Doug Dvorak is a professional motivational speaker who is absolutely hilarious and inspirational.
