Finding Resource and Motivational Speakers for Your Event

Keynote speaker set the tone of your event; yours should then be hired after close scrutiny, with criteria based on relevance and ability. Your dilemma is in choosing the speaker that can handle your event's scope and theme. Corporate events focus on a specific theme, often requiring speakers with specializations. You should scout for the cream of the crop, out of the pool of candidates recommended or scouted. The good thing is the variety of options; professional speakers are as versatile as your themes, as well as the size of your audience and the breadth of the topic. Narrow down your options, consider candidates with the right mindset.

Your Event Speaker's Role and Limitations

Remember the role of an event speaker before you pool your options. Event speakers tie up all the loose ends, that is, the expectations of participants and your audience. Keynote speakers are expected to deliver the theme with authority and competency, and if this involves the participation of your audience, a speaker should be able to facilitate group activities as well. Opt for speakers with specializations, if you want focus and efficiency. Unless your event involves an audience with wide variety, the speaker should strike interest with the smallest common denominator. The disadvantage of specialization is it requires a specific audience. The advantage is you're ensured your audience leaves with fresh insight on your event's theme.

Resource Speakers Bank on Authority

Resource speakers bank on their authority, on themes and topics related to their expertise. You can't compromise on your speaker's ability, and he or she should add something new to what's already known, already available, already familiar to your audience. At the outset, your resource speaker should offer fresh perspective on topics, delivered with the confidence that'll answer most of the questions even before you accommodate questions after the speech. Finding a resource speaker isn't much of a challenge if your well-connected; colleagues and sister companies may recommend speakers for repeat or new events.

Motivational Speakers Prep with Discretion

Motivational speakers push participants to action. This calls for charisma on the part of the speaker, and a celebrity status or experience in promotions help. The key to effective public speaking is in listening, and your speaker should first sit down with an attentive ear focused on your objectives, the nature of your organization, the kind of audience you'll accommodate, and the manner of delivery you prefer. Discretion is also crucial to efficiency, and your speaker keep the speech long enough to be substantial, short enough to maximize your audience's interest.

Public Speaking: Simple Trick to Underline Your Words and Message

Written and spoken speech are not the same. I can underline a phrase in a written article. I can put an exclamation point after a sentence in a written article! But most speakers simply think their only tool for emphasis is saying a sentence louder. It isn't. Professional speakers use pauses. Say something important and pause while making eye contact with the audience, emphasizes your point. Say it again after the pause and you've drawn a line under it. Say it an expand upon the point and you've driven the point into the audience's memory.

Want even more emphasis? Walk toward your audience reaching out to them then deliver the line and pause making eye contact.

Pauses are extremely powerful. Even a short pause is effective, but a long pause is even more effective. If you doubt that, consider the most memorable speakers you have heard. If Martin Luther King comes to mind, remember the pause after, "I have a dream... " If you remember Kennedy, you will recall his pauses in his speech, "Ich... bin... ein... berliner." Reagan, paused twice, each time after "Mr. Gorbechev" in, "Mr. Gorbechev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbechev, tear down this wall!"

Of contemporary speakers, President Obama is considered an excellent speaker. His primary secret is use of frequent pauses. Pauses, suggest relaxed delivery and confidence and authority. Pauses enhance a cool-ness. Imagine for a moment deliver of any of the President's statements without his characteristic pauses--you imagine a more nervous-looking delivery.

It takes a confident speaker to use pauses. Frequently, nervous speakers fill every second for fear that the audience will quit listening or that the speakers nerves will show in the pause. That's a natural reaction, but the wrong reaction. So clearly this takes a bit of practice. It's easiest to put pauses between ideas (sentences, usually). Try this to practice: Deliver the first line, making eye contact with someone in one portion of the audience. Pause. Then shift your gaze, make eye contact with someone else in a different part of the audience, and deliver your next point. Pause. Then shift again to deliver the next point. You should find this easier and more natural.

Control of the volume of your voice before or after a pause can draw even more attention. Consider President Reagan's, "Mr. Gorbechev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbechev, tear down this wall!" His voice rose in volume as he paused between each of these words.

If you wish to underline your spoken words, if you wish to seem in control, and if you want to make your delivery memorable, then master the fine art of the pause.