6 Steps To Creating A Speaker Brief That'll Keep Your Speakers Committed

After plenty of searching, you finally rounded up an amazing lineup of speakers for your event. Now what?

Even when you've successfully found your event's speakers, there's always a chance that something could go wrong. One of your speakers could end up bailing — sometimes even cancelling the day of your event. But have no fear, we're here to help make sure this won't happen to you.

In this new Run of Show video, we walk you though how to create a speaker brief and explain the importance of each step along the way.

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Video Transcript:

Today we're going to leave our calculators behind and talk about why we got into events in the first place.

Partners are incredible -- they help you bring in new audiences, they can often decrease line items, and they can often make your event look super legit. So, how do you get great partners?

The way to think about it is to identify it into stages. You find the right partner, you wanna pitch that partner, and then you really wanna lock it in, and execute, and get the most value out of that partnership.

We're gonna walk through each three of those things right now.

Make Your Event Flow

Let's walk through a real life scenario. We're throwing a 100-person event. So, in order to fill the room with 100 people, I like to send out about 10 times the number of invitations, so that's inviting around 1,000 people.

Then, I like to try and get about 4 times the ratio of RSVPs to the capacity of the room. That comes to 400 people. In an event, you typically see what's called a flow, in and out of the venue throughout the event. You're really gonna try to get about 150 people or more to actually attend the event, so we're gonna look for about a 1.5x attendance rate.

The goal that we're gonna talk about today, is how to improve the percentage between RSVPs and attendees.

2. Combine areas of expertise

Even if you’re looking for a snapshot of an adorable dog, you definitely won’t be disappointed.

I once had a speaker drop out of a conference that I was planning on the day of the event. Luckily the attendees at the conference were all event planners, so this scenario wasn't necessarily new to them.

So, I got on stage and we toasted to anyone who has ever had a speaker bail on them. It ended up working out, but at the end of the day I was sad that the speaker dropped out, and I started thinking back to what I could have done differently to make sure this didn't happen.

In our previous episode we talked about the process for finding great event speakers. And when a friend was teaching me how she wrangles speakers, I realized that I was missing one very important step in the process: creating and delivering a speaker brief.

So today we're going to cover why speaker briefs are so important, and I'll walk you through all of the key components of a great speaker brief.

Bonus tip: we created a speaker brief template that you can reference for your own events.

Actually, I immediately Googled it, and, lo and behold, there were all sorts of job descriptions online for Head of Event Ops, Head of Event Technology and Operations, Event Technology Manager. Really cool job descriptions.

We're going to talk about that in a sec. But, first, let's talk about what this shift means. And, so, I've started to call this shift, the shift from EP, event planner, to VP, the VP, vice-president mentality.

You know, when we're talking about EPs, we're typically talking about people who are responsible for the project management, right? And so, typically, they're going…they're focused on the event: Hiring vendors, finding linens, getting the DJ. That was the old school. But, nowadays, they're still responsible for that stuff, but they're also responsible for the performance of the event. And, so, I talk about that, going from project manager to marketer. It also means that we're going from buying stuff, procuring stuff, to actually proving the value of that stuff, so, from procurement to proving.

Now, an event planner, an EP, is highly focused on the attendees in the room, right? Who's gonna be in the room? Is that gonna make a great event? And that still matters That's still something that we need to focus on.

But now, we also need to focus on, not just the attendee value, but the entire lifetime value of our customers and actually focus on the full sequence of what that person does and how it relates to actual money. And last but not least, even the way that our bosses are speaking to us has changed. We're actually seeing, you know, the old school of "high-five, great event, well done, I've had a blast" change. Now what we hear after events is, "Show me the data." Right? "Show me the numbers. What are the outcomes? How did this whole thing work?"

Actually, I immediately Googled it, and, lo and behold, there were all sorts of job descriptions online for Head of Event Ops, Head of Event Technology and Operations, Event Technology Manager. Really cool job descriptions. We're going to talk about that in a sec.

But, first, let's talk about what this shift means. And, so, I've started to call this shift, the shift from EP, event planner, to VP, the VP, vice-president mentality.

You know, when we're talking about EPs, we're typically talking about people who are responsible for the project management, right? And so, typically, they're going…they're focused on the event: Hiring vendors, finding linens, getting the DJ. That was the old school. But, nowadays, they're still responsible for that stuff, but they're also responsible for the performance of the event. And, so, I talk about that, going from project manager to marketer. It also means that we're going from buying stuff, procuring stuff, to actually proving the value of that stuff, so, from procurement to proving.

‌• Before the event: we use these lists to promote the event, and fill the room with the right people.

‌• During the event: we use these lists to prioritize our time, to know how to engage with people, when to engage with them, and how much energy and effort we should spend with that person.

‌• After the event: we use these lists to hone and craft personalized messages to re-engage and drive value from these attendees.

To better understand this, what we did was we analyzed all of the lists, all of the classifications and buckets that event marketers are using across the slash system, and we started to look for commonalities and try to understand how people are organizing their lists.

We did find that many people are using about 9 different types of lists. So I wanna share that with you and walk through the nine types of lists that we most commonly see. Let's rattle them off together.

1) Effectiveness

2) Efficiency

3) Brand Building

4) Speed

5) Expansion

6) Community-Building

What's a speaker brief?

A speaker brief is a personalized document that you should send to someone immediately after they show interest in speaking at your event. The goal is to lock that speaker in, get them really excited, and then get them to commit. And right after you send them the speaker brief, try to get on the phone with them to review it together.

But what makes a good speaker brief? We've put together 6 steps to follow to ensure your speaker brief is clear, robust, and — most importantly — effective.

1. Convey That It's Happening

The first step in creating a speaker brief is to convey that the event is actually happening. If it's clear to a potential speaker that this thing is a go, they'll be more likely to take your event seriously and commit to it.

The best way to do this is in the first page of your brief. You want to include these key pieces of information:

• Your event's theme

• The content that will be presented

• Goals for the event

• The five Ws: who, what, when, where, and why

Including these details will help show that this is a real event, and your potential speaker will be much more likely to take you seriously about the opportunity,

Number one: set a program theme.

Number two: set the topics that are gonna ladder up to that theme. So, what will the speakers be addressing that will be associated with that theme?

And, number three -- and this is gonna take the majority of the meeting -- try to mock an agenda, and I mean get really specific here. Go minute by minute of what that day is gonna feel like, and put it up on paper. Try to include all of the lunch breaks, the bathroom breaks. What is the attendee gonna experience as they take in all of this content?

So, this is a big deal for a lot of reasons. It means that events are no longer being seen as the stepchild of marketing, but instead, are being placed at the center of the marketing stack. People are understanding how effective, how efficient events are. They're also understanding that the people who host these events need to be rock stars. They need to be able to go cross-department, they need to be able to be mathematicians, and have huge EQs that will command the attention of our most important clients.

2. Show Them The Value

The next important step is to show your speakers the value in participating in this event. Your job here is to show them the differentiation — aka how this event is different from any other event — as well as the value the event will provide them.

From our previous episode, you'll remember the four Ps that convey value: People, Purpose, Prestige, and Perks. Here's what this means for your speaker brief:

• People: Who are the other people involved? This includes current speakers (those who have already confirmed), past speakers, and the audience.

• Purpose: What is the purpose or mission of this event? What does the event's theme look like?

• Prestige: Has the event been covered by the press? How many people have attended in the past? How many people have shown interest already? Highlight any positive stats or details that really talk up your event.

• Perks: Are you paying them? Are you covering their travel? Will there be really great snacks in the green room? Do they get a gift bag? Perks are a great way to show differentiation.

3. Do Your Homework

The next slide in your speaker brief is your secret weapon — it's what we like to call the Homework Slide.

Here, you want to show your speaker that you understand the type of content that they cover. You can map this out with clippings from blog posts, tweets, and really anything that shows that you have a clear idea of what you might want them to talk about. This is also a great opportunity to flatter them and get them excited that you've done your homework and researched what this person is all about.

As someone who's spoken at a lot of conferences, there's nothing worse than showing up to an event and realizing that the host really didn't know who you were, and the attendees certainly don't either.

4. Know Your Audience

So, the first are "Dream Speakers." These are people that if you could get them to speak, oh, man, you would do anything to put them on stage.

This could be anyone from Michael Jordan to Oprah. Like, really throw some dream speakers out there. You'd be surprised, if you ask nice enough, you might be able to get them.

You also want your speaker to know that the audience they'll be speaking to understands them and is going value what they have to say. The best way to do this is to walk through the demographics and psychographics of your audience.

First, explain the demographics. First and foremost, show them that you understand how many people are going be there, and who they are.

Are they B2B? Are they B2C? What level — meaning, are they a CMO? Are they a director? Are they a VP? Where are these people coming in from? What industry are they coming from? Are they representing enterprises or small businesses?

And then cover their psychographics. What is their mindset coming into this event? Why are they coming? What value are they looking to get by attending? By showing that you understand your audience — and that it matches the homework you've done on the speaker — you'll have painted a picture of real value for the speaker.

This will get them excited, and lead into a very important step that we call The Pause. Because at this point, you really want to take a step back and ask an important question: Are they in?

And the last is gonna be "Don't." You know, I've had a lot of ideas for speakers and I definitely pitched my friend a lot of ideas for speakers, and it turns out that that person just spoke at too many conferences, or they were associated with a competitor, or they had a bad reputation. You do wanna identify them, and put them up there in the "Don't" section.

5. Double Up On Confirmation

More often than not, your speaker will say yes when you ask this first time. But the next thing you need to do is the Double Confirm, which means telling your speaker that you're going to confirm them for your event — and even mentioning a certain time slot.

You want to hear them say, "Okay, that sounds good." And if they don't, be sure to take a step back and ask them to let you know when they can confirm.

Once they say that they're in, you should run through a list of what they're committing to, right there on the phone.

Now, as we built out this list, we realized that there was a fifth "D" that was super-duper important, and that was a "D" for "Diversity." You know, too many conferences have panels of five people who look a lot like me.

As you build out your panels, I hope you'll think about finding people from different backgrounds, different ethnicities, different genders, and put them on stage. I think you'll find that your audience will really connect with the content more and it'll feel like a better event.

6. Secure The Commitment

First, go over what topic they're going to commit to — including the due date for the content they're going to provide — and maybe even come up with a title right then and there. This is also when you'll want them to commit to any kind of onstage interviews or other promotion you have in mind.

Next, and maybe most important, you need them to commit to a date. They should fill out what we call The Speaker Preferences Form — but that's a whole episode onto itself, so just remember that you also need them to commit to filling that out by a certain due date.

Then, that should be the end of the call. This is the perfect time to thank them again and let them know how excited you are. Right after the call — and I mean the second you hang up that phone — email them with the speaker brief attached for one final confirmation.

3. Show and Tell: Why Should Speakers Participate?

And then, that should be the end of the call. You should say, "Thank you so much. We are so excited." And right after the call, and I'm saying the second you hang up that phone, you want to send them an e-mail, with the speaker brief reattached, saying, "Great! Thank you so much. Glad we could confirm you."

Time To Lock Them In

Now that you know everything there is to know about creating a great speaker brief, I want to go over three things you can do before your event that will help lock your speaker in.

The first is stay excited. There might be a long period of time between the actual event and when you initially confirmed your speaker. Treat the speaker like you would an attendee — you want them to build excitement around the event, just like you would your attendees.

Number two, look for signs that they might bail. Leading up to the event, there are certain things to look out for that could indicate that your speaker might not be in anymore. If they don't promote the event on their own, or if they don't ask any logistics questions, those are early warning signs that they might not plan on showing up.

So, the four things that we found really resonated with people started with "Ps."

1. People. We found that if we were able to say how many attendees there are, who those attendees were, who the other speakers are, people got other people excited. So, "People," is the first "P" that you can promote.

Last but not least, be human. If you act like a human on the phone and be open and honest, you become their friend. You'd be surprised what that can really do. People don't like letting other humans down.

3. Purpose. What is your event all about? Why are you even hosting this event in the first place? Is there a charity component to it? Are you speaking about the future of something?

If you can convey that purpose to your speaker, they're highly likely to join if that purpose is aligned with their purpose, their passions.

So, don't go silent on your speakers once you've got them. Act like a human, talk to them and be honest about what you need from them. This will help ensure that after you've gone through the process of searching and selling these speakers, you'll be able to lock them in for the long haul.

4. Perks. This could be things like pay, to covering their travel, to "You're gonna get an opportunity to meet this person." If you can convey the perks that they'll enjoy and you can show it to them fast, it's likely that you're gonna at least get their attention.

But getting their attention is really just the first step.

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4. The Super Power of Speed: "The Flash"

And that would mean that your sales cycle is shorter as a result of your events, so if there are fewer days that a seller is selling to a prospect whenever they go to one of your events.

That's a really important one and we call that acceleration. So funnel acceleration would be the effect of that super power.

Now, this next one would be my choice for most powerful superpower. And unfortunately, I don't have a great metric for how to measure this. But like Professor X, if your event is able to find great attendees and connect them, and build a community, your event's superpower might be community-building.

Compare Event Types

There are some really high-ROI superpowers in here, a lot to focus on. Now, I just want to recap why this is important. Now, as we said at the top of the show, a superpower and understanding that super power is our greatest weapon in the fight for what is right.

And, you know, as marketers, we're kind of almost like venture capitalists in that we have a certain amount of capital and we have to deploy it only on things that drive the right results. Now, every event does something different.

So when you start to understand that superpower, you start to be able to compare that event to other marketing channels and say, "Hey, we should throw this event instead of doing, let's say, a content activity or a demand gen activity."

But you're also able to compare that event to other event types. So you'll be able to say, "Hey, we should spend money on a VIP dinner instead of on, say, a trade show booth."

Double Down, Communicate Everything

Once you figure out what your event's superpower is, your next step is to do two very important things: it's to double down and do more of it.

And maybe the most important piece here is to communicate it, to rally your team around that super power, to set expectations and to beat those expectations, but to do so deliberately. Because as marketers, it's our job, maybe more than any other job, to communicate.

Okay. I hope that was useful in thinking about how to look at your event programs. If you have any questions, please leave me a comment. I know there's a lot in there. But, and I have to say this, Mike... I know you told me not to, but here we go: with great power comes great responsibility. Yes. Got it in. Okay. Thanks for checking in. Have a great rest of the week, and I'll see you next time.

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Before your next event, check out this step-by-step guide for finding not just the best, but the right guest speakers.

Craving more event content? If so, subscribe below and you can check out more episodes of Run of Show Weekly.

I've developed a three-step process to use reciprocity to drive the RSVP to attendance ratio. The three steps are: (1) get that attendee to invest, (2) confirm that they've made a good decision, and (3) lock it in.

The “Er” Moment

Note: If you're interested and you're gonna be pitching for partnerships soon, I included some of my best templates as a downloadable in the article with this video. So feel free to go download that and use my one-sheet template. But this is the general outline of what I think makes the best one-sheets. The point of a one-sheet is to communicate visually how legit and real your event is.

Are you hiring, feel free to copy some of their

Interested in seeing how the event planner has evolved?Download the following job descriptions:

1. Event Marketing Manager (Box)

2. Event Technology & Operations Manager (Metlife)

3. Event Operations Manager (Invisionapp)

So in some of the following episodes, we're going to talk about not just why surprises are so powerful, we're going to talk about how we can set, meet, and then beat expectations with every single action that we do.

We're going to talk about how we're going to use surprise before, during, and after the event. I believe that after a couple more conversations about this, you're going to buy-in like I have to the power of surprise and you're going to recommit like I have to "surprise."

We know when to send it now, but now let's talk about where you're actually promoting to. You know, it really is important to take advantage of Google Analytics and look in your analytics tab and understand where your traffic is coming from.

What we have found is that, finally, mobile traffic, when it comes to ticket purchases, has crossed over 50%. Now it's 56% of your attendees purchasing on mobile. What that says to me is: you better be optimizing your mobile experience. Make sure it's seamless, make sure it's easy to buy.

The Power of Social Clout

Last but not least, we found across all of these events that we're analyzing, there was one common denominator for the events that actually sold out. The events that put the attendees on the page and put the speaker pictures on the page, really promoting via social clout, had a nearly two-times higher likelihood of selling out their events than those that did not show the attendees or the speakers that were at the event.

Social clout is a really powerful mechanism, and I would urge you to take advantage of it. You need a market through your attendees and market through your vendors, market through your speakers, market through your sponsors. It's really the best way to sell out your event.

I hope you find that useful. We've got some genius data scientists in the back running regression analyses.

Consider These 3 Things Before You Comp Tickets

(1) Percentage of attendees-to-opportunities: Assume it is going to increase if you comp tickets. What I mean to say is, do you think you can fill the room with a better attendee list that are more likely to turn into actual revenue? If you think so, make an assumption. In this last formula, the scenario you saw, we assumed that it would jump from 10% to 25%. I'll leave it to you to determine what percentage you think you can drive it to, if you had higher quality attendees.

(2) What is your ACV? In our scenario, we talked about a 25K ACV, that's great. That's a nice ACV. Candidly, if you've got that average contract value, you have to comp tickets. It’s a no brainer. If you've got $100,000 as an average contract value, it is really a no brainer. But what we have found is that, if your average contract value is about $15,000, it might not make sense. You really wanna be above $15,000 for comp tickets to make sense for you.

(3) What is your Sales Cycle? Ask yourself, are you willing to wait for a good amount of time to actually see that revenue recognized? We've been looking at our data, and especially for some of these larger user conferences, you can see a sale cycle be about a year. That means that, from the time that person became an opportunity to the day that that dollar is deposited in your bank account, it could be a full year, if not more. So you just have to ask yourself, are you willing to wait that long, as opposed to getting the little dollars in now, with the ticket revenue? Can you wait for a much larger contract in a year or more?

3. Show that people are attending your events.

Last but not least, people get people. If you can show that people are attending your event, and they're telling other people, you can display that. That's the type of stuff that actually drives attendance.

So, you're gonna want to show and get RSVPs early and often as you can. Then get those people to commit and tell their friends about it. We found that that is the number one way to drive RSVPs.

Invest, Confirm, Lock it In

You want to use reciprocity to drive attendance, and a way to do so is to get the attendee to invest. You wanna confirm that they made a good decision with that three-step process, and, last but not least, you want to lock it in with a specific, personal confirmation that they are gonna meet someone on site.

Best of luck with your events.

You want to use reciprocity to drive attendance, and a way to do so is to get the attendee to invest. You wanna confirm that they made a good decision with that three-step process, and, last but not least, you want to lock it in with a specific, personal confirmation that they are gonna meet someone on site.

Best of luck with your events.

Bring Out the Urgency

Urgency is one of the most powerful techniques that I've seen in terms of driving ticket sales. You can use urgency in things like "Early bird sales end soon," or you can say something like, "We're almost full," or "This is going to be a really important event for you to attend." Drive that point home with frequency and urgency, and make sure, in all your communications, to go through that checklist, G-I-V-E.

After you've outlined every single step in the process, your next step is to figure out who the major players are. This might be someone who's actually at your organization, or an agency, or even a freelancer. You're trying to figure out who's involved. I find that a really great framework for figuring this out and defining it in a very visible and transparent way is something called the RACI model. It's a great model that I see some of the top event planners that we work with use.

How RACI Works:

RACI stands for responsible, accountable, consulted and informed.

❤️ Special thanks to our Tech lead, Guillermo de la Puente, for his hard work on this project.

author

Ben Hindman

Ben Hindman is co-founder and CEO of Splash, the country's fastest-growing event marketing platform that helps businesses and brands more effectively market through their events. An event planner turned tech entrepreneur, events are in Ben’s DNA. Prior to starting Splash, Ben was the Director of Events at Thrillist, where he produced large-scale events from concerts to mystery fly-aways.

About the Author